5 April 2012
If I had a pound for each time I saw someone – typically overweight, unfit – guzzling a sports drink while sitting, standing or walking around, then I would be a multimillionaire. But I’m delighted and amused to read the results of a scientific survey on sports drinks consumption carried out by the Natural Hydration Council. Apparently 11 million people swig them at their desks, one in five of the 2000 questioned use them to pep themselves up when feeling tired, and almost one in five use them as a hangover cure. In case you were wondering, these products are designed for improving endurance and performance during high intensity exercise lasting more than 60 minutes. That means hard running, swimming or cycling NOT a jog around the block, a Zumba class or quick gym session – and certainly not an afternoon slumped over one’s desk! So, to put the record straight, here are the latest recommendations on carb intake during exercise from the 2010 IOC consensus conference on sports nutrition:
| Exercise duration | Recommended amount of carbohydrate | Type of carbohydrate |
| < 45 minutes | None | None |
| 45 – 75 minutes | V small amounts (mouth rinse) | Any |
| 1 – 2 hours | Up to 30g/ h | Any |
| 2 – 3 hours | Up to 60g/ h | Glucose, maltodextrins |
| 3 hours | Up to 90g/ h | Multiple transportable carbohydrates (glucose + fructose or maltodextrin + fructose in 2 : 1 ratio) |