WASHINGTON (AP) -- What athletes take in may dry them out. Fast
foods like hamburgers and carbonated drinks such as sodas can
wind up causing dehydration, experts say. Sugary, caffeine-
packed soft drinks, in particular, can cause trouble, said Dr.
Gary I. Wadler of New York University School of Medicine. A
cola's sugar and the carbonation can make a person feel full
without providing enough liquid. ''They are very sweet, so you
get bloated. They are gaseous, so they distend you, so you get
more bloated,'' Wadler said. And caffeine, which tends to
increase the flow of urine, ''is a double whammy,'' he said.
''You lose on all counts.'' Former tennis star Jimmy Connors
used to be one of Wadler's patients. ''He used to get these
horrific total body cramps. It was sort of a mystery,'' Wadler
said. ''I found out he was drinking cola drinks in great
quantity, and he was getting bloated. Because he was bloated, he
was not drinking adequate fluids.'' The risk is not limited to
sodas, researchers say. Protein breakdown