Should I drink water or Gatorade in Canton GA?

Question: “Are sports drinks like Gatorade good for you?”

Answer: Well, if you own stock in Gatorade (or more likely its parent company PepsiCo), this drink is wonderful for you because it makes you a lot of money. However, if you're asking if the drink is HEALTHY for you, I'll let you decide. Let me share some truths about what we need during the hot summer months to stay healthy and hydrated, and then let me share some truths about sports drinks. Contact our chiropractic clinic in Caton GA to learn more.

Hydration 101 in Canton GA:

During the summer months, we naturally sweat more, which means we need to replenish our bodies with the stuff we lose when we sweat more. What is this stuff? Glad you asked:

1. H2O, water. Most of us don't drink enough water as it is, and during the hotter months when we sweat more, we lose more and more water from our bodies. While we get some water from the foods we eat, the majority of water intake needs to come from...well...drinking water!
2. Electrolytes. I bet you've heard of them, but do you know what they actually are? Electrolytes are mostly simple minerals like sodium and potassium and calcium-basically salts. Where do we get them from? If you eat good healthy foods, most of us get all the electrolytes we need right there.

Gatorade 101:

If you want the history, here are the basics: Gatorade was developed in 1965 for use with the University of Florida football team. Dr. Robert Cade was the man behind the idea of combining water, sugar, and electrolytes to create a "sports" drink. As we mentioned above, the water and electrolytes obviously replaced what was lost by these athletes during hot summer workouts, and the sugar gave them energy to keep running. Sounds like a pretty solid idea for a great drink to keep athletes healthy and hydrated, right? Like many products, original intentions get corrupted by modern marketing. Here we go.....

Marketing 101:

Through the years, Gatorade has developed perhaps the most amazing marketing campaign in the history of the beverage industry. They have bought rights to be the only drink other than water allowed on the benches in certain sports like the NBA. Think about Gatorade and who do you think about:

• Michael Jordan
• Tiger Woods
• Derek Jeter
• Serena Williams
• Dwayne Wade
• Peyton Manning

What this has done is it has taught kids playing sports that drinking Gatorade is a healthy choice that leads to being a better athlete. The reality? Most of these superstars don't even drink Gatorade! Sure, they are paid to drink out of the Gatorade cup on the sidelines, but what they're drinking is something much, much healthier for them than actual Gatorade. To find out why let's look at the ingredient list of Gatorade in order of concentration:

Gatorade G Series Ingredients:

Water, Sucrose, Dextrose, Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Salt Sodium Citrate, Mono Potassium Phosphate, gum Arabic, glycerol ester of rosin, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, and yellow 5.

Let's break this down: 2 of the top 3 ingredients are SUGARS!! Except for the sodium and potassium, the rest are ARTIFICIAL ADDITIVES!! As a top athlete, do you think putting artificial chemicals and dyes in your body is boosting your performance? Of course not. What about the sugar?

Sports Drinks and Sugar 101:

When Gatorade was first developed, it was intended to be used for football players practicing for 3-6 hours in intense, Florida heat. This type of exercise causes you to lose water, electrolytes AND sugars. Therefore, all three things would be important to replenish. However, unless you're exercising more than 90 minutes in hot, summer heat, the amount of sugar in Gatorade is just as damaging as drinking soda. Think about this: one 20 oz bottle of Gatorade has Nine (9) teaspoons of sugar poured into it! Now do you understand why those athletes aren't even drinking their own Kool-aid?

Should Kids Be Drinking During Sports?

For anything less than 90 minutes of intense exercise in high heat, the best combo is a mix of water and electrolytes. Electrolytes can be consumed with something as simple as salted pretzels, which also gives you a reasonable amount of sugar. You can also eat some fruit like a banana to get electrolytes and a healthy amount of sugar.

Next time you see athletes dumping the Gatorade cooler on their coach after a win, maybe it's because they're trying to send a message about how unhealthy the stuff is!! Hopefully, this provided a good start, and as always...Become a Priority In Your Life!!

Dr. Jeff Getbehead

Dr. Jeff can be reached for comment at:

Canton Chiropractic and Massage
400 Argonne Terrace, Canton, GA 30115
thecantonchiropractor.com
(504) 473-0636 (direct)