To drink, or not to drink. That is the question. And no, I'm not talking about alcohol, that would be a definite "not drink." But sports drinks! A frequently asked question. Should, or should not teenagers drink sports drinks. A sports drink, by definition is; "A thirst-quenching beverage used in sports and related activities, to get hydrated, boost energy and replenish electrolytes lost to sweating. All sports drinks contain water, sugar, salt, potassium; some contain extras." Let me just say, right now, by sports drinks, I mean things like Gatorade and Powerade... not energy drinks or sodas like Red Bull, or Coca Cola. Those have a lot of caffeine, and sugar, which are bad for you if taken in in large amounts. But most sports drinks contain no caffeine, and much less sugars. Would that not be a great thing to consume? Would that not help people? Some may say yes, and some may say no. But what is the right answer? Let us find out.
Some positives about sports drinks, are that they really help athletes get hydrated, and boost their energy. Studies conducted at McMaster University in Canada, teenagers were drinking 90% more if they were offered a sports drink, compared to if they were offered water. And that extra fluid does help. Many teens get dehydrate when faring physical activities, and they won't even notice. And that dehydration may cause; fatigue, muscle weakness, poor concentration, headaches, dizziness, light headedness, and decreased metabolisms. Severe dehydration could also lead to seizures, and unconsciousness. This could all be solved by consuming fluids, but some teens just don't know why they're feeling those symptoms, or even are just lazy enough to not grab their water. Meanwhile; sports drinks usually taste good, so people actually want to drink it.
Sports drinks also replenish electrolytes; such as sodium and potassium; which were lost to sweating. These electrolytes are what lets your body stay hydrated, what lets your muscles contract, and what makes your heart pump. Also, energy drinks usually contain quick carbohydrates; such as sugar; to feed your body energy quickly. This, working with the electrolytes, will improve your muscle and nerve performance. By replenishing yourself like such, you won't over sweat, which will destroy the possibilities of getting a stroke.
Even outside of sports, sports drinks can be helpful... that is, the electrolytes in the sports drink can be helpful. If you vomit, or have diarrhea, you lose electrolytes, and therefore get dehydrated. So after you get sick, you could drink sports drinks to help replenish those lost electrolytes.
Now onto the negatives... drinking sports drinks, is basically bathing your teeth in acid, since sports drinks have quite a bit of sugar in them. This sugar erodes the enamel on your teeth, which protects your teeth. This causes sensitivity in the teeth, and increases the likeliness of cavities. And even worse, this damage to your enamels will most likely be irreversible.
Although the sugar is good extra carbohydrates (energy) for you, if you do not use it all by the end of the day, it'll all turn into fat. Consuming too much sports drinks, means too much sugar, which may lead to obesity. This is especially bad since a lot of children are buying sports drinks just for the taste. I mean, they're called sports drinks for a reason! With this sweet taste, and the fact that students' favourite athletes are advertising to, "drink this," or "drink that," beverage manufacturers have reported that market shares for sports drinks have increased by 5% between 2009 and 2011. And a lot of these sales have gone to kids sitting around on their couches who wanted something to drink. Since they aren't burning the excess carbohydrates off, they are gaining weight.
When your body gets rid of sodium by urinating, calcium comes out with it. This causes lots of calcium to form in your urine, increasing possibilities for kidney stones. A kidney stone is a solid mass of crystal (calcium) that can form in your kidney.
In all, I believe that sports drink are great. Presuming that you are actually engaging in a physical activity. In fact, even water would do for easy to moderate exercise. But for moderate to difficult activities that take long amounts of time, I think that it would be a good choice to use sports drinks for replenishing. So in all, teenagers should only use sports drinks when they are actually faring in vigorous exercise. Only use sports drinks only when they really need them. Craving something sweet to drink is not neediness. Drinking it after a ten kilometer run, or after you vomit, is. The carbohydrates and electrolytes could definitely help athletes function better, but consuming the carbohydrates and electrolytes, then not using them, could end up badly, with obesity, cavities, or kidney stones.
How'd I do Angela, Ms. Lees and gents?
*Note-Guys, can we change the backround? I always seem to have some kind of weird thing going on with my text when the backround is... dark.
Sources:
Also, could someone please make me admin? I don't seem to be an administrator right now.
ReplyDeleteJin, first of all you can make the letters white and the background black to make it look natural and it really works because I did that for the first week's post. I think that you did great on this post because you gave your own thought with lots of research when you had to find three sources. The research seemed to be great because you had lots of information for this post with details. Great job Jin!!
ReplyDeleteOverall - a much better post than your initial ones. You still have some areas needing attention (mostly in your introduction - grammar, punctuation errors, sent frags). I will try to print your post in the morning to show you a bit more specifically. Your conversational / casual tone slips in and out but is not as frequent as before. One way to remedy this is to try to vary your vocabulary even more - look at your transitions to start as they are often more casual in tone. You did a good job in your summary conclusion - without sounding too repetitive, you indicated your opinion and addressed the main pros and cons at the same time. This slight change in tone from explanatory to more persuasive worked for this piece - well done! Keep up the effort - in class too. Noticeable improvement!
ReplyDelete