Is Gatorade Good Or Bad For You? Benefits And Risks

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SubscribeIs Gatorade good or bad for you?Medically reviewed by Jared Meacham, PhD., RD, CSCS — Written by Jenna Fletcher — Updated on April 22, 2025

• Gatorade for sports
• Risks
• Summary

Gatorade is sold as an exercise enhancement drink. It contains rehydrating electrolytes but also has a high concentration of sugar. There are benefits and risks of drinking Gatorade while exercising.

Gatorade is classified as a “sports drink.” Scientists at the University of Florida developed the drink in 1965 with the aim of boosting the performance of their football team, called the Gators. In 1967, the Gators won the Orange Bowl for the first time in years.

Gatorade contains electrolytes to rehydrate people and provide energy. However, it also contains high levels of sugar, which can increase people’s health risks.

According to 2019 research, people’s intake of sugary drinks has increased significantly in the last 3 decades. Drinking sugary sports drinks, such as Gatorade, is associated with:

• weight gain
• high blood pressure
• raised risk of diabetes, obesity, and cancer

Still, this alone does not mean that Gatorade is bad for a person’s health. People can consume moderate amounts of Gatorade or other sports drinks and experience no negative effects.

Serious athletes and people who do heavy exercise may even see benefits from drinking Gatorade, as well as water.

In this article, we take an in-depth look at the benefits and the risks of drinking Gatorade.

Should you drink Gatorade or water after sports?

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Both Gatorade and water will help the body regain fluid lost through exercise and other physical activity. The difference is that manufacturers add additional elements, such as sugar and electrolytes, to Gatorade and other sports drinks.

Electrolytes are minerals, such as potassium and sodium, that have an impact on a person’s muscles, brain, and nerves.

When a person exercises they lose water and electrolytes through their sweat. The electrolytes in Gatorade help restore lost electrolytes and keep a person hydrated during intense activity. It can also replace electrolytes during times of illness, such as stomach viruses.

Gatorade was designed to help serious athletes perform better on the field. There is no shortage of research, largely funded by Gatorade and other sports drinks, to support these claims.

According to SugarScience by the University of California, Berkeley there are more than 300 research articles about sports drinks available. Of these, it is difficult to find research not funded heavily by industry stakeholders, including Gatorade. When these bodies fund research into their own products, reviewers widely regard it as a conflict of interest.

For example, a 2018 meta-analysis reported that fully industry-funded research studies were more likely to find favorable results than studies with no industry funding.

A older research review from the University of California points out that most researchers are basing their results on the performance of serious athletes. Therefore, serious athletes competing or exercising for longer than an hour at a time may find Gatorade offers benefits that water does not.

However, scientists do not recommend Gatorade or other sports drinks for the average person unless they are engaging in strenuous, long-duration exercise or they sweat heavily. Children should only consume sports drinks if they are being very physically active for more than one hour.

»Learn more:What are electrolyte drinks and how to make them

Risks of drinking too much Gatorade

The manufacturers have designed Gatorade for serious athletes and those involved in extended, vigorous activities. In addition to adding electrolytes to the person’s fluid consumption, it also adds sugar.

Typically, serious athletes and people involved in long, strenuous activities can handle the added sugar, as they will burn it off. Extra sugar is more likely to cause health complications in people who exercise less often or only for an hour or less.

A 12 ounce (oz) serving of Gatorade contains around 95 calories. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides the following information about other soft drinks:

Drink	Calories per 12 oz serving
regular soda	155
energy drink	162
fruit juice drink	186
regular orange soda	195
water	0

While the calories in Gatorade are lower than in many other soft drinks, they still add to a person’s daily calorie intake and may be replacing calorie intake from more nutritious sources. Drinking water is a healthy alternative for staying hydrated, and it does not contain any calories.

For most people, including children and adolescents, the extra sugar, sodium, and calories found in sugary drinks are not necessary.

Children’s increase in sugary drink consumption, including energy drinks, may be contributing to weight gain in adulthood. There is also a link with chronic conditions, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Summary

Gatorade may be a good drink to complement water for athletes involved in intense exercise and activity. Gatorade may also be helpful to replace electrolytes lost during an illness that involves bouts of vomiting or diarrhea or after prolonged exposure to excessive heat.

However, Gatorade contains a lot of sugar, which may increase people’s risk of certain health conditions, including weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

For people not engaging in intense exercise, water is a healthy way to stay hydrated and limit calorie consumption.

More research is necessary to fully understand the positive and negative health impacts of Gatorade and other sports drinks.

 

• Nutrition / Diet
• Sports Medicine / Fitness

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesMedical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

• Beverages, PEPSICO QUAKER, Gatorade, G performance O 2, ready-to-drink. (2019).https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173660/nutrients
• Lundh A, et al. (2018). Industry sponsorship and research outcome: Systematic review with meta-analysis.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30132025/
• Muñoz-Urtubia N, et al. (2023). Healthy behavior and sports drinks: A systematic review. *Chazelas E, et al. (2019). Sugary drink consumption and risk of cancer: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort. .https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l2408https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10346316/
• Pirotin S, et al. (2014). Looking beyond the marketing claims of new beverages: Health risks of consuming sport drinks, energy drinks, fortified waters and other flavored beverages.https://www.issuelab.org/resources/18583/18583.pdf
• Rethink your drink. (2023).https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-weight-growth/rethink-your-drink/
• Schmidt LA. (n.d.).http://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/the-science-on-sports-drinks.html#.W6eOHfYpBPY

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Medically reviewed by Jared Meacham, PhD., RD, CSCS — Written by Jenna Fletcher — Updated on April 22, 2025

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