5 Reasons to NEVER Drink Gatorade Again

Gatorade is by far the most popular sports drink in the world, but is it healthy?  The owners of Gatorade, PepsiCo, and most people think it is. However, all conventional sport drinks have little to no health benefits.

  

Gatorade was created in 1965 by a team of scientists at the University of Florida College of Medicine to deal with some of the problems facing the school’s football team. The players were suffering from cramps and exhaustion. The researchers found that the players were not drinking enough water or replacing the electrolytes and glycogen that was lost through sweat and exercise.

Soon after the researchers introduced their Gatorade formula to the team, the Gators began winning. The athletes were recovering faster and outlasting their opponents on the field. Word about Gatorade began to spread outside of the state of Florida, and both the University of Richmond and Miami of Ohio, began ordering batches of Gatorade for their football teams.

So what is inside a serving of Gatorade? Gatorade Health Dangers

Loaded with Sugar

The original formula contained the nutritional nightmare that is high-fructose corn syrup. In 2010, Gatorade started using Sucrose Syrup and Gluctose-Fructose Syrup, which are two refined sugar syrup substitutes for HFCS. These cause insulin resistance and obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis, and other diseases

  

Contains Acesulfame potassium

According to the Wikipedia, “Acesulfame potassium has been shown to stimulate dose-dependent insulin secretion in rats, though no hypoglycemia was observed… Critics say acesulfame potassium has not been studied adequately and may be carcinogenic”

Contains Sodium

Gatorade, which actually contains more than twice as much sodium than potassium, is an unlikely candidate for any beneficial electrolyte restoration. When the body experiences short periods of exhaustion and fatigue, the last thing it needs is more sodium.

Artificial Coloring 

Red 40  and other artificial colorings were found in the amount of 55 mg/bottle of Gatorade. Recent studies showed that mixtures of Red 40 with potassium or sodium benzoate preservatives may cause hyperactive behavior in children, that is, affect your child’s brain.

Contain Vegetable Oil

Like other sugary drinks on the market today, Gatorade used to use bromine brominated vegetable oil (BVO). Gatorade recently decided to phase out this ingredient due to a recent successful petition, but Powerade still contains it.  More than 100 countries have outlawed the substance altogether.

According to The Atlantic, Gatorade’s sugar content is too high, and sodium content is too low to be truly effective for a working player.

Instead of reaching for sugary drinks to hydrate, choose water or electrolyte-rich coconut water.