CHEMISTRY IN SPORTSBy: Phil Lauture, Zach Crosson, and Nick Odoi

Intro to Sports Chemistry The first fact about sports is that it is a game. They are games just like

checkers or chess, UNO or monopoly. When we play sports, we are playing a game, and whether it is for fun or for real live competition, we play to win. But under the game and the struggles to win, there is the science of our every movement, every stroke, kick, sprint, throw, catch, hit, etc. This is what we know as Sports Science, and because of our research and better understanding of the field, our performance overall in sports has improved. Chemistry is one of the most important form of science, and it is a crucial form of Sports Science. It breaks down the elements that keep give us strength to compete, the elements we lose to sweat, and the elements that we can put in bars and drinks to enhance our performance and keep us in the game.

Pregame: Before it all starts

It is essential for any athlete to practice before active competition so that they are prepared to compete. For your body, putting in food with the right nutrients is essential for preparing your body for activity.

Carbohydrates In Chemistry a carbohydrate is just a molecule that can be expressed

in terms of Carbon and Water (H20), but for the athlete it is probably their greatest ally. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for any human being.

The basic molecular formula is CH2O. There are two types of Carbohydrates: Simple Carbohydrates which give quick but unlasting energy, and Complex Carbohydrates, which gives slow but lasting energy.

Sugar is one of the type of carbohydrate with a chemical formula of C6H12O6. It is in practically all forms of carbs in some way, but knowing which one is the good one is the smart choice for a good athlete.

Sugars: Simple Carbohydrates Simple carbs are either single sugars or double sugars

Single sugars are also known as monosaccharides (Cx(H2O)y ) are the simplest form of sugars and the most basic form of carbohydrates. Examples of these are glucose (blood sugar), galactose (a sugar found in milk and yogurt), and fructose (a sugar found in honey)

Double sugars are also known as Disaccharides (C12H22O11 ) . These are basically the bonding of two monosaccharides which is called a glycosidic bond. Here is the formula for it: (C12H22O11 = 2 C6H12O6 − H2O ) ○ Some disaccharides include:

Sucrose (table sugar)= glucose+fructoseLactose (major sugar in milk)=glucose+galactoseMaltose=glucose+glucose

Complex Carbs Complex Carbohydrates are also known as Polysaccharides,

and there are three types: Starches, Glycogen, and Cellulose. The basic formula is (C6H10O5)n

Starches: Complex forms of glucose. There are two forms of starch. The simple form is amylose, and the complex form is amylopectin

Glycogen: Storage form of glucose. It can be turned back into a glucose by a process called glycogenolysis. It is shown that intense workout and a high carb diet will give create high glycogen reserves in the athlete, giving more energy and more endurance. But if you aren’t working out for real and you are eating a high carb diet, it’ll just turn into fat

Cellulose is a polysaccharide of glucose and can also be in wood and cotton

During Performance The main word for during competition is electrolyte. An electrolyte in

Chemistry is any element, particle, molecule, whatever, that ionizes, or becomes an ion when dissolved into a solvent capable of ionizing, like water.

Now why do we care about electrolytes, because chemically it sounds like it has nothing to do with sports. Well it has a lot to do with it. Electrolytes are molecularly acids, bases, and salts in the body. They’re job is to transport water to and from the major systems of the body via a process called osmosis, which is how they transfer the fluids from one cell to another. They keep the body hydrated.

The main electrolytes are: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate and bicarbonate

Sweat What do electrolytes have to do with Sports? SWEAT. When we sweat we lose more than just

water. We lose electrolytes, mainly sodium and potassium when we sweat, and we need to put those back in our bodies. That is why we need more than just water. We need sports drinks.

Every sports drink knows that the athlete needs to put the electrolytes in that they lost in sweat, therefore they put in a ton of the electrolytes we need to stay in the game. Next time you drink a gatorade or powerade or something like that, look at its contents. Most of those aren’t chemicals to make it taste good. These are electrolytes, molecules and formula units that ionize in solvents like water, molecules and formula units that can give you what you need to win.

But also remember, there is no true replacement for water. Water provides oxygen for the body, cleans out, and helps circulate the processes of the body. If blood is the gas then water is the oil. When you play, make sure you are also drinking water too. Sugar is what makes energy drinks taste good most of the time, and for non-sugary drinks, well they probably taste bad or they have chemicals like aspertame that have unwanted effects on the body. Sugar is energy, but it is the type of energy that goes in hard and leaves quick. Sports aren’t that short, unless it’s sprinting, but whatever you get my point.

Energy Drinks vs Sports Drinks To put it simply: These are two different drinks. Drink energy drinks

when you need energy during the day and drink sports drinks during sports.

Most energy drinks are made of Caffeine (C8H10N4O2). Caffeine gets you up, but caffeine drains the body of water. For an athlete who is already sweating, the last thing you want is something that will take more water out of you. Plus energy are meant for energy. And one of those is increasing heart rate. The heart rate is the rate the heart pumps blood, or orchestrates blood throughout the body. The heart rate is basically the drummer boy of the body. If your heart rate is going fast, your body is already starting work, burning heat calories, which is cooled down by sweat. So in final terms, energy drinks make it worse for athletes.

Energy Drinks vs Sports Drinks In the last slide we learned that energy drinks are best for those 1-2 pm feelings when we just want to

sleep, and are terrible for athletes. Sports Drinks are so opposite, you might as well call it an inverse. Drinking Sports Drinks when you are not doing Sports is like wearing your sports gear and equipment

when you don’t need it. When you are not losing electrolytes, you don’t need to gain electrolytes. So when you drink sports drinks when you don’t need it and you put in unneeded electrolytes, your kidneys will flush out the unneeded electrolytes and you’ll pee it out. So there was no point at all, a waste of drink, electrolytes, money, I mean someone in the world could have used those electrolytes, and those people aren’t just athletes.

People who are sick with illnesses like the stomach flu where they throw up and diarhhea, in that pile of grossness are a ton of electrolytes flushed or rinsed away. Some doctors prescribe patients like these with sports drinks, not to make them happy because they taste good, but because they need to replenish those electrolytes, or else it could get much worse.

So a final word, if you are thirsty and you aren’t going hardcore working out, get water. Or if you are monitoring your sugar, milk or juice would be ok. Because drinking sports drinks when you aren’t playing sports is worthless. But when you are on the court or field or whatever, that gatorade could be the difference between you winning and you pulling out. And when it is all broken down, all you see is pure Sports Chemistry.

Post-Game Protein In Chemistry, proteins are naturally occuring polypeptides, which are long, chained, peptides. Peptides are made

up of amino acids (NH2CHRCOOH). There are 20 amino acids, 9 of them are essential, meaning they are obtained only by the food we eat, and 11 if them are non-essential, meaning they may be synthesized in the body.

Proteins are the building blocks of our body, and they can be found in our foods, and some of our drinks. Complete proteins, which contain 8 amino acids, can be found in meat, eggs, dairy, etc. Incomplete proteins, which are found in vegetables, fruits, and nuts, are lacking of one or two amino acids.

For the athlete, protein is not mainly used as fuel, but at the end of the workout, protein is needed to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. This is super important, because if an athlete doesn’t restore protein, they will not be able to compete at the highest level consistently.

There are various protein bars, drinks, and shakes in the market. Now there is a common myth that if you put in a ton of protein in your body, you will get super strong. No your body needs a certain amount of protein, and if you overload on protein the your body will flush it out and you will end up peeing nutrients that you could have used another day.

But to be completely honest, some of the strongest men in the world don’t load up on super-protein drinks or shakes or bars. They need a lot of protein because they do so much with their muscles, they have to put in super amounts of protein. Some of them just load up on beef, eggs, fish, pork, whatever it is to the max, and it works out just fine.

In the end, Protein is needed to restore and rebuild lost tissue during workout. You can find many post workout bars, drinks, and shakes that will help you achieve your goal. But remember there is nothing better than a good meal, if you can have lunch or dinner or breakfast after a workout, it has all the protein you need.

Epilogue Sports Chemistry has a base in everything we put in our bodies, and

everything we lose in our bodies due to sports related activities. Now when you go out there, I don’t want you to be saying stuff like: hey don’t give me gatorade, it has too many monosaccharides or something nerdy like that, because like the many processes of our body that move on their own, Sports Chemistry shouldn’t be studied and experimented on by you. You are the athlete. You go play, because there are many people in the world who make it their job to put the right information on what to drink, eat, chew, when, and where, and their advancements have made sport altogether better. But it is your job as an athlete to be able to know what is good for your body before, during, and after activity, because it will help you compete loads better I promise.

Websites

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-simple-carbohydrates.htm

http://www.rsc.org/Education/Teachers/Resources/cfb/proteins.htm

http://www.edrinks.net/sports-drinks/replacing-electrolytes.aspx

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sportsnutrition/a/Protein.htm

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/Carbohydrates.html

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Monosaccharide.html

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/101633/cellulose