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Sports Drinks for Running: Do You Need One?
Reaching for a sports drink when running is such an established habit that most people never ask what is actually in the bottle. The answer is 25 to 30 grams of carbohydrate per 500ml, which is roughly the same as a whole energy gel, plus 400 to 460mg of sodium per litre.
If that bottle is your only source of fuel, those numbers are working for you. If you are also taking gels, chews or a pre-run powder, they are quietly doubling up on a carbohydrate plan you already set.
This guide covers what a sports drink is designed to do, when it is the right call for a runner, when it gets in the way, and what to use instead if you want the fluid and the sodium without the fuel.
The short version
A sports drink is fluid, sodium and fuel in one bottle. That is exactly right if the bottle is all you are carrying. Under about 60 minutes you probably need none of it and water is enough. Past 60 minutes, if you are already running gels, the sports drink adds carbohydrate you did not plan and cannot easily count, and a zero carbohydrate electrolyte drink does the hydration job without touching your fuelling.
For runs under about 60 minutes, no. Water is enough for most people in mild conditions. Past 60 minutes you need fluid, sodium and carbohydrate, and a sports drink delivers all three at once. Whether that is the right way to get them depends entirely on what else you are carrying.
That last part is where most of the confusion sits. A sports drink was designed for an era when the bottle was the whole plan. Gels, chews and pre-run powders were not standard kit. Today most runners past the hour mark are carrying something else as well, and the moment they do, the drink stops being the plan and starts being an extra ingredient in it.
What is actually in a sports drink
The classic formulation is a 6 to 8% carbohydrate solution with sodium added. That concentration is not arbitrary. It is roughly the point at which the gut can empty the stomach and absorb the fluid at a useful rate, which is why the category converged on it decades ago and mostly stayed there.
Per 500ml bottle
Typical
What it is doing
Carbohydrate
25 to 30g
Fuel. Roughly the same as one energy gel.
Energy
400 to 500kJ
About 95 to 120 calories, almost all of it from the sugar.
Sodium
200 to 230mg
Around 400 to 460mg per litre. Helps you hold onto the fluid you drink.
Magnesium and calcium
usually none
Lost in sweat, but not usually replaced by this category.
Concentration
6 to 8%
The carbohydrate level the gut handles reasonably well while you are moving.
Figures are typical of the category rather than of any single brand. Check the panel on whatever is in your hand, because the spread between products is wider than the marketing suggests.
Sports drink or electrolyte drink for running
The two are not competing versions of the same thing. They are doing different jobs, and the deciding question is where your carbohydrate is coming from.
Per litre as mixed
Standard sports drink
Zero carbohydrate electrolyte drink
Sodium
400 to 460mg
600 to 660mg
Carbohydrate
50 to 60g
0g
Magnesium
0mg
100mg
Calcium
0mg
40mg
Energy
850 to 1,000kJ
0kJ
Built for
Fluid and fuel together, when the bottle is your whole plan
Fluid and minerals only, when your fuel comes from somewhere else
Note the sodium line. A zero carbohydrate electrolyte drink is usually the saltier of the two per litre, which surprises people who assume the sports drink is the serious option. It carries more sugar, not more sodium.
What to drink when running, by session length
Session
What you need
A sports drink is
Under 60 minutes
Water, in mild conditions
Unnecessary. You are adding fuel to a session that does not need it.
60 to 90 minutes
Fluid, 300 to 600mg sodium per hour, some carbohydrate
Reasonable, if it is the only thing you are carrying.
90 minutes to 3 hours
30 to 60g carbohydrate per hour plus fluid and sodium
Hard to hit those numbers on drink alone. Most runners add gels, and then the drink doubles up.
Marathon and beyond
A structured fuelling plan you can count
Usually the wrong tool. Separating fluid from fuel makes the plan countable.
There is one exception worth naming. On a race course you do not control, the sports drink on the aid station table is what exists. If that is your plan, train with it, because race day is the wrong moment to find out how your gut feels about it.
The doubling up problem
This is the practical reason most experienced runners drift away from sports drinks, and it is arithmetic rather than ideology.
Say you are targeting 60g of carbohydrate an hour on a long run. You take a gel at 45 minutes, roughly 20 to 25g. You take a second at 90 minutes. Meanwhile you have been sipping a sports drink, and you have got through 500ml, which is another 25 to 30g.
You planned for two gels. You consumed the equivalent of three. Your gut is now working on a third more carbohydrate than you tested in training, and you will not find out whether that was a problem until somewhere around the point it becomes one.
The fix is not complicated. Either make the drink your only fuel and skip the gels, or make the gels your fuel and put something with no carbohydrate in the bottle. What causes trouble is doing both without counting.
Sports drinks and the runner's gut
Running is harder on the digestive system than cycling or swimming. You are upright, the impact is repetitive, and blood is being pulled away from the gut towards working muscle. Anything in your stomach has to cope with that.
A 6 to 8% carbohydrate solution is a reasonable compromise, which is why the category settled there. But it is still a concentrated solution arriving in a stomach that is already under load, and gastrointestinal complaints are among the most commonly reported problems in endurance running. Heat makes it worse, because more blood is diverted to the skin.
Two practical adjustments help more than switching brands. Sip every 10 minutes rather than draining a bottle at an aid station, because smaller and more frequent is easier on the stomach. And test every fuelling change in training, on the kind of session you plan to race, rather than on race morning.
Fluid and minerals with no carbohydrate, so the bottle and the gels stop competing for the same target.
Sugar free sports drinks
A sugar free sports drink is a slightly contradictory product, because the sugar is what made it a sports drink rather than a flavoured mineral solution. Take the carbohydrate out and what remains is an electrolyte drink, whatever the label calls it.
That is not a criticism. It is often exactly what a runner wants. It just means the useful question is not sugar free or not, it is how much sodium it carries per litre and whether anything else in the tin is contributing energy. Maltodextrin, sugar alcohols and added protein all carry kilojoules without appearing on the sugars line, which is covered in our guide to reading a sugar free electrolyte label.
If you want the fluid and the sodium without the fuel, look for zero on the energy line and check the sodium per litre rather than per serve. Serve sizes and mixing volumes vary so much between brands that the per serve figure tells you almost nothing on its own.
"Awesome for hydration during 1-1.5 hour runs. Have been great for my marathon training."
Michael A. · verified buyer on ucan.co · Berry Hydrate
Under about 60 minutes, water is generally enough in mild conditions. Past that you need fluid, sodium and carbohydrate, and a sports drink supplies all three. It is a good choice if the bottle is the only thing you are carrying. If you are also taking gels, it adds carbohydrate you did not plan and cannot easily count.
Is a sports drink better than water for running?
It depends on the session. For a 40 minute easy run, water is fine and the sports drink is just calories. For a two hour long run in heat, you need sodium as well as fluid, and plain water alone will not replace what you sweat out. What it does not have to be is a sports drink specifically, since an electrolyte drink covers the fluid and sodium without the fuel.
How much sugar is in a sports drink?
Typically 25 to 30 grams per 500ml bottle, which works out to 50 to 60 grams per litre and roughly 400 to 500 kilojoules per bottle. That is about the same carbohydrate as one energy gel, which is the number worth holding in your head when you are planning a long run.
Is a sports drink the same as an electrolyte drink?
No. A sports drink is fluid, sodium and carbohydrate together. An electrolyte drink is fluid and minerals with little or no carbohydrate. Confusingly, an electrolyte drink is often the saltier of the two per litre, because the sports drink is carrying sugar rather than extra sodium.
Can I use a sports drink and gels together?
You can, as long as you count both. A 500ml bottle is roughly one gel's worth of carbohydrate, so two gels plus a bottle is closer to three gels than two. Runners who get caught out are usually the ones treating the drink as hydration rather than as fuel.
Do sports drinks cause stomach problems when running?
They can, particularly in heat and at higher intensities, because a concentrated carbohydrate solution is arriving in a stomach with reduced blood flow. Sipping small amounts every 10 minutes is easier on the gut than draining a bottle at an aid station, and any fuelling change should be tested in training rather than on race day.
What should I drink instead of a sports drink?
If your carbohydrate is coming from gels, chews or a pre-run powder, a zero carbohydrate electrolyte drink gives you the fluid and the sodium without adding to the fuel total. That keeps your carbohydrate per hour countable, which is the whole point of having a plan.
Figures for sports drinks are typical of the category rather than of any single brand, taken from published nutrition panels, correct as at September 2026. Carbohydrate and sodium ranges are drawn from published sports nutrition guidance and are general rather than individual advice. Test any change to your fuelling in training before you race it.
Sports Dietitian Bob Seebohar was the personal sports dietitian for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Triathlon team and takes a cutting-edge approach to nutrition with his Metabolic Efficiency
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