After a ten-mile run leaves you drenched in sweat, you reach for a sports drink, the ultimate thirst quencher.

Sports drink ads show athletes excelling beyond normal human ability, but are sports drinks what they are really cracked up to be?

Studies show workouts that involve a loss of large amounts of electrolytes and nutrients can lead to dehydration or, strangely enough, water intoxication in which the fluid enters the body but none of the nutrients are being replaced, according to a public media site, www.associatedcontent.com. This is where sports drinks come in to play. Their formula is designed to replace the carbohydrates and electrolytes lost during intense exercise and to prevent the athlete from suffering negative health effects.

Athletes are seen chugging massive quantities of sports drinks on television ads. Yet interestingly, consumers in the sports drink industry are mostly non-athletes who favor the pleasant taste of the drink and disregard its original purpose of replenishing an exhausted human body. Although sports drinks are chock-full of vitamins and nutrients, they also contain as much sugar as sodas. The high sugar content contributes to a drink's high acid level and can dissolve one's teeth by wearing away the enamel.

Another side effect of the high sugar concentration in sports drinks is that it makes you even thirstier than when you were in your prior state. The body uses water to break down sugar, a carbohydrate, into simpler forms that it can use for energy. This causes the body to lose water and creates a thirst within the athlete. Sports drinks are meant for athletes who work out for long durations where the replacement for electrolytes becomes critical. For the athletes who prefer sugarless drinks, some brands of sports drinks are beginning to market sugar-free drinks with the same amount of vitamins and a similar taste, according to a health site, www.lifescript.com.

After the invention of Gatorade in 1965, other types of sports drinks soon hopped on the hype wagon. Sports drinks consist mostly of water, for hydration, and a few electrolytes (sodium, potassium, etc) to replenish the athlete. The cheap costs of these ingredients, since the majority of a sports drink bottle contains water, results in a huge profit. Pepsi Co makes an approximate profit of 89 cents per Powerade bottle reaching a $1.43 billion industry in 2010.

The most popular sports drinks in this billion-dollar industry have been Gatorade, Sport O Water, Powerade, Vitamin Water and Propel.

Lemon Lime Gatorade

The king of sports drinks, Gatorade is a major franchise and sponsor of athletes. Due to Gatorade's immense popularity, traditions have been established around its original Lemon Lime flavor, from being served at nearly every sporting event to soaking a victorious coach.

The Gatorade phenomena all started in 1965, when Ray Graves, the coach of the Florida Gators football team, concerned about the athletes' performance, confronted university scientists about the lack of energy his players had during days with high temperatures. The scientists soon formulated Gatorade, which was rich in carbohydrates and electrolytes, the basis of all sports drinks.

After a cheer routine in Anaheim for nationals, the Lowell cheer squad, myself included, was provided Lemon Lime Gatorade. After a vigorous two-minute routine consisting of jumps and launching girls in the air, Lemon Lime Gatorade satiated my thirst and gave me relief from my shallow panting while trying to recuperate. The Gatorade helped me calm my adrenaline rush from performing on stage and subdued the dizziness I had felt beforehand from nerves and blinding lights on stage. Based on how totally swank I felt after drinking Gatorade, the basic formula in Lemon Lime had enough electrolytes to replenish the ions that I had lost.

Just plain Gatorade is currently a low calorie drink option with the same amount of electrolytes as the original formula, but with only 20 calories per bottle. However, Lemon Lime Gatorade contains sodium, potassium and chloride to replace lost minerals in the body, and also a whopping 14 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving. There are approximately four servings per bottle, so one 32-ounce bottle of original Gatorade contains four cups of solution mixed with 56 grams of sugar. Imagine spooning approximately 14 teaspoons of sugar into your drink. Furthermore, when the physicians from the University of Florida created the original Lemon-Lime flavor, they did not include other vitamins and minerals that are needed by the body when it goes through strenuous exercise, so this beverage does not completely compensate for the lost of nutrients during a workout.

The legacy Gatorade has imprinted on the sports world will continue to grow with the new products the company is creating. Gatorade’s new product, G Series Pro, is a three-part regimen for serious athletes, composing of three different drinks — one before a workout, one during and the final one for after the workout.  Fifteen minutes before a workout, athletes are recommended to drink Gatorade Prime 01, a 4-ounce pouch, meant to supply an athlete with an availability of carbohydrates for the muscles. During the workout, athletes would drink Gatorade Thirst Quencher to refuel themselves with electrolytes and nutrients. After, Gatorade Recover 03 is used to provide “muscle recovery benefits” for the worn athlete. Gatorade suffered a 6% decrease in its production profit in 2009. This series is Gatorade’s way to sell more products to make up for the decline in its recent sales in today’s weak economy, according to a business site, www.thestreet.com.

Strawberry Pomegranate Sport O Water

According to my taste buds, Sport O Water has a tangy flavor; the label also shouts its pride in the absence of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors in its drinks.

After jogging along the beach shoreline, my intake of Sport O Water was approximately one ounce for every 20 minutes of long strides. Sport O Water gave me a slight boost of energy, but the energy dissipated after ten minutes. The short-term energy was not surprising since sports drinks contain caffeine and caffeine only provides bursts of energy.

Sport O Water contains vitamin A, zinc, folic acid, calcium, potassium and the necessary carbohydrates and electrolytes, but the amount of these nutrients are in small proportions; they range from 2-10% of the needed daily value based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Though not as energizing as I expected it to be, Sport O Water is relatively healthy, since it does not contain as much sugar as other sports drinks and does not have artificial colors. It is a good compromise for those who believe in a drink, basically water, with low sugar content and a lack of artificial colorings and flavors.

Fruit Punch Powerade

Contrary to what many think, Powerade is not a division of Gatorade, but owned by Coca-Cola Company, one of Gatorade's largest competitors. In 1992, Powerade became the official drink to hydrate athletes for the Olympics. This achievement further marketed Coca-Cola's product and Powerade became known internationally. Recently, Powerade launched a campaign, "Keep Playing", in lieu of the 2010 FIFA World Cup this summer in South Africa. "Keep Playing" is the first campaign Powerade has promoted through an integrated global market that will be activated in its top 20 markets, according to www.football-marketing.com.

During cheer practice, the Fruit Punch Powerade kept me from feeling fatigued. Throughout practice I was active and felt more awake than I usually am, but there was a downside. I drank more of the sugary drink than I should have during water breaks due to the addicting, mouth-watering flavor. My desire to consume as much as the Powerade as possible overrode my self-control, probably due to the great amount of sugar in the drink, which left me thirstier than I was previously, so I ended up with a nasty stomachache afterwards. Also, the fruit punch taste that accompanies this "advanced electrolyte system" is very sweet and temporarily stains one's teeth red due to the artificial dyes.

Fruit Punch Powerade contains sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Along with those electrolytes, the formula, with more vitamins than Gatorade, includes vitamins B3, B6 and B12. Powerade's "advanced electrolyte system," christened the futuristic ION 4 by the marketers, contains the same amount of minerals and electrolytes lost in the process of sweating. The Powerade company claims that its ION4 drink is "more complete" than Pepsi's Gatorade because its formula contains calcium and magnesium, essentials to the body which Gatorade does not have. The Pepsi Company filed a lawsuit, but lost, against Coca-Cola for the insults towards Gatorade in Coca-Cola's marketing ads for Powerade ION4.

Tropical Citrus Vitamin Water

One of the few low-acid, yet colored drinks, Vitamin Water does not wear away the enamel of one’s teeth. Vitamin Water may not be unhealthy for one’s dental work, but one 32 ounce bottle consists of a whopping 32.5 grams, approximately 8 teaspoons of sugar with an average of 125 calories, comparable to the sugar level of soda and double that of Lemon Lime Gatorade. Every 8 ounces of Tropical Citrus Vitamin Water contains additives of vitamin C, B3, B6, B12 and B5.

When I hydrated with Vitamin Water during cheer practice, I quenched my thirst, but I felt no different during practice. I did not feel more energized and in fact, ended up feeling more exhausted than usual. Vitamin Water had a pleasant, “tropical” taste, but with no real fruit juice, the drink as a whole did not make a difference in my workout routine; it had only been a thirst quencher, and, due to the sugar, not even that.

Lemon Propel

A division of Gatorade, Propel markets itself as “enhanced water” and uses no artificial coloring. During practice the lemon-flavored Propel taste made me cringe due to its overly sour, even bitter taste. But during practice, when I drank an occasional gulp, it did help me re-energize and focus. An 8-ounce serving of Propel contains vitamins C, E, and B6, sodium and potassium along with only two grams of sugar.

As a-low calorie drink, Propel would be my personal choice as a sports drink during workouts since it is a good alternative to excessively sugary sports drinks. Although I do not prefer the taste (other flavors include Berry, Black Cherry, Citrus Fruit, Grape, Kiwi-Strawberry, Melon and Peach), I would rather replenish myself with a low-sugar sports drink that contains as much electrolytes as a sugary sports drink. It does not contain any caffeine so the athlete would not be worn out from the spontaneous burst, then letdown of energy. I also appreciate the eco-friendliness of Propel as it has 20 percent less plastic than other sports drink bottles.

Conclusion

For the best results, drink around 8 ounces of low-sugar sports drink twenty minutes before exercising and 4-6 ounces every 15-20 minutes during the workout. The recommended consumption of a sports drink may vary depending on the ingrediants as well as one’s height and weight.

Out of the five sports drinks—Gatorade, Sport O Water, PowerAde, Vitamin Water and Propel — Propel worked best for me. It contains many different vitamins and electrolytes in an eco-friendly bottle, balanced with just what an athlete would want before shouting cheers and catapulting girls in the air at a Cheer competition in Anaheim.