Gatorade Nutrition Facts: Is It Bad for You?

While Gatorade is one of the biggest brands in the sports drink industry, its nutritional merit is controversial. Is it a sugar bomb that you should avoid at all costs? Or is it a nutritious option for hydration? The answer is complex.

Whether you should drink Gatorade (or any sports beverage) depends on your health goals and philosophy, how much and the type of exercise you're doing, and your personal preference. Gatorade contains calories in the form of sugar which can give you a small energy boost during exercise and electrolytes to help with hydration. Unless you work out intensely for prolonged periods or are an elite athlete, good 'ol water may be your best bet to quench your thirst and replenish lost fluids due to sweat.

Gatorade Nutrition Facts

While the ingredients, flavors, and colors have changed a bit since its inception in the 1960s, the nutritional components of Gatorade’s Original Thirst Quencher remain fairly similar. According to the brand site, a 20-ounce bottle contains:

History of Gatorade

Today, Gatorade is a widely consumed, mass-manufactured beverage available in a rainbow of colors and flavors. The roots of the popular product, however, are grounded in helping a small football team succeed.

Back in 1965, the coach of the Florida Gators recruited researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine to help him with a challenge. The team was underperforming in the Florida heat, and the coach wanted to understand why this was happening—and if anything could be done to correct it.

Researchers noted that players had two issues: a lack of fluid and electrolytes to replace sweat losses, and a lack of carbohydrate for energy replenishment. With this data, they developed a custom drink—a mixture of sugar, salt, water, and citrus flavoring—to help players hydrate and fuel more efficiently on the field. They named it “Gatorade.”

By the late 1960s, one of the researchers reached an agreement with a food manufacturer for U.S. production and sale. By the early 1980s, the NFL signed a licensing agreement to make Gatorade the official drink of the league.

Since then, Gatorade has expanded into many product lines, sales have exploded, and Gatorade and sports go hand in hand. Let's take a closer look.

Gatorade's calories, sugar, and sodium may seem high, but these ingredients can be useful during prolonged endurance exercise.

Gatorade Ingredients

Gatorade now has many beverage lines, including the original, Flow, Fierce, Frost, G Organic, G2 (with half the sugar), and Zero (no sugar). Aside from the varying sugar content and flavor intensity, these drinks share a similar makeup of electrolytes, flavors, dyes, and other ingredients.

Here's a breakdown of Gatorade nutrition facts to show what's in a typical bottle and the intended purposes of these basic ingredients:

• Water, for fluid and hydration
• Sugar, for fuel
• Dextrose, another type of sugar added for fuel
• Citric acid, for flavor
• Salt, for electrolyte replenishment
• Sodium citrate, the sodium salt of citric acid to improve the flavor
• Monopotassium phosphate, adds potassium for electrolyte replacement
• Modified food starch, stabilizing agent
• Natural flavor
• Food dyes, for color
• Glycerol ester of rosin, stabilizing agent

One exception is the G Organic drinks which are certified organic and only contain seven ingredients: water, cane sugar, citric acid, natural flavor, sea salt, sodium citrate, and potassium chloride.

Food Dyes in Gatorade

Gatorade is known for its brightly colored drinks but some question the safety of the dyes used to make them, raising concerns about whether the ingredients might pose risks, such as for cancer or hyperactivity. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed the science and concluded that the food colors used in Gatorade, such as Red 40 or Yellow 5, are safe to consume.

Sugar in Gatorade

One of the frequent criticisms of Gatorade is that it contains too much sugar. The standard Gatorade Original Thirst Quencher includes 36 grams of carbohydrates in a 20-ounce bottle, almost as much sugar as a 12-ounce can of soda.

Gatorade's sugar content can be useful during prolonged exercise. Your body uses a blend of fuel types for energy during exercise, including sugar. For example, on a long-distance run your body uses stored fat and carbohydrates to provide energy for your muscles. However, your carbohydrate reserves are far more limited compared to fat. For many athletes, running low on that stored carbohydrate is the equivalent of “hitting the wall.”

When you drink a sports drink (or eat an energy chew or have another quick mid-workout snack), the sugar provides some quickly accessible carbohydrates for fast energy. This can translate into better performance and longer endurance. However, this is most relevant to elite athletes who exercise for long periods and high intensity.

Sugar in Gatorade for Casual Athletes

So, what about those who are just sipping Gatorade throughout the day? Or the kids (and adults) enjoying the beverage during their soccer or baseball games or with an afternoon snack?

In those cases, water is enough to hydrate. However, Gatorade may be considered a treat or water substitute on hot days when kids are playing outdoor sports. 

Casual consumption of Gatorade and other sweetened beverages can be problematic because sugary drinks like soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, lemonades, and sweet teas have been associated with obesity, weight gain, and other health problems.

Salt in Gatorade

Salt is added to Gatorade for enhanced athletic performance, just like sugars. When you sweat, your body loses both fluid and electrolytes. Though several electrolytes are lost in sweat, the primary one is sodium.

Sodium helps to regulate fluid balance in the body. Some point out that drinking only water during prolonged exercise may contribute to the risk of hyponatremia, a dangerous drop in blood sodium levels. However, this is unlikely to be an issue unless you're participating in extreme workouts and sweating profusely.

Some athletes also anecdotally link sodium losses to cramping. While most research suggests that cramping is due to neuromuscular fatigue, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try upping your electrolyte intake to see if it alleviates your cramping concerns.

The sodium in Gatorade can be beneficial during exercise—especially activities performed in heat when sweat and sodium are lost at a higher rate. Gatorade Endurance is considered a good pre-workout drink because of its higher carbohydrate and sodium content which is helpful for longer workouts. However, for everyday hydration, it's unhealthy to consume sodium in the beverages you sip on outside of exercise. Consuming excess sodium through these drinks may be linked to issues including high blood pressure.

Is Gatorade Bad for Kids?

While Gatorade can be useful for active adults and some active children, most kids do not need sports drinks regularly.

Marketing campaigns from sports drink manufacturers—including Gatorade—have often been targeted toward children. For example, in the early 1990s, the “Be Like Mike” commercial was a major success, encouraging children to be like Michael Jordan and drink Gatorade. Similar celebrity campaigns have appeared since.

Sports drinks are now a household staple and are frequently distributed during sports. A 2018 study in Pediatrics revealed that 57% of adolescents drank a sports drink at least once during the previous week. Almost 14% drank a sports drink daily.

For most children, a plain bottle of water will provide the hydration they need during a youth basketball game or high school field hockey event.

Drawbacks of Excessive Gatorade

For children and adults who do not need a sports drink for athletic purposes—yet are drinking them regularly—negative health consequences can arise. Here are a few to consider:

Dental Problems

The acid in sports drinks has been shown to wear down tooth enamel. Plus, the sugars in the beverage can contribute to cavities.

Food Dyes and Behavioral Issues

A 2018 statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics was created to “highlight emerging child health concerns related to the use of colorings, flavorings, and chemicals deliberately added to food during processing.” 

One concern is related to artificial food colors, including Red 40 or Blue 1, which are used in Gatorade drinks. Certain studies associate artificial colors with exacerbating behavioral problems in those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

At this time, there is no firm conclusion that food dyes or artificial food coloring causes ADHD. The FDA still maintains that these additives are safe.

Weight Gain

Some research suggests a small—yet statistically significant—increase in body mass index (BMI) among children who consume regular sugar-sweetened beverages.

Usefulness as a Sports Drink

In addition to the anecdotal evidence of the Florida Gators' success while using Gatorade, many researchers have studied sports drinks and athletic performance. Sports drinks—including Gatorade—have been shown to help with hydration and energy during intense or long-duration exercise.

However, most people (even those who exercise regularly) do not exert themselves at a level that requires a sports drink. These products become useful when exercising intensely for more than 60 to 90 minutes. 

In those cases, the sports drink helps with hydration and replenishes some electrolytes lost through sweating. Some studies show that sports drinks also help athletes hydrate better simply because they taste good, which can encourage them to drink more.

Also, once you pass over an hour of strenuous exercise, research has shown that providing carbohydrates for energy improves performance. If you’re exercising for less than an hour, however, plain water is all you need. 

Certainly, it's valid to indulge in Gatorade just because you enjoy drinking it—and doing so occasionally is unlikely to cause any ill effects. Drinking a bottle every day without changing anything else in your diet or exercise routine could add up to many extra pounds over a year. The extra 140 calories per Gatorade per day (51,100 calories over the year) divided by the approximately 3,500 calories it takes to gain a pound adds up to 14.6 pounds.

Gatorades With Less Sugar

In response to concerns over its high sugar content, Gatorade now offers Gatorade Zero, which has no sugar and only 10 calories, and G2, which has half the sugar and about half the calories of the original. These products use the artificial sweetener sucralose (best known by the brand name Splenda) and acesulfame potassium in place of sugar.

While many studies suggest that artificial sweeteners are safe for consumption in moderate amounts, other research has found potentially detrimental effects. For example, a 2017 review article concluded that artificial sweeteners may alter the gut microbiome, be associated with weight gain, and alter satiety cues.

More research needs to be done in order to validate causation. At this time, the FDA stands by the safety of the ingredients and approves their use in food.

A Word From Verywell

If you’re an athlete who competes in long or intense workouts, Gatorade’s products can certainly be a useful tool for hydration and fueling. For fitness enthusiasts who prefer a flavored beverage during shorter workouts, G2 or Gatorade Zero are lower-sugar options to consider—provided you’re comfortable with artificial sweeteners. For other uses, such as most short workouts and for everyday drinking, water is truly your best bet for staying hydrated.