Thursday, March 15, 2012
Poster Area 2 (Foyer Outside Exhibit Hall C) (Convention Center)
Given the explosion of commercial sports drinks, students often question the science behind advertising claims, safety issues, and whether they're worth the cost. Students are assigned to analyze the physiological effects of main “energy drink” ingredients (taurine, caffeine, and glucouronolactone) and to provide a rationale for sticking to the basics – carbohydrate loading drinks or fluid replenishment drinks. This teaching strategy is designed for undergraduate Nutrition for Sports and Exercise class. Students are instructed to find a commercial drink made for carbohydrate loading (e.g. a glucose polymer drink, such as “Gator-load”) or one for fluid replenishment (e.g. designed to replace fluid loss from sweat, such as “Gatorade”). They save the label and prepare a homemade recipe, similar to the commercial product. The recipe must meet specific criteria: a) easy to prepare, b) palatable, c) less costly than the commercial product, d) with approximately the same number of calories, grams of CHO, and mg of electrolytes as the commercial product. Students prepare a label on the product they designed, using “Nutrition Calc Plus" software. The recipe is prepared in the university's foods lab. (Ingredients are purchased in advance by lab assistant). Students write a brief paper that includes a general description of their product, nutrition information, and a one-page advertisement. These are taste-tested and rated by the class, recipes are modified according to recommendations, and a final report is written on why the drinks they designed may be better alternatives to commercial brands.