Gatorade: Is the Chemistry In You? Essay Example

players were losing.

The beverage consisted of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, hostage and lemon Juice. They called this new mixture, "Gators. " Ten players on Florist's football team tested the first version of Gators during practices and games in their 1965 season, and the tests were considered successful. The Gators began performing better and even won the Orange Bowl for the first time ever in history of the school. It seemed clear to everyone that Gators was the solution to the problem.

Word about Gators began to spread outside of Florida and other universities across the country began ordering Gators for their football team.

Soon every type f athlete wanted to test out this new thirst quencher. Today, Gators can be found on the sidelines of more than 70 Division I colleges as the official drink of their men's and women's sports. It is distributed in over 80 countries and promoted by some of the world's most famous athletes including; Derek Jester, Deanne Wade, Peyote Manning, Serene Williams and perhaps the most legendary athlete of all time, six time NAB champion, Michael Jordan. But even with the number one selling sports drink in America, a lot questions still arise. Is it healthy for you and does it have more benefits than water? ND many more.

These topics have sparked a lot of interest and there have been many studies on the effects of Gators. Just like any other experiment in chemistry, there are many different studies and different results. So all of our information is what we have concluded from multiple accredited references. Storage's Ingredients Gators has gained its reputation from celebrity endorsements, sporting events and its

catchy slogans but not many people know its ingredients.

The first step to answering any of our questions is to inspect Storage's chemical make-up and all of its key components. Gators has three very important ingredients; carbohydrates, electrolytes, and water. Each of these play a vital role for stimulating fluid absorption, providing energy, helping the body maintain fluid balance and enhancing athletic performance. Let's first look carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. An 8 oz. Serving of Gators contains 15. 9 g of carbohydrates, according to the USDA Nutrient Database.

All of the carbohydrates in Gators exist in the form of simple sugars. Simple sugars are carbohydrates that are composed of either one or two saccharine molecules. Simple sugars are quickly digested and converted to blood glucose for immediate cellular energy. There are 5 types of different carbohydrates in Gators; sucrose, glucose, fructose, lactose and maltose. The combination of these carbohydrates gives Gators that sweet taste and provides rapid forms of energy to fuel muscle contraction.

Lastly, from the research we've looked into, Storage's specific combination of carbohydrates speeds up intestinal absorption of water.

That means optimal fluid replacement during hot and during their season. Next, let's talk about electrolytes. Electrolytes are compounds that, in water solution, conduct an electric current. Electrolytes help maintain water and pH levels in your body that you need for proper functioning.

They are important for the muscle functions that are required for physical activity. Exercise depletes electrolytes, which require immediate replacement.

If you don't replenish yourself, you will have an electrolyte imbalance. An imbalance is when dehydration occurs and can cause serious health consequences. Gators contains sodium, potassium

and chloride to help replenish lost electrolytes and keep your body running smoothly, especially urine exercise and sport. They also enhance flavor and maintain the stability of active ingredients.

Each one of these electrolytes has an important role in fluid replacement. Water is the third vital ingredient in Gators. Water makes up 94% of Gators. It plays an important role in nearly every bodily function and is necessary for proper digestion, nutrient absorption and chemical reactions. Water even regulates your body temperature.

It is the most important thing to have in our body. The water portion of Gators replenishes you more than any other ingredient. Since water is a art of every aspect of our health, water is the most important component of Gators. There are many other small ingredients that do not have as much as importance in Gators as carbohydrates, electrolytes and water do.

They might not be key components but Gators wouldn't be the same without them. Natural flavoring is added to give variations in tastes such as grape, strawberry and orange. Manipulations phosphate is in Gators to add a source of phosphate. Glycerol ester of rosin is to provide coloring. Different acids and oils are used to balance pH and thicken/stabilize the formula. And many other filler sugars to give it that sweet, flavor Gators taste. Now that you can understand the make-up of Gators a little bit better, we can now take a look at our three questions; Is it healthy?

Does it help or hurt an athlete's performance? Does it have more benefits than water? Is Gators Healthy? When someone mentions Gators the first thing you think is that it's full

of vitamins and nutrients that replenish your body but this is not entirely correct.

Gators can cause more harm than good. We have researched both the health benefits and health risks of drinking Gators. And what we have concluded is that overall, drinking Gators is not healthy for you and here are some reasons why. The main negative effect of Gators is weight gain, which no competing athlete would want.

There are lots of sugar and crabs in Gators, which the body does need for energy but an excessive amount of the two can result in diabetes, high blood pressure and weight gain. Studies from The University of California, Berkeley found that if someone drank one Gators per day, they would gain 13 pounds in a year.

The acidity of Gators is very unhealthy too. Gators is full of sugar and sodium hat can cling to your teeth and eat away at your enamel. Since the person who is drinking the sports drink is usually low on fluids, he likely has very little saliva in his mouth.

Since saliva normally protects the teeth by washing away substances that can cling to them, the lack of saliva can be a problem. This can eventually lead to tooth enamel faster than soda and energy drinks. Gators itself isn't necessarily an unhealthy choice. It needs to be consumed in moderations. Gators becomes very unhealthy if you drink it frequently. It's best suited for serious athletes or used sparingly.

Gators has a lot of disadvantages to drinking it but it also has some advantages too. Like we've said before, Gators is full of electrolytes and carbohydrates, which help an athlete perform to

their best abilities. Anyone will tell you that sweating for a long period of time causes you to lose electrolytes from your body and Gators replenishes those that were lost. This is important for the contractions of muscles and to your performance on the field. The carbohydrates in the drink give you that needed burst of energy and can help you stay focused 90 minutes after consuming it.

It is very important to keep the body's carbohydrate content up while exercising and playing sports. Like electrolytes, they give your muscles fuel so they can operate properly and you can play your heart out!

Gators vs. Water

The makers of Gators claim that Gators is better than other drinks because the formula they use "reiterates, refuels and replenishes better. " It is true that Gators replaces natural body fluids rather than giving the body caffeine and ginseng like other sports drinks or soda. But does that mean Gators is the best choice to reiterate you? What about simple H2O, water? Which brings us to our other question; does Gators have more benefits than water? We have done a lot of research for this question and there is a lot of information.

We have found information claiming that water has more benefits than Gators and information claiming that Gators has more benefits than water. Using what we have learned, we came to the conclusion that it depends on the situation. It really depends on the level of exertion and the amount you sweat. Water is so vital to us. Next to oxygen, it is the most essential element of human life. Water is essential to the functioning of

very single cell and organ system in the human body.

It keeps the body in balance so reiterating yourself with some form of water is a must.

When doing light regular exercise, drinking Just water may be the best option. Typically, moderate exercise under an hour doesn't cause you to sweat enough to lose sodium and other nutrients. During regular exercise you should be able to maintain proper hydration with 12 to 20 oz. Of additional water. Water does not contain sugars or carbohydrates, unlike Gators, that are unnatural in body and take more energy to break down.

In edition to this, water does not have any sodium in it, which helps the body hold onto water and helps fluid get to the right places in the body, like muscles and blood.

A bartender keeps pretzels at the bar so you get thirsty and buy more drinks. The sodium in Gators continues to keep you thirsty. If you drink water, you no longer feel thirsty and you've replenished all he lost fluids. Only after at least an hour of strenuous cardiovascular or aerobic activity, would Gators be a more beneficial choice.

Once you pass that hour mark doing a more vigorous form of exercise, Gators is able to recover hydration levels better than water. This is because Gators contains important ingredients that water does not; electrolytes, carbohydrates and sodium.

Like we already stated, Gators contains sodium. The addition of sodium has two important effects. The first being the sodium in Gators Gators when you are doing a hard workout and sweating intensely; you are losing sodium and need something to replace it! Sodium is vital in regulating the

fluid levels in your body, so deficiencies may lead to dehydration. The other effect is the rate of fluid absorption is increased, resulting in better reiteration. When you start o sweat during a prolonged workout, you start to lost electrolytes.

As a result of this, you may feel tired and weak and start to cramp. Gators provides many minerals that act as electrolytes in your body to replace what is lost. These minerals provided in Gators are calcium, potassium and chloride Carbohydrates are also an important ingredient that Gators has and water does not. More intense exercise drains the system of carbohydrates, which is used by the body for energy.. As you exercise, your muscles burn through carbohydrates at a much faster rate.

This could cause a drop in blood glucose level, making you feel cause, dizzy and fatigued. This is why carbohydrates need to be replaced. Gators provides a number of these carbohydrates, one being high fructose syrup. Consuming carbohydrates also improves cognitive function and focus, which are qualities any athlete needs to succeed.

To sum up all this information and a good rule of thumb to follow, water is better for low intensity exercise and Gators is better for more extreme exercise where you are losing a lot of sodium, electrolytes and carbohydrates. Water is always a great choice but the longer the activity, the more important Gators becomes.

So in conclusion, we have learned the chemical make-up of Gators, the health benefits and risks and if it is better than water. Now with all this new information, you can start to make a healthy educated guess. So go outside and go for a run.

What drink are you going to bring along? You decide.