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Madison Ansari
Dr. Sharity Nelson
ENGL 1302
5 December 2022
Gatorade and Maintenance of Essential Minerals
Introduction

The regulation of fluids in an athlete’s body is vital to their performance. Electrolytes

help your body to maintain chemical reactions, which in turn means balance the fluids in and out

of cells and the body. The body gets electrolytes from the foods and liquids it consumes.

Electrolytes are essential minerals like sodium, calcium, and potassium, the body needs these

minerals to function. One energy drink high in sodium, carbohydrates, and potassium is

Gatorade. Many athletes run out of energy before the completion of their athletic performance

because the body gets rid of the essential minerals via sweat. On average athletes lose 2%-5% of

their body weight in water during an athletic performance (Latzka and Montain). In the water

athletes are losing, there are essential minerals or electrolytes.

An effect of mineral loss tracked in this experiment is short term memory. When the

body exerts such high levels of minerals, some cognitive skills are affected, including short term

memory (Lukaski). When athletes maintain their mineral levels properly, their cognitive and

physical functions are not affected in a negative way (Von Duvillard et al. 2004). Therefore, the

goal of the experiment is to determine whether an athlete can maintain their essential minerals

throughout an entire athletic performance after drinking a singular Gatorade.

Background
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This study aimed to test maintenance of essential minerals after an athletic performance.

The experiment included observing and gathering data from two members of the Texas A&M

International Women’s basketball team.

The basketball team is highly encouraged to track their water consumption throughout the

days. Their goal is approximately 100 ounces of water a day or about 7 plastic water bottles. This

is to maintain their hydration levels for optimal performance. The team dynamic stretches 10

minutes before their workouts, then continues with their workouts starting at 11 a.m. Both

members of the team who are being tested are 21 years old. Test subject one is 6’1 and test

subject two is 5’6. They go through the same workout at the same time.

Methods

The gathered data was based on observations, and a series of questions given before and

after their performances. The athletic performances consisted of 30-minute sessions over the

span of four days. The first day of the experiment was a control day, where the athletes had no

restrictions to how they hydrated before their performances. The performances consisted of an

everyday basketball practice. The basketball practices consisted of six stations. Two stations

consisted of three-point shooting, one station consisted of layups, one station consisted of elbow

shots, one consisted of free-throws, and the last station consisted of ball-handling. Each station

was exactly three minutes long for a total of eighteen minutes at stations. The rest of the thirty

minutes was spent doing transitional work. The transitional work consisted of running up and

down the court while being given situations. Each player ran down the court approximately thirty

times. These athletic performances stayed consistent throughout the four days.

The materials used were Gatorades, specifically cool blue flavored. There was also a

survey given. Each day the test subjects were given a cool blue flavored Gatorade exactly an
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hour and a half before their athletic performance. The athletic performance started at 11 am

every day. The subjects were given a Gatorade at 9:30 am each day. The time in between

hydration and performance was a factor to account for before starting the experiment.

The ideal time to hydrate before a performance is 1-2 hours before (Duvillard and

Braun). This gives the athletes time to digest the liquid and allow the electrolytes to travel to

their respective destinations in the body. Their performance output was observed during their

workouts. Right before the test subjects got onto the court, the athletes were asked to remember a

word. The words given were mother, bottle, fish, and ladder (the words came from a random

word generator from the internet). Each on a different day, for example mother on the first day,

bottle on the second etc. The subjects were given different words on different days to keep the

experiment as unbiased as possible. Exactly ten minutes after their athletic performances, the

subjects were given a survey that consisted of questions. An example of a question asked was:

Did you experience a headache at all during your workout? The questions were designed as

indicators for mineral loss. It is important for athletes to be aware of their mineral loses during

performances. The most important part of the survey portion was how long it took the athletes to

remember their words.

There were expected outcomes from the experiment. An expectation was for the athletes

to remember their words quicker on the days they had the Gatorade before their performances.

There were expectations that the athletes would have a headache and lower energy levels on the

day they did not have the Gatorade.

Results

Trends were noticed from the results of the experiment.

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The first day (control), where both athletes had free reign over their hydration, both

athletes took a significantly longer time to remember their respective words. Both athletes also

answered “yes” to the “did you experience a headache during your workout?” question. The first

subject mentioned they had hadn’t felt fatigued during the practice, and their energy levels had

felt consistent. The second subject said they felt fatigued, dehydrated and their energy levels had

declined throughout the workout.

The second day, both athletes were given a cool blue Gatorade. Both subjects had

remembered their respective words in less than a second. The subjects said they had felt

consistent energy through the entire workout, neither of them had felt fatigued or dehydrated.

The athletes were given a blue Gatorade on day three and day four as well.

The third day, both athletes had remembered their respective words in less than a second.

Neither of them had experienced a headache during the workout, and both had felt energy

throughout their entire workout. They had both felt hydrated and mentioned they could keep

practicing after the workouts had ended.

The fourth day, both athletes remembered their words as soon as the question was asked.

Like day 3, neither had experienced headaches, were fatigued, or felt dehydrated, and both had

mentioned that they had felt energy throughout their entire workout.

Test Subject 1 Time to Test Subject 2 Time to

remember word remember word

Day 1 (Mother) 4.01 seconds Day 1 (Ladder) 3.31 seconds

Day 2 (Bottle) .91 seconds Day 2 (Mother) .81 seconds

Day 3 (Fish) .95 seconds Day 3 (Bottle) .83 seconds

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Day 4 (Ladder) .86 seconds Day 4 (Fish) .86 seconds

Discussion

The result from the experiment suggests athletes should drink a Gatorade or some other

form of electrolyte to replenish their mineral loss during a workout. On the control day, the

results had shown that the two athletes had taken a significantly longer time to remember their

respective words. This does not mean the athletes were completely dehydrated, it suggests they

just did not have enough minerals from electrolytes. In comparison, the results from days 2-4

reflected a positive impact in their performances. Since short term memory loss is an indication

of the loss of minerals in the body, the control day signifies the athletes’ loss of their essential

minerals.

There were a few conflicts that could have swayed the results. The subjects were not

being observed outside of the window between when they were supposed to drink the Gatorade

and after the survey was given post performance. The subjects could have been consuming foods

and beverages that increased or decreased their energy levels outside of that window. There were

no restrictions to what the subjects were consuming outside of the window. There also could

have been a conflict with intensity. The subjects could have been expending more energy at

different times throughout their performances. In future experiments, it would be important to

note factors that can sway the results. If another experiment was conducted there should be more

time allowed, and different performance lengths should be tested. It should be noted that this

experiment was conducted by a university student. Further research would be necessary to

determine longer term effects. The experiment conducted was convenient for the time frame

given and resources available.

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The information gathered from this experiment is important to understand what essential

minerals are lost during an athletic performance. It reveals the negative effects of mineral loss,

like fatigue, memory loss, and headaches (Latzka and Montain). It is also important to note that

even though the members of the basketball team were drinking enough water, they did not have

enough essential minerals in their systems. Therefore, drinking a Gatorade helped the athletes to

replenish their minerals.

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Works cited

Latzka, William A., and Scott J. Montain. “WATER and ELECTROLYTE REQUIREMENTS

for EXERCISE.” Clinics in Sports Medicine, vol. 18, no. 3, July 1999, pp. 513–524,

10.1016/s0278-5919(05)70165-4. Accessed 20 Sept. 2020.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278591905701654

Lukaski, H. C. “Vitamin and mineral status: effects on physical performance.”

2004, Nutrition, 20(7-8), 632–644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2004.04.001

Von Duvillard, Serge P, et al. “Fluids and Hydration in Prolonged Endurance

Performance.” Nutrition, vol. 20, no. 7-8, July 2004, pp. 651–656,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900704001029,

10.1016/j.nut.2004.04.011.

Von Duvillard, “Current Sports Medicine Reports”. July-August 2008, Volume 7-issue 4,

Journals.lww.com.

https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2008/07000/Sports_Drinks