Gatorade
Introduction and Thermochemistry
Dr. Matt Hermes

Sports Science

Rehydration

Energy  Replacement

Quiz

Problems

Exercise initiates a complex series of events in our bodies.

Most of us are familiar with the thermal effect of exercise on our bodies. As we exercise, we burn the fuel in our bodies provided from our food.  The fuel provides both heat and energy. But from what we have learned from thermochemistry, this increased fuel requirement necessary for our exercise must generate extra heat.

Our schooling also teaches that we need to maintain a nearly constant body temperature -- we must not overheat.   So our bodies must have a way to lose the heat. It is our experience that we sweat.  And by applying the thermochemistry we have learned, we understand that the heat required to vaporize our sweat cools us.  But sweating causes another problem.  As we sweat, the loss of fluids disturbs the balance of water distributed in our bodies and we become dehydrated.  And our sweat does not contain the same concentration of salts as we have in our bodies.  The concentration of salts in sweat is somewhat less than in our body fluid.  So as we sweat, the concentration of salts in our bodies increases and can become dangerously high.

Dr. Robert Cade and three other doctors at the University of Florida used the concepts of thermochemistry and solution properties to develop the beverage we now know as Gatorade. Who can argue that Gatorade and similar sports beverages have not taken a central place in exercise and the science surrounding exercise?  The WALL STREET JOURNAL reported on May 5, 2000 that consumers bought more than $1.5 billion of Gatorade in 1999.

The inventors of Gatorade used the principles of thermochemistry and of osmotic properties to develop a beverage that would:

• Be palatable so that during exercise we would drink it and combat dehydration.
• Contained sugars that would provide   additional energy.
• Contain a balanced concentration of sugars and electrolytes that would help prevent abnormal electrolyte concentrations during exercise.

Since 1965 a whole science of sports rehydration and energy balancing has developed, promoted, primarily by the owners of Gatorade, Quaker Oats.

This ChemCases case discussion shows how chemistry and decision making brought us this world-wide beverage phenomenon. The case illustrates the problems faced by the coaches, athletes and the inventors as they attempted the first sports drink formulation in 1965.  And the case asks you to evaluate what you would have done in answering ethical and legal questions of testing drink formulations on the athletes and on the ownership of the sports drink itself.

Acknowledgment: 
Dr. Dana Shires, one of the inventors of Gatorade was extremely helpful in the preparation of this unit.

Chemical Concepts
As a first semester chemistry student you learned several useful concepts of Thermochemistry:

We will see how researchers used these simple chemical concepts to invent and develop Gatorade and we will use these principles ourselves to evaluate and decide on issues of testing and ownership of Gatorade.

Science of Gatorade Tour from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute