Are Sports Drinks Really All They're Cracked Up To Be?

Rebecca Milham

Naturopath and Nutritionist

It saddens me to see kids (especially very young kids), guzzling down sports drinks because they, and their parents, are led to believe they're good for them.  
Our kids are bombarded with a massive amount of exposure to these drinks.  Their favourite athletes drink them, they sponsor MANY teams, they have signage all over sports stadiums, and they are repeatedly used to shower other players/coaches with after games.  This huge amount of exposure begins to brainwash children from a very young age. 
I remember when my son was about 6 he asked me for a bottle of Powerade  'Because it gives you the power to reach your goals'.  That was the tag line from the Powerade ad at the time which was on constantly during the AFL games he would sit and watch.  That was the first time I realised just how powerful advertising can be to young minds.  
So let's have a closer look at these sports drinks and see if they are really something we want our kids to be drinking...........

Read More