Gatorade: Difference between revisions

Gatorade was created in 1965, by a team of scientists at the [[University of Florida|University of Florida College of Medicine]], including [[Robert Cade]], [[Dana Shires]], Harry James Free, and Alejandro de Quesada.<ref name=born>{{cite web|url=http://www.gatorade.com/history/default.aspx|title=History|publisher=Gatorade|access-date=April 16, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415161147/http://www.gatorade.com/history/default.aspx|archive-date=April 15, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Following a request from [[Florida Gators football]] head coach [[Ray Graves]], Gatorade was created to help athletes by acting as a replacement for body fluids lost during physical exertion. TheLike many of the sports drinks that pre-dated it by decades, such as [[Lucozade]], the earliest version of the beverage consisted of a mixture of water, [[sodium]], [[sugar]], [[potassium]], [[phosphate]], and lemon juice.<ref name=gatoradehistprofile>{{cite web|last=Kays|first=Joe|title=Gatorade - The Idea that Launched an Industry|url=http://www.research.ufl.edu/publications/explore/v08n1/gatorade.html|publisher=University of Florida Research|access-date=January 24, 2011|year=2003}}</ref> Ten players on the University of Florida football team tested the first version of Gatorade during practices and games in 1965, and the tests were deemed successful. On the other hand, star [[quarterback]] [[Steve Spurrier]] said, "I don't have any answer for whether the Gatorade helped us be a better second-half team or not... We drank it, but whether it helped us in the second half, who knows?"<ref>{{cite book|last=Rovell|first=Darren|title=First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon|date=September 2, 2005|publisher=AMACOM|isbn=0814410952|pages=28}}</ref> Nonetheless, the football team credited Gatorade as having contributed to their first [[Orange Bowl]] win over the [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets]] in 1967, at which point the drink gained traction within the athletic community. Yellow Jackets coach [[Bobby Dodd]], when asked why his team lost, replied: "We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference."<ref name="inventions">{{cite web|title=Football Inventions That Shaped the Modern Game|url=http://www.inventhelp.com/Football_Inventions.asp|date=September 6, 2007|access-date=September 6, 2007}}</ref>

The University of Florida researchers initially considered naming their product "Gator-Aid"., Theybut eventually settled on the name "Gatorade, however, since the researchers wanted to create a commercial product, not a scientifically-validated one{{non sequitur|date=May 2023}}". [[Darren Rovell]] notes in his history of Gatorade, ''First in Thirst'', "the doctors realized that they probably shouldn't use the 'Aid' suffix, since that would mean that if the drink were ever marketed, they would have to prove that it had a clear medicinal use and perform clinical tests on thousands of people."<ref>{{cite book|last=Rovell|first=Darren|title=First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon|date=September 2, 2005|publisher=AMACOM|isbn=0814410952|pages=24}}</ref> Gatorade co-inventor [[Dana Shires]] explained, "We were told that you couldn't use that because the Food and Drug Administration prohibited that. That would classify it as something other than a cola or soft drink, so we changed it to ade."<ref>{{cite web|last=Shires|first=Dana|title=Dana Leroy Shires, Jr.|url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00006306/00001/17x?search=gatorade|publisher=University of Florida Digital Collection|access-date=2014-03-21}}</ref>

The Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI), a research facility operated in [[Barrington, Illinois]], has been featured in a number of the company's commercials.<ref name="GSSI">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gssiweb.com/Histroy_GSSI.aspx?ExpandMenu=6|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708090316/http://www.gssiweb.com/Histroy_GSSI.aspx?ExpandMenu=6|url-status=dead|title=Gatorade Sports Science Institute|website=Gssiweb.com|archive-date=July 8, 2009|access-date=March 11, 2022}}</ref> Established in 1985 and closed in 2022,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schroeder |first=Eric |date=April 15, 2022 |title=PepsiCo to Close Illinois R&D Facility |url=https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/21149-pepsico-to-close-illinois-r-and-d-facility |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216113833/https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/21149-pepsico-to-close-illinois-r-and-d-facility |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |access-date=June 19, 2024}}</ref><ref name=factsheetGatorade /> this organization consistsconsisted of scientists studying the correlation and effects of exercise, environmental variables, and nutrition on the human body. According to [[Darren Rovell]], "GSSI was created at a time when there was a lot of scientific controversy, since there wasn't much public evidence that Gatorade actually worked...GSSI was also created to be part of Gatorade's powerful marketing arm."<ref>{{cite book|last=Rovell|first=Darren|title=First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon|date=September 2, 2005|publisher=AMACOM|isbn=0814410952|pages=195}}</ref>

It regularly conductsconducted testing and research on how hydration and nutrition affect athletic performance.<ref name="GSSI"/> Professional athletes such as [[Eli Manning]]<ref name="foxeli">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fox5ny.com/|title=FOX 5 New York|date=February 28, 2023|website=FOX 5 New York}}</ref> as well as collegiate and amateur athletes have been involved in fitness testing programs at the GSSI, which in part have led to innovations in new Gatorade formula variations and product lines.<ref name="sportsillustrated">{{cite magazine|last=Konecky|first=Chad|title=Sports drinks like Gatorade hydrate better than water|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=July 19, 2006|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/highschool/07/19/gatorade.study/|access-date=December 2, 2010}}</ref>

In addition to the former Gatorade Sports Science Institute, Gatorade sponsors external health and fitness research. In 1992, Gatorade paid the [[American College of Sports Medicine]] (ACSM) $250,000. A year later, Gatorade and the American College of Sports Medicine held a roundtable meeting on "exercise and fluid replacement".<ref>{{cite web|last=Thring|first=Oliver|title=Do sports drinks and hydration theory hold any water?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/aug/07/sports-drinks-hydration-theory-water|work=The Guardian|date=August 7, 2012|access-date=2014-03-14}}</ref> The ACSM published the meeting's results in 1996, advising athletes to drink "at a rate sufficient to replace all the water lost through sweating" or "the maximal amount that can be tolerated".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Convertino|first=V. A.|title=American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement.|journal=Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise|pmid=9303999|volume=28|issue=1|year=1996|pages=i–vii|doi=10.1097/00005768-199610000-00045|doi-access=free}}</ref> Gatorade continues to sponsor the American College of Sports Medicine, though the exact amount it pays is not public.<ref>{{cite web|last=American College of Sports Medicine|title=About ACSM Partners and Sponsors|url=http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/partners-sponsors/sponsors|publisher=American College of Sports Medicine|access-date=2014-03-14}}</ref>