Br J Sports Med. Published Online First: 9 April 2008. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2008.047944
Review Article |
Drinking policies and exercise-associated hyponatraemia: Is anyone still promoting overdrinking?
1 Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
2 Department of Human Biology, Sports Science Institute of South Africa, South Africa
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rips_hurdler{at}hotmail.com.
Accepted 12 March 2008
Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this review is to describe the evolution of hydration research and advice on drinking during exercise from published scientific papers, books and non-scientific material (advertisements and magazine contents) and detail how erroneous advice is likely propagated throughout the global sports medicine community.
Design: Hydration advice from sports-linked entities, the scientific community, exercise physiology textbooks and non-scientific sources was analyzed historically and compared with the most recent scientific evidence.
Conclusions: Drinking policies during exercise have changed substantially throughout history. Since the mid 1990s, however, there has been an increase in the promotion of over-drinking by athletes. While the scientific community is slowly moving away from "blanket" hydration advice in which one form of advice fits all and towards more modest, individualized, hydration guidelines in which thirst is recognized as the best physiological indicator of each subjects fluid needs during exercise, marketing departments of the global sports drink industry continue to promote over-drinking.
eLetters:
Read all eLetters
- An Erroneous Conclusion
- Roy J. Shephard
- BJSM Online, 28 Oct 2008 [Full text]
- Textbooks and drinking policies
- Evan L Lloyd, et al.
- BJSM Online, 31 Oct 2008 [Full text]
- Re: An Erroneous Conclusion
- Fernando G. Beltrami, et al.
- BJSM Online, 20 Nov 2008 [Full text]
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