{"id":1106,"date":"2011-02-18T11:08:11","date_gmt":"2011-02-18T16:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=1106"},"modified":"2014-04-07T07:16:34","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T12:16:34","slug":"the-inside-scoop-on-sports-drinks-newer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=1106","title":{"rendered":"The Inside Scoop on Sports Drinks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ellen Smith<\/em><\/p>\n

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Vending machines at PHS offer a variety of sports drinks for students. Photo by: Ellen Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

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Whether walking through the lunch line at school, or grabbing a drink at the gas station, sports drinks are one of the most widely available beverages for purchase.<\/p>\n

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Sports drinks have only been around for a few decades, but they now dominate the sports world, from the Olympic level right down to Plymouth High School. \u00a0The classic act of dumping a tub of Gatorade or other sports drink on a coach after a big win has evolved into a quintessential part of sports as people know them today. \u00a0\u00a0Sports drinks are a big part of the culture of the nation and the world.<\/p>\n

One of the first recognizable sports drinks to rise to fame was Gatorade. \u00a0Gatorade is one of the most common drinks identified by PHS students. \u00a0Sophomore Jessica Group says the main sports drinks she knows are \u201cGatorade and Powerade.\u201d However, freshman Taylor Scott says \u201cI don\u2019t really know any [brands].\u201d \u00a0Now, newer brands like Powerade and Vitaminwater are also very popular sports drinks.<\/p>\n

There are many different kinds of sports drinks out in the market today. \u00a0Vitaminwater is one of the newest available ones. \u00a0This drink is marketed as a healthy substitute for soda as well as a sports drink, because of its many vitamins. \u00a0However, lately controversy has come up on whether Vitaminwater\u2019s claims to be healthy are true. \u00a0True or not, vitaminwater comes in a wide variety of flavors and colors for consumers to enjoy.<\/p>\n

Powerade is another sports drink that is seen quite often. \u00a0Powerade is the official sports drink of the Olympic Games, while Gatorade is the official sports drink of the National Football League. \u00a0Now Powerade is also the official beverage of many other professional sports, like NBA, PGA and MLB\u2014basketball, golf and baseball respectively. \u00a0Athletes drink beverages like Gatorade for many reasons besides for energy. \u00a0Scott believes that one of the reasons why athletes use sports drinks is \u201cbecause they taste good.\u201d \u00a0However, there may be more to it than flavor. \u00a0Freshman Kyle Barry believes that athletes drink sports drinks \u201cfor endorsements. \u00a0That\u2019s about it.\u201d \u00a0It is true that many companies will pay lots of money for a famous athlete to endorse their products. \u00a0The competition between the beverages Gatorade and Powerade is always existent. \u00a0Both Vitaminwater and Powerade are Coca-Cola products, while Gatorade and other spin-offs like Propel and SoBe are made by Pepsi-Cola. \u00a0The drink industry is very diverse.<\/p>\n

Sports drinks are successful because they can claim something that water cannot\u2014sports drinks contain nutrients to replenish the body. \u00a0However, Barry feels otherwise. \u00a0He generally drinks \u201cwater during events, because [sports drinks] dehydrate you first.\u201d Freshman Luke Schumacher prefers \u201csports drinks, because they taste good and give you minerals.\u201d It is true that the salts in sports drinks can dehydrate instead of refuel.<\/p>\n

During an extensive period of workout or exercise, the body loses more than just water through sweat. \u00a0It also loses salts and nutrients through the pores, and after a certain time the body needs to be replenished. \u00a0Sports drinks replenish the body with water and with nutrients, like salts, minerals, and electrolytes. \u00a0Sports drinks can help give players their \u201csecond wind\u201d during strenuous physical activity. \u00a0This ability to replenish is the reason why sports drinks claim to be superior to ordinary water.<\/p>\n

Sports drinks do not only exist in the United States. \u00a0They are present throughout the world. \u00a0Powerade is one of the most popular sports beverages because of its status as the official drink of the Olympics. \u00a0Drinks like Gatorade can be found everywhere, even in school. \u00a0Drinks like Powerade, Vitaminwater, and Gatorade are common sports drinks available for sale in vending machines, or in the lunch line. \u00a0Even with so many drinks like Gatorade available in many places, Scott adds \u201cI do not really drink sports drinks, though.\u201d Gatorade has even made a new line of drinks named G2. \u00a0G2 is not a sports drink, but a type of flavored water that is now commonly seen in schools. \u00a0Plymouth High School sports vending machines offer many varieties and flavors of drinks, from Powerade to Vitaminwater. \u00a0Group agrees with Scott, saying she \u201cdoes not drink sports drinks very often.\u201d \u00a0Sophomore Bob Byers also says he \u201crarely has\u201d sports drinks, but when he does he likes \u201cGatorade, because it tastes like grapes.\u201d Sports drinks are found almost everywhere a person goes.<\/p>\n

Beverages like Gatorade and Vitaminwater have really changed the lives of athletes and the common person. \u00a0These sports drinks replenish exhausted athletes with extra nutrients, and are also a very popular drink outside of the sports arena. \u00a0From their conception at the University of Florida to today, sports drinks have changed lives. \u00a0Now they are one of many cornerstones to American culture and sports. \u00a0This classic drink is here to stay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ellen Smith Whether walking through the lunch line at school, or grabbing a drink at the gas station, sports drinks are one of the most widely available beverages for purchase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-1106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature","category-sports","tag-february-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1106"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8897,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1106\/revisions\/8897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}