You have just completed your work out knowing that you have just burned up a bunch of calories but it has left you in serious need of fluids. What do you reach for; sports drinks, chocolate milk or water? What you choose at this point can make or break your fitness efforts.

What you choose to drink after a work out depends on your type of work out and your goals.

Are Sports Drinks the Best Option?

Your first instinct might be to reach for a sports drink. After all there are commercials and advertisements all over the place for sports drinks. They claim to rehydrate you better than anything else and replace minerals that your body may have lost during your workout. Is it true though?

Well actually it is true; sports drinks are a great way to rehydrate if you don’t mind the calories. Sports drinks do have all the electrolytes and minerals needed to replenish what you lose in an extensive workout. The other advantage of sports drinks is that they are flavored which encourages most people to drink the amount of liquid need to replenish after working out rigorously.

However, with 50 calories and approximately 13-15 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving, you can totally sabotage your diet if you are working out to lose weight. The average person does not need the extra calories or sugar.

• Recommendation: Use sports drinks to hydrate if you are doing extensive physical activity for 60 minutes or longer. If you are an athlete or are not trying to lose weight then sports drinks are a good choice for you.

Is Chocolate Milk, The “New Sports Drink”?

We’ve all heard the ads lately about chocolate milk being the “new sports drink”. When I first heard that I had a hard time imagining being able to even think about drinking milk after a work out. It doesn’t sound very refreshing or thirst quenching to me so I pretty much counted these ads as a bunch of bunk.

After some research though, I found that chocolate milk is actually a very good beverage to drink after strength training. It has the right balance of carbs and protein to help with muscle recovery.

In studies of cyclist they found that the athletes that drank chocolate milk after expending all their energy were able to go 50% further on their next round of exercise. About the same as the athletes that consumed sports drinks.

Again, the weight conscious need to take heed. Regular chocolate milk can have up to 226 calories and 32 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving which makes sports drinks look like a diet beverage. You can cut the calories by choosing low fat chocolate milk. Low fat chocolate milk has about 158 calories and 24 grams of sugar but that is till high.

• Recommendation: Drink low-fat chocolate milk after strength training to help muscle recovery but only if you are not watching your calorie consumption.

What About Water?

What if you are like me and working out to burn calories and lose weight? I am not a professional athlete and I rarely exercise more than 60 minutes at a time. Every calorie counts in my world and I prefer to eat rather than drink my calories.

Water is your best option for low impact activities that are less than 60 minutes long, like short runs, walking, quick cardio, yard work, swimming, etc. Yes good old fashioned water.

If you are not a plain water fan then drink enhanced water but watch for the calories. Ounce for ounce some of the enhanced waters have as many calories in them as a soda!

• Recommendation: Drink plain or enhanced water to rehydrate after low impact physical activities or if you are watching your caloric intake. Keep the calorie count to 10 calories or less per 8 ounces.

Want More?

For more nutritional and training advice call personal trainer, Zach Hunt, owner of Phyzique Personal Training in Liberty Lake, WA. He is trained and certified and can help you reach your health and fitness goals.

Food today just isn’t what it was 50 years ago. Even the soil we plant in isn’t what it was 50 years ago. Fast food is entirely too convenient and many of us grew up eating fast food way more than we should have. So how are we supposed to get all the vitamins and minerals that we need to live a healthy life when it isn’t so simple anymore? Unless you have the time and space to grown your own garden, Spokane super supplements are a decent replacement. You just have to know what to look for in a meal replacement shake, snack, or even a drink.

What Spokane super supplement should I drink to reach my health goals?

First and foremost: water! But since that is pretty much a given, you do have other options. Keep sports drinks limited to when you are working out or playing hard for more than an hour. To add flavor to your liquid intake, try green tea. Scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. In 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

What can green tea do for me as a Spokane Super Supplement?

Green tea is also high in the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the “French Paradox.” For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers. And new evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.

Green tea has numerous other health benefits as well. It acts as an antiviral agent. It contains fluoride, a mineral that helps prevents cavities and strengthens tooth enamel. A cup a day can help reduce plaque formation and bacterial infections in the mouth. It acts as an anti-inflammatory, maintains a healthy, active metabolism and circulatory system just to name a few.

Where can I find green tea as a Spokane super supplement?

You kind find green tea in any Spokane supermarket in tea bags or already made bottled tea, but true tea aficionados suggest that you get loose leaf tea and brew it fresh. Fresh brewed green tea is the best way to ingest all of its benefits and you can also control the amount of sugar or other sweeteners that are in your tea. And green tea can come in many forms and flavors when you chose to purchase loose leaf tea.

Now that you are eating and drinking your way to health, make sure to contact Zach Hunt with Physzique Personal Fitness to get started on building the best body you have ever had!