Gatorade
Matt Hermes

We are left, then, to evaluate for ourselves the best combination of energy producing sugars and volume of fluids to be ingested. Rather than guesswork, we have some scientific bases for our behavior. And we reach this happy position by the combination of chemical concepts and our own responsible decision making.

Gatorade 26. Energy Replacement

This suggests a hard-working athlete might wish to consume more than 700 ml/hr. of Gatorade for maximum energy. In the years since the introduction of the first sports drink, other beverages have been marketed. Powerade® differs slightly from Gatorade in providing a higher level of carbohydrates and a lower salt concentration. Optimum carbohydrate availability would be theoretically available with consumption of about 560ml/hr.

Scientists like Prof. Edward Coyle at the University of Texas have published detailed information on the body's processes during exercise.

As athletes around the world seek to improve both personal and competitive athletic performance, sports drinks such as Gatorade® are at the center of this quest. Athletes use the findings of exercise experts to define their hydration and nutrition requirements during exercise. In the the age of electronic information, they communicate with each other around the world comparing their training ideas, asking for advice and passing along information. Men and women who exercise are aware of the critical elements of hydration and energy. They debate the merits of the various carbohydrate levels. They pass information claiming advantages for sport drink over the other. Rumor races around the planet. "You must dilute Gatorade," one story goes. "At 10% sugar it is too concentrated." And others reply, "You are quite correct, 10% is too concentrated. But Gatorade® contains only 6% carbohydrates. Leave it alone." Dr. Shires says the Florida group formulated Gatorade® a little bit concentrated. They assumed athletes would dilute it with ice. So diluting the beverage slightly might be a good idea after all.

Road racing is the peoples sport. From Boston to Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of healthy and fit athletes line up for endurance events: 36,000 for the twenty-six mile, 100th Boston marathon, 500 in the little mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. As the runners toil toward the finish, they pass refreshment stations every two miles. No organized race can now exist without them. And as the runners go by, they snatch up and drink a scientifically designed and aggressively marketed fluid -- a combination of water, simple and complex sugars and sodium and potassium salts, flavored to be appetizing and designed to provide the optimum in athletic performance.

Gatorade® is more than just a beverage. The evolution of Dr. Cade's thinking permeates healthy lives around the world. Our cultures promote a vigorous lifestyle as healthy and productive. Our scientists offer dramatic support for this view. Our manufacturers offer carefully-charted products to support human health.