Gatorade exploits the 'organic' market - but it's still just sugar water

Monday, September 26, 2016 by: Vicki Batts
Tags: Gatorade, organic, sugar water

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(NaturalNews) Gatorade has recently launched a new line of products for the sole purpose of deceiving health-minded individuals. "G Organic" is Gatorade's attempt at remaining en vogue, as consumers become less interested in artificial colorants, and more concerned about what they are actually putting into their bodies.

The new product line features a minimally-sized ingredient list, and boasts "organic cane sugar" as one of its primary ingredients. While it is nice that Gatorade has cut the artificial nonsense out of their products, G Organic is truly not a healthy food. Organic origins aside, at the end of the day, this beverage and others like it are still just expensive sugar water. Putting the word "organic" on a label does not guarantee that a product is healthier for you, better for the farmers or safer for the environment. Gatorade, like many other companies, simply hopes that slapping the holy grail of "healthy buzz words" on their products will encourage people to believe that these products are good for them.

Like the original Gatorade, G Organic contains 14 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving. While it may be less than what you'd find in a similar serving of soda, it's still more sugar than you ought to be drinking on a regular basis. Lisa Heaton MS, RD, CSSD claims that Gatorade specifically chose to maintain the high sugar content of the beverage to "provide fuel for athletes." She also states that Gatorade's products are only recommended "for the active occasion."

What she does not specify is that most people do not need a sports drink after they work out. CBC News reported on a test conducted by CBC MarketPlace, which found that even after a 45-minute run, runners had not lost enough electrolytes through sweat to warrant consumption of a beverage such as Gatorade. The high amount of sugar and salt found in sports drinks is generally going to be detrimental to the average person's fitness goals. If you're an athlete who gets two hours of intense exercise every day, or you're in the middle of running a marathon, then perhaps a sports drink might be a worthwhile nutritional investment. As CBC News writes, "Marketplace also tested the blood of an elite triathlete during intense cycling and discovered that it would take about two hours of strenuous activity before she would benefit from the electrolytes in a sports drink."

In other words, most of us would have to double our daily efforts to really necessitate the consumption of sports drinks such as Gatorade. Sports drinks are recommended by the Canadian Paediatric Society for young athletes who are exercising outside in extreme heat for more than 60 minutes, but the organization also warns against overuse. The group states that over-consumption of sugar-laden beverages, including sports drinks, can lead to excessive calorie intake and weight gain.

Sports physiologist Dr. Greg Wells says that while sports drinks are great at providing hydration when needed, it is important to understand that for the average person lifting weights, doing yoga, or taking a spin class, water is all that is needed. Dr. Wells notes, "In the scientific community, we generally don't recommend sport drinks for anything less than 90 minutes, if you are exercising really intensely, if you are exercising in the heat, if you are exercising for a very long period of time."

Pure, clean water is truly all the vast majority of us need to stay hydrated during a routine workout. Don't be fooled by clever marketing strategies or fancy labels; stick to water, and skip the added sugars.

Sources:

Vitals.LifeHacker.com

WellAndGood.com

CBC.ca