They are more and more popular, especially in summer but these products are not without danger to health.
You’ve necessarily seen it – or even bought – in pharmacies. And for good reason: these products are now available in self -service in thousands of pharmacies in France. Often colored and highlighted near the boxes, they necessarily attract customers. They are all the more popular during the summer, with the hot weather and an often greater alcohol consumption. You will surely have guessed it: these are hydration pastilles.
Many brands are on the market, and sell their products in different forms (pastilles, powders …) and with always more tastes: fishing, strawberry, lemon, pineapple … But what do they really contain? Minerals such as sodium, potassium, or magnesium, which are present in water and lost with perspiration. We miss it when we are dehydrated or that we sweat a lot. These hydration pastilles are therefore aimed at people who drink little, do not like the taste of water or even athletes.
If hydration is essential for health, this is generally not the case for these products, which have been pointed out by many doctors. They “have no interest in moisturizing you. You just need water“Said Dr. Jimmy Mohamed at the microphone of RTL. For Dr Martine Duclos, Head of Sports Medicine Service at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, interviewed by Le Parisien,”it’s perlimpinpin powder“.
In addition to not being necessary in most cases, these hydration products can even be bad, even dangerous for health. Some contain too much sugar, sodium, caffeine and chemical additives. Their composition can be particularly harmful for people with diabetes or kidney disease.
The company Hydratis, one of the market leaders, also recalls on its site that “The opinion of a health professional before taking the product is necessary for: children under 3 years old, pregnant women with pre-eclampsia, pre-diabetes or gestational diabetes, people over 70, diabetic people, people with renal failure, hypertension or cardiovascular diseases“. This therefore concerns many French people.
Another problem raised with hydration pastilles is that they are sometimes used as a remedy against the hangover, since some of the inconvenience caused by alcohol are linked to dehydration. Except that this use can encourage consuming more alcohol, and absolutely does not reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol consumption for health.
Hydration food supplements can therefore be useful for healthy people during intense physical activity or hot weather, but they are not in most necessary cases. For people who do not like the taste of water, it is better to flavor it at home, with citrus, cucumber or mint.
