The British Medical Journal and their  investigative partner BBC Panorama has recently released a series of 7 articles that are highly critical of sport and energy drinks.

1) A systematic assessment analyzes sport drink advertising and identifies a 431 performance enhancing claims for 104 different products. The authors found 146 references that underpinned these claims. More than half (52.8%) of the websites that made performance claims did not provide any references, and the authors were unable to perform critical appraisal for approximately half (72/146) of the identified references. None of the references referred to systematic reviews (level 1 evidence). Of the critically appraised studies, 84% were judged to be at high risk of bias. Only three of the 74 (2.7%) studies were judged to be of high quality and at low risk of bias. Ultimately the authors not surprisingly concluded that: "The current evidence is not of sufficient quality to inform the public about the benefits and harms of sports products".

2) In The Truth About Sports Drinks Deborah Cohen investigates the links between the sports drinks industry and academia that have helped market the science of hydration.

3) An article investigating the validity of the European Food Safety Authority's assessment of sports drinks drinks criticizes the two claims approved by the EFSA, that sport drinks, "improved water absorption during exercise" and help with "maintenance of endurance performance".

4) Tim Noakes's commentary about the role of hydration in health and exercise states that over-hydration is a much more common and dangerous risk to the athlete than dehydration.

5) An analysis of the science behind the GlaxoSmithKline sport drink Lucozade, which claims that it boosts performance concluded that "over prolonged periods carbohydrate ingestion can improve exercise performance, but consuming large amounts is not a good strategy particularly at low and moderate exercise intensities and in exercise lasting less than 90 minutes. There was no substantial evidence to suggest that liquid is any better than solid carbohydrate intake and there were no studies in children. Given the high sugar content and the propensity to dental erosions children should be discouraged from using sports drinks".

6) Authors explored marketing of sports drink through social media and user endorsements. They found that companies encourage user-generated content so that they can claim they did not write it themselves.

7) The article mythbusting sports and exercise products busted many myths including: the colour of urine accurately reflects hydration, you should drink before you feel thirsty, energy drinks with caffeine or other compounds improve sports performance, and carbohydrate and protein combinations improve post-workout performance and recovery.