The drink debate: what’s best for athletes?

Before chowing down after a tough soccer practice or intense workout, Chris Valenti, a senior at Dover High School, does something very specific.

He pours a big glass of milk, sprinkled with a heaping helping of chocolate syrup. Forget the chocolate chip cookies – this is not dessert – it’s a method to help his muscles and body regain strength.

The captain of Dover’s varsity team isn’t alone in this routine; in fact, the entire team is on a chocolate milk kick.

“They seem to recover better,” said head coach Paul Booton. “It’s the number one thing to do.”

How athletes, young and old, refuel and rehydrate is a constant source of debate among parents, coaches and trainers alike. The fads ebb and flow as studies come to the table, said Lew Atkinson, a professor at Wilmington University and former president of the Delaware Youth Soccer Association.

“Chocolate milk has become the new Gatorade,” Atkinson said. The popularity, in part, is because the milk can give the athletes protein and carbohydrates to regenerate muscles without increasing sugar intake exponentially.

Valenti would chug Gatorades when he was in middle school, but made changed his diet after feeling as though his body would crash after guzzling the drinks.

“After a while the sugar definitely gets to you,” he said.

A sports drink, such as Gatorade, replenishes electrolytes, which are minerals in the blood that affect the amount of water in the blood and muscle function. When we sweat, we lose electrolytes.

But, those drinks are generally overused, says Emily Hartline, a weight management dietician with Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children.

“Generally children and adults don’t really need a sports drink unless they are really doing really, really vigorous activity in the hot weather,” Hartline explained.

Casual athletes like those walking or riding their bikes leisurely don’t need to reach for the bottles.

“It’s like drinking an extra soda or eating too much of any sugar-sweetened” food, she said.

People can generally get most of the nutrients in those sports drinks through a balanced diet, Hartline said, but staying hydrated with fluids after an activity is still important.

And the fluid most endorsed is an obvious go-to: water.

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Neil Turner, athletic trainer with Newark High School, recommends that his athletes, especially the football players, drink eight to 10 bottles of water a day. On hot days, they need to take water breaks at least every 15 minutes.

However, it’s hard to get rid of the sports drinks completely, so many of his athletes will cut a sports drink with water to lessen the sugar.

Drink companies are starting to branch out now and offer more options, says Tim Bowie, owner of Peak Performance Athletics, a skills development training center in Camden. Powerade has a sugar-free option, Powerade Zero, and Gatorade offers G2, a low-calorie and -sugar variety.

But water is still his preferred method of hydration, Bowie said.

A year ago, Nancy Vaughn’s son Stuart was drinking Gatorade regularly, but now cuts a bottle in half with water after practice and games. During the school day he will bring about three quarts of water with him to stay hydrated throughout the day.

Vaughn, a math teacher at Dover High, said many of the student athletes in her classes take those similar precautions. They always bring snacks and ease off the sugary drinks.

“They try to eat right so they don’t crash,” she said Saturday during Dover High’s opening soccer game against Wilmington Friends School.

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The coaches do a great job of teaching kids the importance of hydrating before and after games, eating a balanced diet and getting a good night’s sleep, added Ken Hutchins on Saturday. His son Jordan is a senior and plays striker.

Nothing beats good old water, Hutchins said, but parents and coaches can only say so much.

“As parents know, with kids this age it’s hard to tell them anything,” he said.

Jen Rini can be reached at (302) 324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.