by Sean Coleman

Created on: September 26, 2009   Last Updated: September 27, 2009

The market is now flooded by a barrage of different brands and flavors of sports drinks. Inspirational messages adorn the labels, trying to persuade the consumer to partake in the greatness of their product, while others stay simple or put short humorous statements on their bottles. In any case, the type of drink that so many of us now buy pops up even in the smallest corner stores.

So how effective and how worthy is this indulgence in these sweet, supposedly healthy drinks?

Today, many of the people getting exercise and striving to keep themselves hydrated are those who are trying to lose weight, and who can blame them? Almost all of today's available food is highly processed, and a largely sedentary lifestyle is all but necessary; travel that is necessary for business and is increasingly prevalent in daily life requires many people to simply sit for long periods of time in cars or on a bus or plain, whether commuting or going abroad. What is needed for so many people is a way to cut weight without making a major time commitment and without doing a great deal of research. Because the sports drink market so heavily dominates commercial advertisements, many people are under the impression that it is simply the best way to hydrate oneself. This, however, is largely untrue.

Sports drinks are made with a special blend of sugar, water, and electrolytes, which have been carefully balanced to maximize the retention of water. Still, we must remember that Gatorade is named for a Florida football team; the drinks the company produces was not aimed for the average soccer mom trying to drop a few pounds. The drinks have a truly great deal of sugar, and for the person with the slowing metabolism who only has the chance to exercise a few hours each week, the drink is more likely doing more harm than good! For so many of these people whose exercise is more of an occasional pick-me-up than it is a way of life, drinking plenty of water is often the best option, especially in terms of weight loss. As long as a person has plenty of opportunity to use the bathroom, one should drink one ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight; for example, a 120-pound woman should drink about 60 ounces of water a day. Although it probably seems excessive, just remember that it can only make you feel better. An investment in a filter would soon pay for itself, allowing you to get gallons upon gallons of pure water straight from the tap.

Of course, sports drinks do have their place. A

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