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It's a simple fact that when we perspire our bodies lose more than just water. Electrolytes lost include major elements like sodium, chlorine or chloride, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. While reading the label on any bottled water container will tell you that there's more than just H20 in that bottle, it's not a replacement for the science behind drinks like Pedialyte or Gatorade.

As a soccer coach, when I get asked about this I always go to the same example: NHL goalies. Goalies are probably a worst-case scenario, capable of losing up to seven pounds during a single sixty minute game. What do most of them keep on top of their nets? Water? No. The use Pedialyte, often used over the counter for illnesses resulting in dehydration in children.

Dr. Keith Wheeler, as quoted in an article in the Toronto Star (Baby Beverage Slogan: Be Like Belak?): "If you take a 300-pound NFL lineman and put him in 95 degrees with 75 percent humidity, he will dump a volume of electrolytes from his body through sweat that will be equivalent to a child with diarrhea."

Those electrolytes just can't be replaced by water.

It would be naive to say "Oh, those are professional athletes. My son/daughter is just in high school." As a former high school soccer player, I know first hand how devastating improper fluid intake can be during "just a high school game." Regardless of age, heat, sweat, and exertion take their toll on the human body, and replacing what you lose is the only way to fight off the negative effects.

There is another factor to consider, raised by Dr. W. Larry Kenny in an article by Penn State Research. "Think of a bartender who offers free pretzels and peanutshe wants you to drink more. The salt in sports drinks helps to maintain thirst." He adds, "If you drink plain water until you no longer feel thirsty, you've most likely not replenished all lost fluids."

The electrolytes serve a dual purpose, replacing lost salts and keeping us thirsty so we keep replacing fluids. Our body's thirst and hunger mechanisms are not very accurate, so it's important in settings like sports to give our bodies whatever assistance we can.

It's also important to know that people lose different amounts of electrolytes from sweating, so there's no universal solution for everyone. But what IS known is that plain old water will always just be water.

It's never going to be Pedialyte or Gatorade no matter what.

Learn more about this author, Lee Mathews.
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