Lucozade Sport is the official drink of the Football Association and the Premier League and often sponsors athletes, teams and events. With millions poured into lucrative advertising campaigns and brand recognition, you can’t miss it!

Lucozade Sport is branded as a fundamental product that football players need to help with their game. It’s seen as a must-have sports drink for top athletes and those wanting to perform at a great intensity for long periods. To a certain extent, it does do what it says it does and can have a beneficial effect on a player’s performance. However, Lucozade Sport isn’t always healthy and there are definitely a few underlying health issues that you must know about which aren’t promoted or advertised.

The health issues associated with Lucozade Sport

1. Lucozade Sport’s 2nd ingredient is Glucose Syrup

A fundamental ingredient in Lucozade Sport is glucose syrup, often known as simple sugars, which is typically found in fruits and honey. It is used in food and products to generally make them taste nicer. Just one tablespoon of glucose syrup contains 62 calories and 17 grams of carbohydrates, which is more than you’d get from the equivalent quantity of sugar.

Glucose syrup has very little nutritional value, and any good that may come from consumption is in too little quantity to have any positive effect. Sweeteners have been linked to a whole host of negative health effects including abnormal weight gain, type 2 diabetes and decreased brain function. Lucozade Sport, therefore, may ironically get in the way of you partaking in anything sporty.

2. Lucozade Sport’s 3rd ingredient is Citric Acid

Citric acid is present in Lucozade as well, and as you can imagine, anything that has the term ‘acid’ in it surely can’t be too good for you. It acts as a counter to the sweeteners mentioned above. Whilst this is less likely to cause any problems, huge health issues will occur following excessive consumption.

The effects of acid can be instantaneous on teeth. The acid will erode teeth and could cause them to crumble potentially resulting in some heavy dental work. In severe cases, the stomach will feel the real brunt of the effects. Pain in the abdominal region, cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting are all common when overdosing on citric acid. Worryingly this can also have a serious impact on the blood and heart, and victims should contact a doctor immediately.

3. Lucozade Sport is high in carbohydrates

The boosted levels of carbohydrates in Lucozade Sport are great for energy levels if athletes are, for example, about to play a football match. It will provide energy for long periods, releasing it slowly (hence the name slow-release carbs) which is great as players can keep active, working at higher intensities for a longer amount of time. However, drinking Lucozade Sport before a five-a-side football match, a 30-minute run, or even just casually as a soft drink isn’ advised. That’s when the health problems begin to come in.

The excess carbs won’t be used as an energy source for exercise lasting less than 60 minutes and will be stored in the body as fat. In fact, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently banned one of Lucozade Sport’s adverts. They claimed that the ad didn’t make it clear to consumers that the beneficial effects of the sports drink would only be achieved during prolonged endurance exercise.

The ASA also penalised Lucozade Sport for the claim that the drink could “fuel” better than water. National Hydration Council general manager Kinvara Carey praised the ruling and stated that water is “all that is needed” for the “majority of people participating in exercise and sporting activities”.

4. Bisphenol A can be present in the Lucozade Sport bottle

The final health risk you will have to worry about when drinking Lucozade Sport is not from its ingredients but from the bottle. Plastic bottles that a lot of drinks come in are likely to have Bisphenol A (BPA) in it to harden the plastic.

BPA is an industrial chemical and excessive exposure has been linked to health problems as serious as reproductive issues and even cancer. The U.S Food and Drug Administration did condone its consumption but in 2010 they reversed their stance. This was following the disastrous impact that BPA had on animals after testing.

Should we stop drinking Lucozade Sport?

If you lead a healthy and active lifestyle then drinking a bottle of Lucozade every now and again will certainly not kill you. In fact, for athletes exercising for more than 1 hour the drink can help improve their performance. We are simply saying just think twice the next time you pick up a bottle and decide whether you could instead drink water. Be weary of the nutritional claims that the consumerism conveyor belt churns out as facts and keep in mind that excessive drinking can lead to serious health issues.