Brian has asked if he can query the “hive mind”. His question: Is Gatorade Bad For You?
It’s promoted as a great way for athletes to hydrate, but is this true?
I had a teacher in high school tell me that gatorade that comes from a bottle is actually too concentrated to properly re-hydrate a person and requires dilution.
I love the drink for after a work out, so I was wondering if this is true or not.
My take on sports hydration drinks
Sports drinks such as Gatorade are good for getting you re-hydrated and energized if you are doing intense or long-duration exercise – especially if in a hot environment.
There are three words to take note of here: intense, duration and hot.
If you are doing light exercise or doing nothing at all (couch-warming) – then Gatorade is a big waste of money. In this situation (and arguably in any typical workout) water is perfectly adequate.
Gatorade provides sodium and potassium. If you are sweating heavily you will lose these two minerals in your sweat.
However, I believe you would need to be doing a serious amount of exercise (hours) before loss of these minerals will become a problem (this is a different story if diarrhea and vomiting are involved).
If you drink a whole bottle of Gatorade you are consuming about 56 grams of sugar — this is not required in a normal sedentary lifestyle — and in this situation it could be considered “bad” for you.
What’s in Gatorade?
- Water: Good
- Sucrose syrup and glucose-fructose syrup: Just Sugar
- Citric acid: Natural, provides tartness,
- Natural and artificial flavors: ?
- Salt, sodium citrate: Provides sodium, electrolytes
- Monopotassium phosphate: Provides potassium, another electrolyte
- Ester gum: An emulsifier, made from wood
- Sucrose acetate isobutyrate: an emulsifier and for used for orange flavor, artificial
- Yellow 5: Coloring that causes problems in asthmatics, being phased out in some countries.
Gatorade Nutrition Facts
serving size: 8 fl oz; calories 50; total fat 0g; sodium 110mg; potassium 30mg; total carbs 14g; sugars 14g
Let’s open this up for discussion. Do you think Is Gatorade is bad for you?
from what i read i think you should put some salt on a bannana and try that prob get the same results. the main thing that seems fishy fishy about gatorade is all the bright colours they come in. why do you need that i care what it tastes like not what it looks like.
Stop giving the child gatorade
Preach on Brother!!!!
What the heck is wrong wiht you child? do you need a therapist?
well your going to gain lots of weight if you continue
yes it is im a doctor and have been for 12 years now so is orange juice….hope she feels better if it continues go to a doctor immedatly
Can any docs or nutritionists out there tell me if gatorade is an adequate substitute for milk for a 12 year old girl? My granddaughter can’t drink milk now–she has been complaining of stomach pains about a month after having a bad episode of the flu when she threw up so many times she passed out– and she is drinking gatorade instead because she thinks milk is causing her stomach pain but doesn’t like others such as soy milk.
Hi Kathi, is she lactose intolerant? Maybe that’s why her stomach gets upset. I know a kid who is allergic to cows milk and so he has to drink goats milk. Have you tried that to see if her stomach still gets upset?
Whether you’re looking for water bottles, for sports bottles special ,for kids,for girls
or boys,this site gives you everything you need.
Gatorade is good, but if you drink too much, youll get acidic. It gives you cavities too. Its worse than coke or other soda.
Um….what do you think is in gatorade. Salts.
wow we need some more intelligent people responding.
I agree, I’m allergic to fake sugars and had to stop drinking soda and caffinated drinks. Now that I’m outside doing 9-18 miles a day, I drink water or OJ or a fruit smoothie I make, however trying gatorade a couple times again has given me diarreha and propel gave me migrains…so no I have to avoid the crap even if my parents allow it in the household. I always pay the price if I drink it…
I find it unnecessary, and annoying to see someone pick out an obvious typo or mistake someone has made. I have to agree that the only purpose this serves is to bolster your own self esteem.
I read in a medical book that if you are sweating a lot that it is actually not a good idea to drink water because it doesnt put back any of the electrolytes that you are losing in your sweat. If you are are doing strenuous activity for a long period of time you should drink something that puts the electrolytes (Example: Sodium,Potassium, Etc…) back into your system. Also my great uncle became hyponatremic and we had to give him (2) 8 oz glasses of Gatorade a day to keep his sodium levels up because the diuretics he had to take to keep the excess fluid off were depleting his sodium levels. Gatorade can be good for some people and not others. I myself do not drink Gatorade but for someone who had depleted Sodium levels it can help bring Sodium back to a normal range. I know when sodium levels get too low it can cause the brain to not function properly and it can result in lots of health problems so if drinking a little Gatorade can prevent this then I don’t think it is all bad.
Maybe your just anal and feel the need to scrutinize people because you have low self-esteem.
Gatorade is good for hangovers
which sport drinks would you not recommend for someone exercising in the heat for over 45 minutes? why?
ur right dude…..and my friends says that it is good for u but only when u sweat alot….im 13 and i know that u should call people gross like that
no its not!!:)
Gatorade should only be consumed when actually exercising because of the ingredients they contain.
What Gatorade is, is a chemical cocktail! True, it has some beneficial electrolytes and hydrates your body to a certain extent but at what cost? The ingredients are very harmful to your body. First off “water” means not filtered water, which can possess flouride and a hundreds of other extremely hazardous poisons. Second, it is loaded with refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup which would kill you in very small amounts if your body didn’t produce huge amounts of calcium to counteract the sugar. When this happens your body actually develops a calcium deficiency, which can lead to all kinds of diseases and disorders. It is artificially flavored which is never good for you, and just because it is labeled “natural” does not necessarily make it healthy. Third and perhaps most harmful is “yellow 5″ which is a carcinogen and is known to cause all types of cancer. It is a great brain washing method to put “natural”, “0 calories” or “organic” on a product, and while those things may be good that does not sum the whole item up. It is best to just stick with distilled water, teas, fresh juices, and those sorts of things. Do that, train hard, and spread love and you will be sure to reach the pinnacle of human perfection. Peace.
in all that is probly pretty accurate. But…. gatorade is good for rehydrating you after you have had the flu, not to much of though. it can bring your levels back up, i had the flu 2 days ago and since then i have quit throwing up. But lets just say i have had to go to the bathroom alot… ya. i was really dehydrated and water wasnt even cuttin it. so i went and bought 2 20oz bottles of gatorade and a 15oz bottle of a drink called hydrive. I have had one gatorade and the hydrive and im already feelin better. i think gatorade would be bad or you if you drink it to much. But not to bad if you have a severe case of the runs, and badly dehydrated. just my take on it. maybe its just me.
Wake up everyone what did God give us in the garden of eden? yes it was water from 4 rivers go natural all of you fools thinking man made is better .that is my comment on that.
I really wonder how our ancestors lived without gatorade… oh yeah: 3°wine and 0.5°beer (alchool wasn’t really strong before the 18th century, just enough to keep liquids drinkable without getting wasted). Freshwater was of course the real deal if you where lucky to have a spring nearby.
If you are not in the field of medicine (or you have NOT TAKEN PHYSIOLOGY) please do not throw in your 2 cents on the health benefits or health risk of drinking gatorade. You may give your opinion on taste etc but please refrain from post misleading information.
Gatorade with artifical sweetners is not the greatest thing to be drinking (G2 gatorade) at least in my case. Any sports drink with the right amount of Na+ glucose and salt will help in cases of dehydration. Please read a physiology book for further information on why and how.
I dont recommend drinking gatorade, but if you chose to drink it then thats your own choice and thats fine. I used to drink gatorade until I found out today that my G2 bottle was packed with bogus artificial sweetners. (FDA approval io something like aspartame was rushed in my opinion, and pushed through by the Reagan govt in 83 but thats a whole diff topic.)
Anyways I think water plus sliced orange wedges was great suggestions for those looking for an alternative to Gatorade. I am going to look for another sports drink alternative in a few days and will post back for those looking for something other than gatorade. Remember Gatorade fans, I am simple advocating choice. If you love gatorade and swear by it then thats great but for me I don’t it is a great choice.
-MedStudent0019
Hey med student during ur study of physiology did y happen to take any chemistry classes because na= sodium which is salt….. U really are a smart one there aren’t u genius.
@amber Actually in YOUR chemistry class you should have learned that sodium isn’t salt. Salt is sodium chloride
Try Pick Juice, it is way better than any of these drinks and has way less Sugar and about20 time more effective on de-hydration
well i don’t work out and i don’t exercise and i drink gadorade every day what’s gonna happen if i dont stop?
i think all these people are wrong about this gatorade topic i think gatorade is good for you it may have more sugar than water but it has less sugar than carbonated drinks. i have talked to all of my friends and most of them agree with me i dont see why they are taking gatorade out of scools, it makes no sence to me. if you sell gatorade at school that could be extra money for the gatorade company and for the schools. all schools should reconsieder bringing back gatorade to schools.
I know Dr. Cade was 80, but very ironic that he died of kidney failure?
And those guys get paid millons of dollars so hmmmm
hey i dwink it al the time even when i at my girlfriends house she dwinks it to its yummmy to my tummmy
I consider myself to be smart; however, I DO NOT IGNORE TYPOS, Lisa. Not only are they ANNOYING, but it’s pretty funny when the people who critique others’ comments fail to critique what they type.
Back to the topic: I kind of like the idea of adding a touch of salt to your water. I will have to research it first, because I have never heard of doing that before. But thanks for the tip, Dixie!
Wait, that’s not what it is? I thought the theory was that you drink sweat so you can replace the sweat you lost. Duh! And they even dye and flavor it so they can give some variety to it.