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.