Is it better to drink water or Lucozade?

“Well is it?”…

A frequently asked question. While listening to a speech at a coaching conference recently, I heard that if plain water was cool or sleep could be bottled, you could make a lot more money.

The only reason sleep and water are not promoted more as recovery tools is that no one makes money from them. What is the real difference between drinking water and lucozade? 

Lucozade

There are many types of Lucozade, supposedly for different situations, fizzy Lucozade energy, Lucozade lite and Lucozade sport.

• Lucozade lite contains 1gram of sugar per 100ml and is said to contain 70% less sugar than other Lucozade types and it should be used before and during exercise.
• Lucozade energy contains 50grams of sugar in a normal sized bottle. This type is used very much as a recreational drink and is not designed for sports and is purely to increase energy when feeling low not before an athletics or sports event.
• Lucozade Sport contains 3.5grams per 100ml. It is supposed to be drunk before, during and after a sport event.

Therefore depending on which type of Lucozade you choose there is a lot of sugar. Consider that 40g is the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for a woman. This excess sugar will be stored as glycogen and if continually built up can be turned into fat.

Lucozade during exercise

All of the Lucozade varieties have come from a “sports science academy” and have been “vigorously tested”. You would expect them to do exactly what they say wouldn’t you?

Many of you can remember the slogan: you go 33% longer, however research since then has stated that this was a flawed study, allowing athletes to take Lucozade while others had fasted for over 12 hours.

Lucozade Sport is an isotonic drink as it contains a glucose level of 6-8%. These types of drinks are good to replace some of the energy lost during exercise. Although, it does not mean it contains everything that is needed.

The Lucozade website states that athletes drinking lucozade sport run faster over the course of a marathon compared to those who drink water. I would personally be skeptical about that as speed is very much training related and so you could also run just as quickly with water.

Water during exercise….. 

The effects of drinking water during exercise are to cool you down and to rehydrate you.  During other times, it helps to increase the mineral and vitamin absorption of your daily diet.

Water is considered to act as a buffer when the body’s temperature rises when there is a specific heat causing an increase of 1°. This temperature rise is part of the reason why fluid loss of only 1-2% body weight can induce the feeling of thirst. This indicates the need for fluid and electrolyte replacement.

This level of fluid loss (dehydration) can also lead to feelings of fatigue, which is the biggest precursor to poor performance.

The recommended amount of water to be consumed is 2 litres per day, plus 1 litre per hour of exercise. If you exercise for 3 hours then you need 5 litres for that day (see chart here).

As mentioned above the electrolyte absorption is very important, specifically sodium because you lose a lot of sodium through sweating. Water contains 6mg of sodium per litre.

Most Lucozade types do not contain enough sodium to make them conducive to recovery. Some sources claim that Lucozade sport contains 23mg in total however I cannot find any evidence to back up these claims.

The label on water states that it contains no carbohydrates, sugars, protein or fat whereas Lucozade does contain all of those but some in minute amounts.

Research does suggest that carbohydrate- electrolyte and protein- electrolyte drinks are the best for recovery after exercise. Lucozade Sport does contain carbohydrates and so in theory should be good for recovery although it does not contain enough electrolytes to be considered a recovery drink.

Water is better for hydration and for minerals (electrolytes) and in that respect general health as Lucozade contains such a high percentage of sugar.

Is there another option?

Redbull is very different to lucozade and unrecognisable to water. If there is a scale of health water is at one end and Redbull the other.

Redbull is a stimulant and contains about the same amount of caffeine as in a normal cup of coffee. . Water in my opinion is better than Redbull for athletic performance. (more details on Redbull here)

Bananas are a useful source of energy, and are a lot cheaper than energy drinks. Research has shown that they compare well to commercial isotonic drinks such as lucozade in cycling time trials.

One medium banana (~118 g) contains about 27 g carbohydrate (half as sugars), 3.1 g dietary fiber, 105 kilocalories, and is a good source of potassium (422 mg) and vitamin B6 (0.43 mg)

 Will this question truly be answered?

The original question is very difficult to answer in my opinion. Lucozade is good for what water is not, increasing and maintaining energy.

You can get many different flavours, cherry, orange, lemon, lime, apple, blackcurrant and tropical. Research shows that fluid intake increases for a drink that is flavoured another reason for Lucozades popularity.

It does taste very good. Although by adding squash to water will get the same taste without the added sugar!

Academics have stated that energy drinks that contain carbohydrates should only be drunk in sports that last for longer than 90 minutes.

If you are burning off carbohydrates and need an energy boost then this will be good but your body contains enough carbohydrate to last two hours so a boast for a sport of much less time may not actually aid performance.

Although drinking it at half time having conducted a reasonably long warm up may be useful. It will not increase speed though… only training unluckily will do that!

 In conclusion

Lucozade sport in my opinion is better than water to maintain energy levels for prolonged exercise. It can be used in recovery due to the high level of carbohydrates, but it is not a complete solution.

Much more is required for proper recovery after a training session, for example protein.

Water is good for rehydration after an event, and for hydration during the event. While Lucozade is not as good it tastes a lot better, so might help overall uptake.

Young athletes especially are at increased risk of obesity and diabetes compared to 20 years ago. Part of coaching is the education process of young athletes.

Drinking a sugary drink when it is unnecessary is unlikely to help you become a better athlete: but it could stop you from becoming one.

If you like this then try reading:

• How to make your own sports drink 
• Guide to competition eating
• History of sports supplements

Matt Brookland