PROLYTE: We believe that your bodies ability to use nutrients during exercise is limited. Most of your blood is being used to supply the muscles with oxygen, electrolytes and glucose, thus little is left for other functions, including digestion. Also, during exercise, the muscles are being torn down and can't use those nutrients to repair themselves. That is why ProLyte contains only the necessary carbs, electrolytes (sodium and potassium, with magnesium to aid in electrolyte absorption) and b-vitamins (to promote efficient use of the carbohydrates. B-vitamins aid in carb metabolism). The time to replenish the protien and nutrients to help your body repair itself is after exercise, when your body can uptake the nutrients quickly and efficiently and use them for muscle repair, glycogen replenishment and reduction of free radicals.

There are a few drinks that offer many additional nutrients, however it is much cheaper to get these additional nutrients in a multivitamin. In addition, virtually all of drinks we've seen contain synthetic vitamins, which are best absorbed with food. So, chances are, those drinks with all kinds of vitamins and extra goodies aren't getting digested or utilized entirely anyway. Your best bet is to eat a lot of veggies and fruits and grains and use a multivitamin. (I personally take a multivitamin with breakfast, then several different antioxidant pills with dinner).

ULTIMA: It is important to note that the 90 ingredients contained in Ultima Replenisher are there because they are the ingredients required for function. The formula is designed to replace only those nutrients lost during an hour of activity. Ultima Replenisher is not meant to replace dietary consumption of these nutrients or to be a daily vitamin supplement.

During endurance activities such as a marathon or triathlon, this need for nutrients becomes evident as muscles cramp, energy levels drop and other physical signs occur. The Ultima Replenisher formula consists of only the most bio-available form of nutrients instead of the less expensive forms that are more profitable to use. For example, chelated potassium aspartate is highly absorbable but it is more expensive than potassium phosphate. Ester C is six times more bio-available than ascorbic acid and it is pH buffered, but it is considered too expensive by many companies. In addition, you will find no artificial ingredients, flavors, colors, or sweeteners in Ultima Replenisher. When was it shown that Blue #1, Ester Gum, Brominated Vegtable Oils, or aspartame ever improved performance?

ELOAD: The position of e load™ and it’s medical director and formulator, Dr. Douglas Stoddard, is the simpler, the better. Why? Because the more nutrients/ingredients/calories crammed into your drink, the more difficulty you will have digesting and absorbing them. This is due to several fundamental physiological truths, including:

• Gastric emptying is reduced with increasing levels of calories (i.e. with increasing energy content) in your drink
  
• Gastric emptying is reduced with increasing solute (i.e. increasing levels of dissolved substances) in your drink.
  
• Gastrointestinal function (digestion and absorption) is reduced during intense physical activity for many reasons.
  

There are literally thousands of possible things one could put in a sports drink, as human physiology and metabolism requires thousands of compounds and chemicals to work, especially during exercise. However, where to draw the line, and on what basis to draw it, are the crucial questions, especially considering the above physiological "laws". e load‰ believes that a sports drink absolutely, unequivocally, has to help the athlete battle the following:

a). Dehydration
b). Bonking (falling blood glucose levels)
c). Lactic Acid Buildup
d). Falling electrolyte levels (primarily sodium and potassium), but also including Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc.

These problems I call the "Famous Four". If your drink does not optimize these four things, but chooses to try to optimize other aspects of physiology instead, it has missed the mark.

ECAPS: The answer to this question depends on the length of the event for time necessary to transit for depleted/stressed macronutrients and micronutrients. In an endurance event lasting 12 hours or less, fluids, carbohydrate fuels, and specific electrolytes may have performance-limiting effects if not replenished. In events lasting longer than 12 hours, it is required that the athlete replenish depleted macronutrients and micronutrients during the event proportionate to time, rate, and the individual athlete's biochemical makeup to postpone failure.

Carbohydrate fuel is a performance-limiting or performance-enhancing macronutrient fuel in all forms of endurance exercise. Carbohydrate misuse, overuse, underuse, timing, and confusion continue to plague endurance athletes, interfering with their hoped-for maximal performance. Misinformed, athletes continue to misuse simple sugars, or consume too many complex carbohydrates prior to exercise, during exercise, and after exercise.

Additionally, we believe that while sports drinks may contain one or more electrolytes, it is important to replace specific ones primarily used during exercise in a form (capsules) that allows alteration of dosages based on body weight, BMI, length and intensity of training, and weather. In addition, electrolyte loss can vary by several hundred percent depending on the extent of heat stress and the degree of acclimatization, while caloric and fluid needs do not vary by more than 10 percent to 20 percent. We don’t believe that adopting the "one size fits all" or "everything and the kitchen sink" approaches can adequately fulfill proper electrolyte replacement. Our philosophy is that because every person’s electrolyte needs are different, it’s important to provide a product that allows the athlete to tailor the dose according to their needs—needs that can only be found through experimentation in training. Products that contain 100 different ingredients, while offering a full variety of nutrients, may not provide adequate amounts of key nutrients. Other products containing only one or two electrolytes may not provide the proper balance or full spectrum that an electrolyte replacement product should provide. As a solution, we offer an encapsulated electrolyte replacement product called ENDUROLYTES, which is designed as a low-sodium, balanced electrolyte approach to cooperatively enhance body mechanisms.

GATORADE: The most important ingredients in a fluid replacement drink are water, carbohydrate and electrolytes. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the idea that addition of other micronutrients and minerals will enhance performance of a fluid replacement drink. Fluid replacement involves better drinking, quick gastric emptying, and rapid intestinal absorption. Gatorade is designed to address each of these key aspects. When exercising in a hot environment people voluntarily drink more Gatorade than water or flavored water1. This is because the taste profile of Gatorade is optimized to encourage drinking during a hot and sweaty occasion2. When athletes drink more, the risk of dehydration is reduced. But, better drinking is only one piece of the puzzle. To be effective, a fluid replacement beverage must empty from the stomach quickly and have a fast rate of intestinal fluid absorption. Research has shown that Gatorade has both. Its carbohydrate content does not impede gastric emptying3 while the carbohydrate and electrolyte content promotes rapid intestinal fluid absorption4. Thus, Gatorade gets in quickly and provides the much needed fluid and carbohydrate to keep the body going. When it is not possible to match fluid intake to losses during intense exercise, it is important to consume 16-24 oz. of fluid for every pound of body weight loss following the exercise. Drinking Gatorade results in a rapid and more complete rehydration compared to drinking water alone5. This is because the electrolyte content of Gatorade helps the body maintain more of the ingested fluid. Water, carbohydrate and electrolytes are the primary functional ingredients in any fluid replacement beverage but Gatorade contains appropriate amounts of these components to promote better drinking1,2, rapid gastric emptying3, speedy intestinal absorption4 and more complete rehydration following exercise5.

References
1. Wilk B and Bar-Or J. Appl. Physiol. 80(4):1112-1117, 1996
2. Passe DH, et al. Appetite 35(3):219-229, 2000.
3. Murray R et al. Int. J. Sports Nutr. 9:263-274, 1999.
4. Ryan AJ, et al. J. Appl. Physiol. 84(5):1581-1588, 1998.
5. Gonzalez-Alonso J. Int. J. Sports Med. 13(5):399-406, 1992.

GPUSH: The human body requires a continual supply of energy and a variety of nutrients to successfully manage everyday activity. Natural mechanisms exist in the body to ensure sustained activity, even when the gaps between dietary intakes are large. Therefore, it is not necessary to constantly ingest supplements throughout everyday activities. Additional supplementation of specific nutrients is necessary only when there is either a deficiency in dietary intake, or during sustained exercise when demands are high. Considerable research exists to show that significant nutrients such as carbohydrate, water and certain minerals need to be supplemented during exercise.