Energy Drinks and Diving

[Shaka Doug]

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BTW, I once took a graduate course on nutrition for athletes back in my coaching days. I read a study that had been sponsored by Gatorade, the purpose of which was to determine what an athlete should drink during competition to improve performance. This was back in the days before Gatorade had all the competition it has today, so it is obvious what they thought the winner would be when they sponsored the study.

The study found that the best thing to drink during athletic performance was just plain water.

That study was probably published when "Gatorade" was "Gatorade". Read the ingredients label now. It's nothing like the original product we had as kids. Now it's got high fructose corn syrup just like every other soda pop out there.

I like the water idea. Drink a lot of water before you dive, don't be an air hog and wet your mouth if you feel dehydrated. If you're so low on energy that you need an energy drink just to make the dive you should probably be getting more sleep the night before!

 

[Laustimus]

RB does not contain Taurine anymore, this ingredient was substituted by Arginine in 2008 (due to the bans in France, Denmark and Norway).

Actually their site still lists it. and taurine's got a specific side effect that hurts divers if they have an allergy to the stuff.. it causes tightness in the chest and trouble breathing.

I'm not sure what is so dangerous about energy drinks, it goes beyond just caffeine because a cup of coffee has more than these drinks. It's probably a mixture of caffeine, sugar, and all the other "stimulants" in the drinks.

These drinks are also loaded with B vitamins, something the body can get too much of, especially B6 which will damage nerve endings.

 

[alewar]

Actually their site still lists it. and taurine's got a specific side effect that hurts divers if they have an allergy to the stuff.. it causes tightness in the chest and trouble breathing.

It seems they actually switched to arginine only in france, and for a short period of time. Here is an article about it:

Taurine time for the French as Red Bull reformulates

About re-hydration, I've read that alcohol free beer works pretty well.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Hmmmm, alcohol free beer. Now here's a good place for it!! Never thought of that!! Thanks Alewar!