The article "Get Your Carbs Here" comes from the magazine Runner's World. It basically discusses why you need quick energy while exercising and gives some basic examples on how to get it. It talks about sports drinks, energy gels, energy bars, and fruits. Each source has its pros and cons. It also discusses why you need this quick energy while doing strenuous exercises. All and all it was a good article as it seemed to give good reasons for the use of quick energy sources, which I'm a little skeptical of.
The article first talks about the dangers of running on "E", or without energy. It initially describes the dangers associated with exercising too long or too hard without adequate energy. It describes the dangers as loss of body fluids, drops in blood sugar levels, depletion of carbohydrates in muscles, and altered levels of amino acids. All of these dangers are easily avoidable with energy boosters (drinks, gels, etc.).
Sports drinks contain water with added carbohydrates. The added carbohydrates are what make the sports drinks so vital to energy because that's what the carbohydrates are, quick energy. The carbohydrates come in different blends such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, and galactose. The theory behind adding many different kinds of carbohydrates to a drink is that the body can absorb the carbohydrates via different routes, which means quicker absorption and quicker energy; rather than absorbing the same carbohydrates the same way which would take longer, meaning slower energy. In the short, sports drinks are scientifically being made now.
Very convenient and rather useful, energy gels are being used more now. Sports gels are very similar to sports drinks in terms of their purpose, but they do not contain water. Extras can also be added with energy gels such as herbs, amino acids, vitamins, and coenzymes. One dangerous thing that may be found in some energy gels is caffeine, which affects people differently depending on their regular use of it.