Does gatorade really do anything for you?

Maybe sugar water does do something more for you than plain water. I think there is also some salt in it, but I don't have a bottle in front of me. I'd like to know as well.

yes it does do something for you, it's an isotonic drink...i'll let the other nerds of letsrun.com explain the rest.

The New Performance Gatorade works pretty good, sits well, and tastes like the original Gatorade of the 70's. I do'nt think the regular Gatorade is much more than flavored sugar water with a trace of electolytes and does'nt sit well if used while running....

It tastes good. I don't think it does a whole lot for you other than to help people drink something. I typically drink that stuff after I exercise, I have had bad experiences drinking it prior to running.

it rehydrates, so its pointless to drink it before a workout. not only pointless but might have negative effects. i cant say how much it helps to rehydrate but it does at least help some.

THe sugar replaces the glycogen levels in your muscles. Following a run or workout, your muscles are glycogen sensitive b/c of the hormonal response to running and the declining glyvogen levels (b/c there being used as fuel to run). While they are "sensitive" there is a higher uptake of glycogen if it's there. It get's there by eating/drinking. The sensitivness usually peaks w/in 15-30min and then rapidly drops until 2hrs post run.

So that's what that sugar does for recovery and why gatorade is better than water for recovery.

bad connection wrote:

THe sugar replaces the glycogen levels in your muscles. Following a run or workout, your muscles are glycogen sensitive b/c of the hormonal response to running and the declining glyvogen levels (b/c there being used as fuel to run). While they are "sensitive" there is a higher uptake of glycogen if it's there. It get's there by eating/drinking. The sensitivness usually peaks w/in 15-30min and then rapidly drops until 2hrs post run.

So that's what that sugar does for recovery and why gatorade is better than water for recovery.

Actually, I believe most of the sugar in gatorade is sucrose and/or dextrose, which replenishes your liver glycogen much more readily than your muscle glycogen. If you want gatorade, go for the powder, which contains dextrose (pure glucose), which does actually refuel the glycogen in your muscles.

That should say "sucrose and/or fructose", not dextrose, in the first line.

You can certainly get the same benefits from eating a good diet.

Drinking Gatorade (or other sports drinks) during a run increases blood glucose pool or helps to maintain it. The more CHO the better for the most part.

As for before a run, you need to time the consumption so that you are not going to get the hyperinsulin response too close to starting the run. This is the effect of the sugar "high" and then a lethargic feeling that is commonly reported.

Afterwards, food can do a very good job of restoring muscle glycogen. Add water to the food and you can rehydrate just fine. Gatorade is convenient however and useful as many people do not like to eat too soon after exercise or eat enough.

Save the Gatorade for AFTER a workout or race to replenish the electrolytes/fluid you've lost DURING running (~sweat). Furthermore, the carbohydrate content is an energy source and helps with recovery (insulin response+exercise), although carbohydrate+protein solutions have proven to be far superior to 'plain old Gatorade' for this purpose.

Jaguar hit the nail on the head. It's all about the electrolytes and ratios of intracellular to extracellular fluids. The important stuff is the salts, not the carbs.

It does a lot for you-in fact, for extended workouts, it's better than water alone. The sugar helps replenish glucose stores in your muscles, and the electrolytes replenish the sodium and potasium you lose through sweat. I've read research that says water alone will slow your recovery time and lower your immune system-making your more vulnerable to colds, etc...

Don't take my word for it, research the topic further. What you find will help your performance.

p.s. don't rely on forums like this (alone) to answer these kinds of questions. Muy importante.

Some of you are so dense on basic physiology that I am amazed.

Sodium.

Potassium.

sucrose - glucose - fructose.

Ring a bell? Open a physiology book are just search online for electrolytes and how they work and why they are important.

Somebody said "you can get these in a normal diet", well that is all fine and good if I could eat a "normal diet" when I am biking along at 22 mph and am trying to keep this up for 5 hours without sitting down. Or if you are out running at 5:20 pace and are doing 18 miles today.

That is what Gatorade is for. It doesn't help your homework performance or help you watch TV better.

And to their (Stokely Van-Kamp's) credit they don't market it as a lifestyle beverage. The commercials plainly show ATHLETES covered in sweat and actually engaged in sports while drinking it.

Your read like you are pretty smart, but I can't decide if you really "are," or if you "are" just a bad typist.

Some guy I met claimed that Gatorade had too much salt in it, that it dehydrates you. I always thought this was baloney, anyone with a scientific background able to give proof?

bad typist.

That should read "and". I am not particularly smart, but I do think much quicker than I can type. I am getting better though. Re-read your post, you'll see that you made an error just like this. It happens to most people.

What's with the name? I saw Lindsay just 3 weeks ago. I was watching BIG 10's and I'm standing next to this guy who looks really familiar, but I couldn't place him until he started talking. Then it was just like 25 years ago.

He used to come to East Lansing to run the big 10k there once per year and he came back to MSU to run an indoor 2mile there a time or two. i knew people at Frank Shorter Sports (who he used to race for) and we got to run with him the next day usually if he stayed around town for another day. Nice guy.

But you spell the last name wrong, and I don't get that?

Gatorade won't dehydrate you. It's an isotonic solution (that's where they claim to have worked on getting things specific in the lab, well that and testing it on athletes). It's like .9% saline (the stuff they give to people in the ER who are bleeding out) with some other stuff added in (the sugars and some vitamins).

some researchers claim that the electrolytes in a drink don't really matter. Your body has enough and gets enough through a normal diet and is great at balancing them.

What the electrolytes in the gatorade are good at doing is stimulating your thirst mechanisms, unlike water which reduces them. This will help you take in more fluid to rehydrate.

The main reason I'd use gatorade is for glycogen replenishment as mentioned above, but Carb+protein drinks seem to do a better job, plus they aid in muscle repair too.

To the poster who said, the type of carb matters w/ glycogen uptake by muscles...Only to an extent.

High Glycemic carbs produce a stronger insulin response and are more rapidly abosorbed. Low glycemic take longer. Other than that the type of sugar, doesn't matter too much as to whether it goes to the liver or to the muscles. After exercise the insulin response will take the carbs after their broken down and transport it into the blood and then stimulate the processes for manufactoring muscle glycogen.