Why can I count sports drinks (or juice, milk, soda, etc) towards hydration?
The concept of tracking and rewarding hydration in Healthy U using water consumption was driven by suggestions from previous participants. As part of our attempts to continually improve the program, we solicit suggestions from participants and incorporate as many of them as we can. In the original Healthy U pilot program, there weren’t nearly as many ways to earn points as there are now, and everyone earned points in the same categories. There were no tracks and no electives. Through suggestions we developed elements like the RealAge test, the exercise log and teams for students. Several people suggested water consumption, so we accommodated that request. If you look strictly at hydration (i.e. fluid intake/replacement), it is true that juices, sports drinks, even sodas, will do the job. However, what gets missed in that discussion is the caloric side. Almost all of those non-water drinks are very high in calories. Drinking 8 glasses of juice or soda a day could easily add up to 1000 c
