Gatorade is an energy drink developed by Pepsico for athletes. It helps to improve the overall performance of the athletes by facilitating the nutrition and hydration so that they can operate at peak.
Over the years, many products have been developed under the brand Gatorade. Initially, the only product was the Gatorade Thirst Quencher which was available as both the liquid and powder form. After that different products with variations of the same product were developed such as the Gator gum, Gatorade Energy Bar, Gatorade Ice and Gatorade Tiger. It contains only 50% of the calories of fruit juices and soft drinks.
The actual product is based on the traditional oral rehydration therapy i.e. a mixture of salt, sugar and water in definite proportions.
While there are not direct side-effects of the drink, you can be negatively affected if you consume excess of it. The product is designed to be taken in small amounts and over intake will cause problems for you.
Since Gatorade is enriched with carbohydrates, you may obtain a large amount of weight on your body.
One bottle of Gatorade contains 33% percent of your day’s required sodium intake. So, if you drink it in large amounts, it will create an excess of sodium in your body. This in turn, can cause the problem of high-blood pressure.
One particularly serious consequence of consuming excess of Gatorade can be Hyponatremia. Hyponatremia is the situation in the human body when the cells are over-hydrated, and the sodium levels drop tremendously to a low position. Usually such condition takes place when an athlete drinks a lot of water, but it is seen that it can happen if he drinks an excess of Gatorade too.
There are no specific dosage recommendations of Gatorade, but if you are applying adequate physical exertions then you may require little intake of it whenever you feel the need.
And Gatorade should be diluted in a particular ratio, adding too much or too little of water can reduce its efficacy.