When Gatorade first made it’s appearance back in 1965 there was no scientific evidence that what they had created even helped their football players perform better. Fast forward to 2016 and in all honesty the jury is still out on whether Gatorade or any sports drink really helps performance. There are many studies out there that say that sports drinks do in fact help perform better at certain tasks like long term running. But other studies show that its performance enhancing are minimal if they help at all. The same study even indicates that sports drinks might even hinder certain tasks that require accuracy like throwing or hitting a ball.

For years, the people who campaign against sports drinks have been drowned out by the overwhelming buying power of their marketing budgets. Pro athletes all over the world advertise for sports drinks which is very misleading. The formulas used today are nothing like the formula that may have helped the Florida Gators win. Today, they’re filled with tons of sugar and other chemicals that do nothing to aid performance. Thankfully, one study has given us a better option. They claim that any performance enhancing properties sports drinks may have are largely based on brain chemistry. Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that cyclists that rinsed or swished a sports drink that contained maltodextrin (a sugar) in their mouths for five seconds had the same performance enhancing effects as if they were to drink it. The maltodextrin activates certain receptors in the mouth that activate motivation in the brain.

So now, according to one study at least, we can have the performance boost without all the extra chemical stuff and sugar that is in sports drinks. Leading experts say that water works equally well if not better than sports drinks anyway. So stay hydrated however you can.