Gatorade. Is it really better for you than water?
 

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I keep hearing people talk about how Gatorade truly hydrates you better than water cause it's full of sugars, electrolytes and other nutrients that water doesn't have. How true is this? Frankly the product tastes like watered down juice to me.

Also what's the difference between this and Powerade? Which do you prefer and why?

Powerade is just another version of the same stuff (Gatorade was formulated for the FL Gators team, hence the name). I hate the taste of all of it, personally; it tastes flat and watery, regardless of brand. Really, I think it's only beneficial to you if you're doing something involving lots of sweat, because you need the electrolytes, sugars&etc. that you lose through sweat and water doesn't contain that.

But for the average joe that's just sitting around, these drinks aren't really that necessary.

I prefer Gatorade over anything to drink, I drink about a case a week (approximately 12). I rarely drink water since it doesnt' have any flavoring or it tastes a bit flat. Juices and soda feel heavy to me when I drink them, most of the time I don't even finish half a glass/bottle/can. The only other thing I drink is my protein shakes before/after my workouts, so it's usually the only way I stay hydrated.

Here's study on sports drinks vs. water. Here's an informative Q&A on Gatorade vs. Powerade . Now go fourth and do your bidding!

I'd say omfgepoxy's post pretty much gives you all the information that you asked for, so i'm just answering as if it were a which do you like better thread.

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Vitaminwater and water are pretty much the only things I drink. I guess I throw beer into the mix once or twice a week sometimes. But for the most part it's just water. I find vataminwater to taste the exact same as gatorade or powerade, except it has a bunch of vitamins in it that im sure couldn't hurt, so thats what I stick with.

I think I'll give VitaminWater a crack... I recall seeing those bottles around here though. Hope I just didn't notice them as opposed to them not being here.

Sounds quite tasty =d

Plus it has more p.i.m.p. How can I argue with that?

I've been wanting to give that Vitaminwater a try, but I haven't got around to doing so yet. But if it just taste like another kind of Gatorade/Powerade, then I won't be in any hurry to try it.

As for Gatorade vs. Powerade, I tend to like Powerade better, as it usually tastes a little sweeter than Gatorade. I do like that Gatorade has more variety of flavors, though.

Vitaminwater is indeed my preferred choice of 'sports/energy drink,' since it doesn't taste like fake watered down fruit juice (like Gator/Powerade). It has a lighter flavor, since it's just fruit essence more than actual flavoring. The Energy or Stamina generally are my favorites, but I also like the ones that don't really 'do' anything besides have Vitamins -- especially the Watermelon flavor.

Anything that tastes sweet and says its good.. is bad.

I guess Gatorade does have some minerals in it the body may need. But, I seriously I doubt poeple can sweat out enough to warrant using Gatorade. We already get plenty of salt from our food and the like.

I just discovered this a few weeks ago. I like it better than Gatorade or Propel because the flavor is light and doesn't seem forced like the other drinks.

Looked in a gas station today -- no luck finding anything like this =( Harumph~

There's a store locator on their site, I think. I found mine at stores like Albertson's and Raley's.

I think there is benefit of rehydration from drinking sports drinks like Gatorade, but you would probably have to look that one up. Some doctors recommend it to help aid curing some symtoms of dehydration or some stuff.

Ooooh, lucky day~ There's an Albertson's about a quarter mile from here <3

Danke, Rydia =d I'll have to check there when I get my groceries on Sunday... >__>

From personal experience, I don't think so. Drinking Gatorade after running 2 miles tastes like sugary death.

Gatorade (and similar products) can help correct the electrolytic imbalance caused by severe fluid loss (bleeding, diarrhea, vomiting). Doctors will recommend it to patients recovering from severe dehydration.

Gatorade is good at correcting the imbalance, but what is even better is Pedialyte. Pedialyte, however, tastes incredibly nasty (think a fruit flavored salt lick) and I was never able to really stomach it.

Anyone ever notice that Gatorade tastes a lot sweeter after you're tired?

Gatorade/Powerade definitely are my go-to if I'm feeling more spendy on a thirst-quencher. I always had them in supply in my apartment. This stuff really helps me. I have bottles of water too that I drink often enough, but sometimes I get this weird "overhydrated" feeling (does this exist?) where I just feel a little nautious after drinking too much water. Gatorade/Powerade seems to relieve this feeling for me, plus it tastes good to me. I just recently tried Gatorade's Rain brand, and it goes down soooo good. Yum.

I tried vitaminwater a few times in the past year. There's only a few flavors of it I like and then some of them my taste buds absolutely cannot take.

Holy fuck man, you realize how bad that shit is for your teeth? I drink Gatorade, but only before and during a workout.

Yup, any time after a good workout or run everything tastes sweeter. Probably has something to do with a drop in blood sugar.

You don't run long distances do you? Any kind of endurance activity and you can very quickly deplete your electrolyte levels. In Basic training we were having to add salt to our food (which is already pretty salty) just to make sure we got enough of it. You'd get rings of salt in your uniform after training all day.

Seriously you'd be better off with a good multi vitamin than you are with these "vitaminwater" drinks. Also the only time you should be drinking stuff like Gatorade is when you are doing a lot of physical activity. The stuff really isn't meant to be a replacement for water...

You can indeed consume too much water. However I seriously doubt that is the case with you. You'd have to be comsuming more than 12qts of water per day to risk water intoxication and the only reason why that is dangerous is that it delutes the salt in your body to such an extent that it become life threatening condition. You'd have the same symptoms as someone suffering from dehydration/heat injury... not the feeling that you drank to much water. My guess is that you just overfilled your stomach with water (I've done this before :() and it makes you want to puke (which I have also done :()

Marathon runners can drink too much water and die. Forgot what the condition is called but it happens. You should weigh yourself before and after running. If you're heavier than you started with, you drank too much.

And as Gumby said, Gatorade basically melts the enamel off your teeth.

I believe that Gatorade is "better" than drinking plain old water due to the concentration of stuff dissolved in it (salts, sugar, etc..). You lose salt when you sweat. If you sweat enough, you'll eventually really screw up the concentration of these substances in your blood, which is really not good. Drinking a lot of water after you've sweated a lot (e.g. during a marathon), could perhaps lead to death as you would be even further diluting the concentration of these substances in your blood.

I don't see how Gatorade can damage the enamel of your teeth any worse than Coke. Is the acid level that high or is there another chemical at work?

Dee: Sports drinks are far worse for your teeth than Coke. Gatorade for example is extremely acidic. How do you think they keep all that sodium and potassium in an aqueous state?

Mucknuggle: It is far worse for you than water. The high salt content in sports drinks is not a healthy thing. Americans in particular get far more salt in their food than they need, adding more to the water you drink is only going to cause you more problems than benefits. So unless you are training for something that requires that you push your body well beyond the normal daily use then you have absolutly no need for a sports drink, in fact you'd be better off with water because your body already has more than enough salt in it. As I said before, the only time I've ever had to worry about my bodies salt levels was during basic training where we were constantly physically active 12 hours a day for weeks on end.

SemperFidelis: As I said, it is called water intoxication. It has a technical name but I don't remember what it is off the top of my head.

Water to me has no taste =P

So i prefer gatorade , And the flavor of it! Fruit Punch!

Dude...take a chemistry class before you go spouting off this misinformation. You can dissolve sodium in water, which has a Ph of 7. So no, gatorade does not need to be and in fact is not very acidic.

Coke, on the other hand IS extremely acidic and hence bad for your teeth in virtue of that as well as all the sugar it has.

http://www.mercola.com/2005/mar/26/sports_drinks.htm

http://www.newstarget.com/006110.html

Oh haha SemperFidelis you beat me to the punch.

shining_force, you might want to take your own advice.

I should clarify my point. Gatorade doesn't need to be and in fact is not acidic in order to dissolve the sodium and potassium. Whether it is for some other reason or not wasn't my concern, but it seems you've clarified that. I was just taking issue with the ridiculous chemistry claim.

Yes I can see they are, but not for the ridiculous reason you said. That all I intended to refute.

They make it that way to keep the electrolytes from precipitating. Hence to keep it dissolved they make the drink more acidic. Sorry if I didn't give a detailed enough comment on that O_o. I didn't forsee anyone arguing with me on something that takes a 2 second google search to confirm.

Water is superior to 'sports drinks'.

Anything any company says about any sports drink will rot the mind and the teeth.

I see, never imagined it to be so. Well, I normally don't drink sport drinks, water during work outs and usually juices during meals. But I do see many athletes drinking sport drinks like water for lunch and dinner. Crazy.

I agree, but sports drinks do have a purpose and a usage where they are superior to water and that is only when you are in need to quickly replace lost salt and other electrolytes from your body ie field exercises in the military, running a marathon, distance swimming, sporting events etc. Most people never do these sort of activities so they are needlessly destroying their enamel.

Dee: You might want to let them know that they are pointlessly hurting themselves by drink sports drinks all the time.

I prefer Powerade over Gatorade any day. For some reason Gatorade just taste to watered down for me.

I used to hate Gatorade back when I ran track in high school. It tasted like colored water. Now, with the new flavors, it tastes quite good. However, I was unaware that it's bad for you as some of you mentioned.

I don't know about you guys, but gatorade makes me more thirsty after I drink than before. I stick to the water.

Or I recommend you to drink Pocari Sweat instead. It's really helpful when you're thirsty or having dehydration. I always drink it in sunny day. It has slight taste of citrus lemon too (I said slight since the taste is not too strong).

Gatorade has so much sugar. It is fucking awful for you.

Besides, ever heard of a chef that includes "high fructose corn syrup" in his food for taste?

IT TASTES NASTY.

well I usually stick to fruit drinks that contain no fruit in them...HAHAHAHAHA, but sine this is about water or gatorade, then I guess mine would be water. I usually get hydrated very easily (just a couple of gulps)

Gatorade does really quench your thirst ONLY after you're tired. I've drank gatorade with my lunch before and it really did just make me more thirsty. However, a nice gatorade after the pull-ups and mile run, most done and fastest ran in my class mind you, a gatorade really hit the spot.

gatorade isn't meant to be drank as a regular drink. It has electrolytes in it which water doesn't have, so after an intense workout, gatorade rehydrates you better, but if you drink gatorade like with your lunch or something and you are not dehydrated it can actually dehydrate you because the electrolytes that dont need replenishing absorb the water.

If I am really thirsty, the a gatorade wil do it, but I prefer the lightly favored bottled water.

Pocari Sweat is nice. I only get to drink it while I'm here in Hong Kong, my dad always goes on about it.

As far as I know, most water has various impurities (sodium and potassium chloride at the very least), so there are electrolytes in it. It might just be in lower concentrations than gatorade.

I dillute a powdered electrolyte-heavy substance in to fresh water. It looks like piss, it tastes like water, and it fuckin boosts your energy like nobody's business. I can't stand those energy drinks like red bull, gatorade, and powerade because they have so much sugar and other additives that they actually hurt you more than they help you. If you want to check out what I drink, go to a vitamin store and ask for something electrolyte heavy. Look at the ingredients to make sure you know what you are getting yourself in to (bring a gatorade nutritional value label if you need a comparison).

Please ignore this portion as it is completely wrong [as far as for your teeth, I have just started working for a dentist, and just about any commercial drink is generally bad for your teeth. Just brush and floss regularly, and you can drink all the coke, gatorade, and powerade you want.] I feel the need to leave it up to stand by the fact I made a big error.

Fatt, that's some terrible advice your giving about brushing and flossing reversing or halting enamel damage from commercial drinks. It's quite the opposite, really. If you drink coke and brush your teeth right afterwards, you're enamel is nearly gone from the coke and you're destroying even more by brushing your teeth. It's better to just drink coke and these things in moderation.

You must be a dental ___ eh Semper?
But anyway, water is free, so I'd take that anyday

I can't say that I know much about dentistry, but I pick up facts here and there from different articles I read.

After just having some food poisoning and not being able to hold solid foods down for two days, I have to say that the Poweraid Option or Propel Fitness Water were both really good. I tried normal Gatorade, but it was too sugary and would upset my stomach. The others did a pretty good job of keeping me full and hopefully somewhat nourished since I've been driving ten hours a day and couldn't eat anything else.

A shame =( I drink a 32oz bottle of Lemon Lime Gatorade every day after my three-mile run. I'd hate to go on strictly water though ;__; I love the taste of Gatorade and I don't drink soda as it is. Didn't know it ruined your teeth so damn much. Ugh. What to drink now... >< I can't find the flavored water things mentioned on page one *anywhere*. Gatorade & Powerade are about all there is around here. Can't tell ya how damn good a frosty Gatorade tastes after a good workout. I'm gonna miss it ;___;

Drink it in a way so it doesn't touch your teeth as much or something.

ok simply put, what you loose when you excersize and swet alot is alot of salts. specifically NaCl, and K. Gatorade advertises that it contains these, but by themselves those compounds taste really really bad, so what do they do to take the bitter salty taste out?.....SUGAR FTW!!! the sugars are supposed to act as a flavoring agent but they also have some use as a transport agent for the rest of it all. If any of you have ever been involved in any kind of armed forces training then you know what an MRE is. Basically its a dehydrated meal in a box/bag. well in those you use alot of water, your body has to give up alot of the water in it already to breakdown the foods. Also included in these MRE's is many salt laden foods. The more salt in your body the more water it can hold and utilize. This is kinda the point to gatoraide, but the sugars dont really help with that. the reason doctors recomend this is because of the higher salt and electrolyte contents. this does in fat help ballance the chemicals in your body a little quicker than normal.

morale of the story really is that water is what you need, that and healthy levels of salts, bananas are a good thing to eat, lots of potassium, and anything salted like peanuts or sunflower seeds is good as well to snack on while out workin. that will keep your salt content high.

personally though i dont really care what it tastes like, if its liquid generally ill drink it if its all that is around. i play alot of paintball and back when i was a on a sponsored team mountain dews livewire was our main sponsor. we drank alot of that on top of an assload of water. i like that stuff, love all kinds of poweraide, but i cant drink gatorade unless its at or above room temp. i dont know why but thats just my tastes, and i cant stand ANY flavor of that mineral water stuff, just makes me wanna stop drinking that and chew on a stick of chalk or something.

gatorade is hard on my stomach, raises the acid level a billion times. I try to only drink it if I don't have anything else available after a workout or if i've got a hangover. stick with water.

I have tried this Vitamin Water after seeing this thread and I have to say I like it about a million times more than I like crazy old Gatorade. Plus the bottles are funny. They just aren't as full of what seems like excess crap; just some flavor and stuff. But in most cases, since I run 5-6 miles a day, just about anything does the trick after a run. Vitamin Water and water just doesn't make me feel so guilty like Gatorade does.

So, I prefer and think water is better as it's just so natural.

I do actually have to agree with SemperFidelis on this one. I am a horrible person for sounding drastically misleading. I do stand by the fact everybody should brush their teeth twice a day on a regular basis, and floss before going to bed each night. Soda pops with lots of sugar (Coke, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, etc.) are really bad for your teeth, and can horribly corrode them. Drink responsibly.

Yup, this pretty much sums it up.

When I go backpacking I always make sure to bring my gatorade mix.
When I'm at home I use my Nalgene to make sure I drink 2 liters of water a day.