Can sports drinks improve the way you play and exercise? Athletes-both competitive and recreational-turn to the consumption of sports drinks to optimize their performance. A volume in the Nutrition in Exercise and Sports Series, Sports Drinks: Basic Science and Practical Aspects provides a review of current knowledge on issues relating to the formulation and consumption of these popular drinks. The only single volume that addresses these subjects, this text also covers in depth the science that underpins the physiological, biochemical and nutritional roles of the sports beverage.

As sport has become more professionalised over the last thirty years, so the role of nutrition in promoting health and performance has become ever more important to athletes who search for the extra edge to succeed in their respective sports. With the expansion in the provision of medical and scientific support services in elite sport, those who advise athletes have had to become adept at identifying those dietary strategies that will help them to outperform their competitors. This book is structured in two parts. The first analyses the science that underpins the nutritional goals of...