Have you ever seen an athlete drinking a brightly-colored drink while resting on the sidelines during a break in the action and wondered just what it was that they were consuming?
Well, you were probably seeing them take in a sports drink, a specially-formulated class of beverage that provides electrolytes, hydration, and a boost of sugar to athletes that need these things to replenish their body’s fuel sources.
Sports drinks, which are popularly made and produced with brand names such as Gatorade and Powerade, are widely advertised and highly visible on the sidelines of sports leagues such as the National Football League and Major League Baseball.
Available in a number of flavors, the first “sports drink” as we know them now was Gatorade, a drink that was produced in the late 1960s in Florida as an experimental beverage that aimed to give University of Florida football players a hydration, energy, and electrolyte boost in a pleasant lemon-lime flavor.
Now produced by thousands of companies all over the world, the aim of these drinks remains the same: preventing dehydration and replenishing strength for athletes.
Sugars provide the energy, while minerals that are lost by the body through the process such as sweating, including sodium and potassium, are the electrolytes which make these drinks so useful and effective.
So, now you know why these sports drinks are so popular and are such a key for great athletic performance!
