Hamburg - Isotonic drinks, which help athletes rehydrate and replenish electrolytes and other nutrients, do not have to be expensive - you can easily mix them yourself. "The proportion of glucose to fructose should be two to one," Torsten Albers, head of the nutrition department at Germany's University of Applied Sciences (DHfPG), told the German Press Agency dpa.
This means adding 60 grams of glucose and 30 grams of fructose to a litre of water. The result is an inexpensive, homemade sports drink that is particularly suitable when temperatures are high.
Drinking plain water is generally sufficient for leisure-time athletes. And those who drink enough water in the course of a day can usually get through an hour of sporting activity without problems, Albers said, so drinking during the activity is not necessary.
"A leisure-time athlete will seldom sweat so much that it becomes a problem," Albers noted. But if the athlete does, Albers recommends a swallow of water every quarter hour.
