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Comment by Sileni | Hacker News Reader

Per volume? Not quite, but not really measurably different. The CO2 dissolved in the solution has to take up some small amount of space. Otherwise it's basically identical; our bodies interact with enough CO2 in a day that you simply aren't making a dent.

"Natural flavors" are essentially adding sugar and a couple chemicals to the water. You can think of it as being effectively the same as drinking an equivalent amount of H2O and taking a tablet that contained all of the "natural flavors". No real difference in hydration, but taking in a bunch of sugar after a workout is generally frowned upon. Go get some protein instead.

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Pedantic note: this is not actually true, it's possible and normal to dissolve something in water, increasing the density and not the volume.

Like what? Sugar increases volume of water.

Sodium chloride decreases the volume of water at saturation by nearly 2%

"Natural flavors" is in seltzer water with 0 sugar. It is also advertised to have "no artificial sweeteners", which I realize might be bending the truth somehow, but I'm pretty sure food and drink companies can't outright lie about that stuff. From what I've gathered it doesn't affect insulin levels like the artificial sweeteners from diet soda does, but I also can't figure out what it actually is.

Side-note: sugar after a workout is the best time for sugar. You want to replenish muscle-glycogen as soon as possible and sugar is a fast track to that. Obviously you should opt for fruit over a Gatorade or sweets though.

Be aware though, they can advertise 0 calories as long as it rounds to 0, so a couple calories of sugar is "0 calorie natural flavor".

So your intention is to skip all of the other nutrients your body needs to recover after a workout? That doesn't seem wise. I guess it's your body though.

Taking in sugar both during and after a workout is important. However, there is the problem that "workout" leaves a lot to interpretation. Do you do 20 minutes on a stationary bike? Do you walk around for an hour from circuit machine to circuit machine, with less than 10 minutes actually spent during sets? If you answered yes, then sugar isn't what you need. You don't need anything at all, except some real exercise.

If on the other hand, your exercise is strenuous, and depletes your bloodstream's glucose, and your liver's short-term supply of glucose, then you absolutely need sugar. Otherwise, your body will efficiently convert whatever is at hand to sugar. The most "at hand" ingredient from your body's point of view, is your lean muscle mass. You don't want to lose that. However if you have these kind of exercise sessions, then you already know this, so keep on doing what you're doing.

A real meal has everything your body needs to recover. Shooting back some sort of energy drink is a stop-gap, at best, and prevents you from noticing your body's needs, at worst. Hence ending with "Go find some protein". If you're considering whether or not your muscle-glucose levels are going to be replenished, you've already missed the plot.

I drink chocolate milk, usually about 1 hour in. After the exercise is complete, a real meal is exactly what you need. No arguments there at all.

While you're training someone(or yourself) for any type of endurance event(eg triathlon), it's not uncommon to toss them a sugary(decaffeinated!) soda or juice. You're goal is to make sure they never exhaust that available supply of glucose until the event is complete. If they do, along with cannibalizing their muscle mass, they're going to have short-term discomfort(cramps, mental fogginess).

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