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Austin Miller

Paul Roberts
HLTH-1020
6 April 2017
Gatorade Research Paper
There are many different types of foods and drinks that athletes can consume today that

will help them perform better in their specific sports. One of the most popular drinks that has

been used for the last few decades in sports is Gatorade. This drink was one of first sports drinks

invented, and was originally designed to help replenish fluids, carbohydrates, and electrolytes in

the body that athletes would lose during participation in their sport. Just like with almost

anything though, there are always positives and negatives involved with the types of things

athletes put into their bodies. However, if Gatorade is used in appropriate amounts during

exercise it can be a very important tool to help athletes perform at their best.

In the spring of 1965, a University of Florida assistant football coach Dwayne Douglas

had a question that would change sports forever. He had noticed that his players were really

being impacted by the severe heat during practices, and many of them were actually losing lots

of weight without having the need to urinate frequently. Because of this observation, Coach

Douglas decided to approach the University of Florida kidney disease specialist Robert Cade,

and ask if he figure out what was happening with his team. Doctor Cade first responded that he

thought the football players were sweating so much that they didnt have any fluids left to

urinate. However, he decided to perform more research on the issue to try and find a way that he

could help the University of Florida football team.

Robert Cade later teamed up with fellow researchers Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free,

and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada to further investigate the problem. After studying how heat
impacts the human body, they concluded that all of the sweating from the football players was

taking away their strength, energy, and endurance. They also thought that the loss of specific

electrolytes were changing the bodys chemical balance. However, to actually confirm their

theory they received permission from the University of Florida head football coach Ray Graves

to study freshman players as they would practice. By doing this they found out that all of the

players blood sugar was low, electrolyte balance was completely off, and blood volume was

very low. Obviously all of these symptoms were major factors that could decrease the

productivity of each athlete. So to help these players overcome these symptoms, Cade invented

the first version of Gatorade which consisted of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, and phosphate.

According to many of the people who tried this drink, the first batch tasted so poorly that many

of the players didnt want to drink it. However, Robert Cades wife came up with a great

suggestion that they should add lemon juice to the drink to make it taste better. This idea helped

make the drink more pleasant for the football players to drink, and helped create the sports drink

that many people would soon come to love. The researchers also chose to name the drink after

the Florida Gators, simply because that was the team and University of the researchers that first

tried and invented this new sports drink.

According to Joe Kays and Arline Phillips-Han in their article Gatorade, The idea that

launched and Industry, during the 1966 college football season the Florida Gators had a very

successful year and earned a reputation of being a second half team. This was because when

other teams would get tired in the second half, the Florida Gators would actually be at their best

by drinking Gatorade throughout the game. News quickly spread across the country as the

University of Florida released a statement talking about Gatorade in December 1966. Then by

the fall of 1967 there was marketing for Gatorade across the nation. Kays and Phillips-Han
would later say in their article, For the University of Florida, the success of Gatorade has

translated into more resources to support research. Since 1973, Gatorade has brought more than

$80 million to the university, which has been used to fund everything from UFs Whitney Marine

Laboratory in St. Augustine to the on-campus Genetics Institute. Also over the years, Gatorade

has developed other products than just the sports drink. They now have pre-workout energy

chews and drinks, protein powder and shakes, energy bars, and of course many different flavors

of their endurance sports drink. The large success of Gatorade that many people see around them

today can always be traced back to Robert Cade and his group of researchers, who changed the

sports world forever by developing a drink that has helped countless athletes in their different

sports.

However, there are many people that dont like the idea of drinking too much Gatorade

throughout the day because of different health consequences. In her article Effects of Too Much

Gatorade, Sarah Davis brings up many good points. She believes that Gatorade does provide

athletes with important needed electrolytes, but should only be consumed in small amounts. If a

person is just drinking lots of Gatorade without exercising, it can lead to weight gain, vitamin

toxicity, hyponatremia, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar.

Davis mentions in her article, Probably the most common consequence of drinking too

much Gatorade is weight gain. According to calorie king, each 32 oz. bottle of Gatorade has 200

calories. If an athlete burns fewer calories than that, the excess calories will be stored as fat,

which will eventually lead to weight gain. Gatorade is also fortified with a variety of different

vitamins and minerals, including some fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A. Fat-soluble

vitamins cannot be excreted from the body when they are consumed in quantities too large, so

side effects may occur such vitamin toxicity, also known as hypervitaminosis A. The National
Institutes of Health say that symptoms of hypervitaminosis A include blurred vision, fatigue,

headache, and nausea. It is easy to see that if someone drinks lots of Gatorade without

exercising frequently, then there can be many specific health consequences.

There is also obviously many benefits for athletes who choose to drink Gatorade as well.

In her article What are the Benefits of Gatorade? Hannah Wickford mentions how Gatorade is

an important tool for athletic success. She believes that Gatorade can help provide and sustain

energy, prevent dehydration, avoid muscle cramping, and replenish lost fluids and electrolytes.

Wickford mentions in her article, Gatorade contains a 6 percent solution of carbohydrates, or 6

grams of carbohydrates per 100 milliliters of liquid. One 8-ounce bottle of Gatorade contains 16

grams of carbohydrates, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. Because carbohydrates are

the main source of energy for the body, it is easy to see how beneficial Gatorade can be with

providing and sustaining energy.

Wickford also goes on to mention in her article, When the body loses more fluids than it

takes in, dehydration can occur. Dehydration is a serious condition that can lead to muscle

weakness, headaches, dizziness, low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, or even unconsciousness.

Gatorade is rich in sodium which is responsible for maintaining the balance of water in the

bodys cells. One 8-ounce bottle of Gatorade contains a full 95 mg of sodium, enough to help

replace what is lost through sweat and ward of dehydration. Avoiding dehydration is very

important for athletes, and through drinking Gatorade individuals can stay hydrated as they

participate in many different situations and events.

By looking at where Gatorade started and where it is at today, it is easy to see how

effective Gatorade has become at helping athletes reach their ultimate potential in their specific

sports. There are obviously many ways that people can stay healthy while performing physical
activities and playing sports, but drinking Gatorade in appropriate amounts has proven over the

years to be a very effective method for athletes. The researchers at the University of Florida will

always be remembered for their great contribution to sports and nutrition, as they discovered a

drink that helps individuals replenish electrolytes, energize with carbohydrates, prevent muscle

cramping, and stay hydrated.


Works Cited

Davis, Sarah. "Effects of Too Much Gatorade." LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 14 Apr. 2015.

Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Kays, Joe, and Arline Phillips-Han. "Gatorade: The Idea That Launched an Industry." Gatorade:

The Idea That Launched an Industry. University of Florida, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Wickford, Hannah. "What Are the Benefits of Gatorade?" LIVESTRONG.COM. Leaf Group, 04

Feb. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

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