Yes, a moderately high amount of sugar can do it, but it may depend on the type of exercise.
A product like Gatorade® provides hydration, electrolytes, and sugar. In the past, the sugar part was considered useful only for long exertions. More recently, the idea arose that sugar could help for exercise lasting about an hour if the workout was fairly strenuous. Note that these recommendations only reflect the sugar considerations. Drinking for hydration and/or to replenish salts are separate topics.
Recommendations about drinking sugar are often based on subjective feelings, but the ideas of the last paragraph are backed by some research (1,2). For longer exertions, sugar ingestion is supposed to add to blood sugar, which conserves body glycogen stores, which also supplies the body with sugar. However, for shorter sessions, another mechanism has been proposed to come into play more quickly. The taste of sugar in the mouth might produce nervous system responses that help a person feel like they have more energy (2). When a person feels that way, they could then perform better. Possibly, other mechanisms could also occur. Whatever the mechanism, the bottom line question is: if I exercise for an hour, will sugar help my performance?
A review article (2) has listed studies where sugary drinks were given to people during aerobic exercise lasting for about an hour. In some, but not all cases, the sugary drinks helped performance. The amounts of sugar consumed tended to be on the high side (75-120 g, which corresponds to about 315 to 504 Calories). In some other studies from the review article, the sugary drink was not actually swallowed. Instead, the drink was rinsed in the mouth at multiple time points during the exertion period. Some of these studies gave improved performance. These results support the concept that sugar taste in the mouth signal the brain to feel more energetic. These mouth rinse studies provide insight into body mechanisms, though some people might find these procedures inconvenient for training or competing.
So, what about drinking a more moderate amount of sugar a few times during exercise lasting a hour or so? Our laboratory addressed this question using 3 servings of 6.5 ounces of Gatorade® for an exercise session lasting just under an hour. The subjects were males and females who ran at least 3 miles at least twice a week. For the study, the subjects ran 3 miles as fast as they could, walked for about 90 seconds, did 25 minutes of stationary bicycling (covering as much distance as possible), walked about a minute, and then completed a 90 second step up test (doing as many steps as possible). Participants drank either Gatorade® or a flavored placebo at the start of the run, just after the post run walk, and midway through the cycling. The total sugar consumed was 33g (127 Calories). Each subject did the regimen first with just water. Then, they repeated the process with Gatorade® or placebo about 4 weeks later. Performance was compared for the second testing versus the first.
Gatorade® did not help with the run times, probably because the activity didn’t last long enough. However, Gatorade® did improve the bike distance (7.6% increase) and the number for the step test (7.5% increase). In contrast, placebo treatment had no effect. These results have been summarized in a published conference abstract (3). These same type results were also obtained in a published study (4) from our group using Endurance Fuel™ from Twinlab®. This drink had a mix of ingredients including sugars. Although the exact grams of available sugar were hard to calculate, it seemed similar to what we used in our Gatorade® study.
Our two studies suggest that moderate amounts of sugar in a drink can enhance one type of exercise performance of about an hour. The exercise we tested had minimal rest and a lot of steady exertion, which was mixed with a few bursts of extra effort. Therefore, these findings should apply to an hour or so of mixed aerobic exercises or to a long circuit session. They may also apply to running sessions where pauses occur at times (ie. track distance running training).
Some cautions need to be mentioned here. If the primary goal of exercise revolves around weight control, drinking sugar Calories during exercise may not be the right approach. Also, for people with blood sugar problems, individual plans may need to be devised with an endocrinologist. Lastly, too high a ratio of sugar to water can interfere with hydration efficiency. Using a sports drink like Gatorade® avoids this issue. You can also mix sugar drinks with plain water (either dilute the sugar drink in a container or mix the sugar drink + water in the stomach).
DISCLAIMER: The information and opinions offered here were not given from a biased perspective. The Gatorade® company had no influence on the research done on their product, nor were they even aware of the work until after it was done. I did receive a grant from the Gatorade® Sports Institute for another study, but that study had nothing to do with any Gatorade® products. In applying for that grant, I did not mention my work on a Gatorade product because that study didn’t exist yet. On another subject, the study mentioned above that involved a TwinLabs product was funded by a grant from TwinLabs. However, TwinLabs gave me no rewards, or even another grant, for finding good results for their product.
- Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrate intake during exercise and performance. Nutrition 2004;20: 669-77.
- Stellingwerff T, Cox GR. Systematic review: Carbohydrate supplementation on exercise performance or capacity of varying durations. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2014, 39:998-1011.
- DiSilvestro RA, Joseph E, Marshall T, Hart S, Swain CB. Effects of Gatorade® on Performance of Moderately Strenuous Aerobic Exercise Lasting Under an Hour. FASEB Journal 2011;25:587.11.
- DiSilvestro RA, Joseph E, Hart S, Swain CM. Effects of a mixed nutraceutical beverage on performance of moderately strenuous aerobic exercise lasting under an hour. Nutraceutical Journal 2011;4:151-155.
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