I could extoll endlessly on the virtues of sports drinks. After being completely wiped after practice, I'd come home, literally dragging myself, white, exhausted, and covered with salt from sweating. I used to have a hard time remembering to stay hydrated, which is pretty important for a competitive athlete. Gatorade was my salvation. It didn't take me long to figure out that Gatorade was better at reviving me to a near- human state than water ever could. I didn't know why, much beyond that electrolytes (whatever those are) sent fluid through my system and sodium kept the fluids in my system. Whatever. Gatorade was an acceptable drink for a runner, and that's all I thought I needed to know. I know runners that swear by it, so I went with the flow and chugged my gatorade.
Then my faith in gatorade was really shaken. I had entered a road race, where a bunch of runners race around on the streets. It wasn't my first race, but it was my first 10k, which is about 6 miles long. The trouble started around mile 4, when I hit my wall and started slowing down. Luckily there was a water station just up ahead. and more luckily (or so I thought) they had Gatorade. I grabbed 2 cups and kept going. The story ends with me being sick less than a mile later and the friends I was running with laughing at me for being stupid enough to drink gatorade during a workout. Apparently, everyone (except me, of course) knows that Gatorade is bad during a workout, but oh-so-good afterward. Well, things you never knew...
This inspired me to investigate the official Gatorade website (www.gatorade.com). Supposedly, Gatorade boosts performance "through rapid fluid absorption, assures rapid rehydration, provides carbohydrate energy to working muscles, and encourages you to drink more." Nowhere does it mention that it can make you sick if drinken (drank? drunk?) during a workout, much less why. In fact, with that whole "rapid rehydration," it sounds like they encourage it. Craziness. Most people who have tried drinking Gatorade during an intense practice swear that they never will again. Whenever I've brought this topic up among a group of athletes, it always gets that reaction. It affects most people that way, but nowhere on the whole world wide web do I find an official reason for it. I repeat, craziness. If I were paranoid and had more time to waste, I'd develop a conspiracy on this phenomenon on how the Gatorade corporation is plotting to take over the world, but I think I'll leave that to your own imagination.
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I kind of wish that I didn't read your post. Not that it wasn't good or full of information (because it was) but I love Gatorade. I would hate to think any bad thoughts about the sports drink. It's interesting to me that you got sick in the middle of your workout and have also talked with other athletes who have gone through the same thing. I am a swimmer and in high school, we had practice during X-mas Break and it was known as Hell Week. The practices were killer and when we did get to hang on the wall for two minutes, our coach would supply us with Gatorade. I never had any problems with feeling sick. I'm not saying that you are wrong, but I'm just telling you my experience with the drink. Anyway, I've gone on too long. Haha. I liked your post, even if it was warning against the dangers of my favorite sports drink.
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