Energy Drink? Beer?

[DarrenHart]

Don't thing that glucose is the way to go. White grape juice, which is very high in glucose, ain't a good idea either. The problem with glucose, becuz it is absorbed so quickly, can result in a blood sugar spike when ingested in sufficient amounts. This blood sugar (also glucose) spike will probably cause a release of insulin which will likely leave you with a blood sugar level lower than it was before ingesting the glucose.

A combination of high glycemic sugars and low glycemic sugars is probably a better idea so that an insulin release is minimal. (Note that glycemic load is more important than glycemic index). Combining glucose with sucrose & fructose is one way to go.

Another posibility is to include some sugar alcohols as sweeteners to provide a source of calories that have very little, if any, effect on blood sugar levels (hence no insulin release). Sugar alcohols include Xylitol, Erythritol, and Glycerol (glycerine). Another plus with these sweeteners is that they do not promote tooth decay and, in fact, are beneficial to dental health.

If you think that a game of badminton can only last about 30-40 minutes you probably want a short spike of energy, low GI/GL foods release energy with a minimal spike in insulin response but that is generally the glucose in them is broken down/released slowly. In badminton the depletion of the creatine phosphate pool is probably one of the biggest impairments to performance and you need a ready supply of glucose to recharge that. For longer runs and less anerobic based sports i would agree that longer lasting energy supplies would probably be better, for badminton you probably need that short sharp spike of energy. During training maybe go with a longer lasting source, for matches high energy supplies may be best.

Be careful with those sugar alcohols... Too much and they are basically laxatives.... Badminton woul be bad if you needed toilets breaks all the time !

[DarrenHart]

Also the medics can correct me if i am wrong, but i seem to remember that once exercise has started insulin secretion is greatly reduced and thus High GI/GL carbs dont have a large effect on blood sugar levels.

[toddster]

beer sounds good to me . I ussually take water during club night. on tournaments I took a gatorade and a banana after each game.

I think beer is a good idea after the tournament at the party where there are women there. I think I perform better when I have beer in my system, however, my friends say that my social performance decreases exponentially with the more beer I intake as long as the time factor is decreased.

Toddster

[SystemicAnomaly]

If you think that a game of badminton can only last about 30-40 minutes you probably want a short spike of energy, low GI/GL foods release energy with a minimal spike in insulin response but that is generally the glucose in them is broken down/released slowly. In badminton the depletion of the creatine phosphate pool is probably one of the biggest impairments to performance and you need a ready supply of glucose to recharge that. For longer runs and less anerobic based sports i would agree that longer lasting energy supplies would probably be better, for badminton you probably need that short sharp spike of energy. During training maybe go with a longer lasting source, for matches high energy supplies may be best.

Be careful with those sugar alcohols... Too much and they are basically laxatives.... Badminton woul be bad if you needed toilets breaks all the time !

Most sugar alcohols have a fairly mild laxative effect. In moderate amounts they should not present much of a prob at all. However when ingesting large amounts, like eating too much fruit (which contains sugar alcohols in addition to various sugars), the effect may be noticable.

Found out recently that Xylitol, which is excellent for dental health, can cause a noticable amt of intestinal gas if ingested in sufficient quantities. For this reason some ppl have switched to Erythritol which appears to have many of the dental health benefits of xylitol w/o the gassy-ness.

Am also looking into Glycerol (glycerine) which is used by some endurance athletes to counteract dehydration by "glycerol loading" before an event. However glycerol should never be consumed undiluted, as unhydrated glycerol will draw water (away) from tissues (where it is often needed).

[DarrenHart]

I have read something about glycerol also, apparently useful for marathon runners etc in high temp/humidity races as it allows them to hold extra water in their system.

With the extra water also comes extra weight though and it can cause mild intestinal discomfort so the benefits way not outweigh the problems.

All very interesting though.

[kris1503dara]

While I play singles in badminton, I always have a some sort of energy drink with me.
before I used to use gatorade (sports drink)and it replenish me throughout the game but recently i tried RELOAD, this energy drink and I found out it gave me more of a boost than gatorade but i lose it faster than gatorade.

So when I was playing my friend (who beat me everytime i play against him.) I finally beat him! and by the end of the day he was all pooped up and I was hyper. (next week ima try beer )

Later i found out RELOAD (an energy drink) has a whole lotta sugar and caffine in it... no wonder why i was so bouncy
so im wondering...

Im wondering what do you drink?
Energy Drink?
Sports Drink?
Water?
BEER?

I find that I get cramped quite quickly if I drink anything other than water during play, and usually very little. After badminton though, beer is ALWAYS the desired choice. Rickard's Red or Stella

[Qu3sT10nMaRk]

i drink water or if i have money on me gatorade ... none of that ... powerade and "homeade" stuff for me... i wonder does being drunk make u play better...

P.S how does powerade taste like compared to gatorade ... ?

[twobeer]

Despite my member-name.. I must admit its mostly water for me... Sometimes during long workout or many matches, i have some isotonic sports drinks.. and often a "gainer" (carbs+protein drink) after training..

/Twobeer

[chapree]

Water for me.
Cheaper in longer run