How It Works
The following is a basic interpretation of how your body functions, and how PerformanceDrink interacts with the different stages of physical exertion. For more precise scientific explanations, go to our Proven Science area.
How Your Body Works
When exercising, muscles in your body need three main ingredients: Water, Oxygen, and Glucose. Glucose is a simple carbohydrate (sugar) that provides the fuel for the metabolic process. Your body breaks down the foods and liquids you consume during digestion, and absorbs the water and nutrients into the blood stream where it is then stored in the muscles and liver in the form of Glycogen. Glycogen is simply a complex chain of molecules made up of the absorbed glucose and serves as the storage mechanism until the body needs it.
Different foods provide different variations of nutrients that although thought to be the same, are not. For instance, apples are a good source of fructose. If you take four different kinds of apples (Macintosh, Cortland, Red Delicious, or Granny Smith), they have different colors, shapes, growth patterns, leaves, and cooking techniques. Therefore, they each have different kinds of fructose. The same can be said for any other types of vegetables and grains that serve as the ingredients of PerformanceDrink.
As an athlete begins to put their muscles to work, glucose is expended. A certain amount of glycogen is stored in the muscles themselves for quick access, and the rest is stored in the liver. As the body expends glucose, the liver and muscles replenish the supply. If any of the ingredients are depleted below optimum levels, the muscles start to break down, and can no longer perform the same work as efficiently, leading to the production of breakdown byproducts such as lactic acid.
As lactate levels rise, the ability for the muscles to do the same amount of work efficiently is inhibited, making the athlete work harder for the same level of performance, until they eventually reach the point of exhaustion.
When the athlete gets nearer to exhaustion, blood glucose levels will be low enough to start to have an affect on many bodily functions. Visual accuity, mental awareness, as well as dexterity start to decline. In many sports, these functions are extremely important, and the athlete cannot afford to let these functions decline.