OK, I know everyone is supposed to love Gatorade. They probably have fond memories of it from when they played soccer as a kid and are brought back to that every time they take a swig of this stuff. Me, not so much. I’ve never actually really drank Gatorade before, but I thought I’d like it since it’s made by the same people who make Propel (or at least Propel is owned by them because the Gatorade label is on it). Unfortunately, I don’t have a real taste for artificial sweet stuff and the Gatorade made me whince like I had just sucked on a lemon. It took me a whole week to drink the 32 oz. bottle I bought and by the end I could see how some people could like it.
Anyway, I thought I’d do this one in forms of pluses and minuses. So here we go:
Pluses: Gatorade comes in a powder form, which is awesome because you can mix as little or as much as you’d like. You can also make about 50 gallons of it for about the cost of one pre-made bottle of the stuff. Money saving is always a huge plus with me, in case you hadn’t noticed. Also, I’m assuming you can use less sugar in the homemade stuff if you aren’t used to drinking sweets (like me).
Minuses: You have to pay attention to how much you’re drinking if you buy the bottled Gatorade because it comes with 4 servings. At 50 calories per serving, that can add up to 200 calories (otherwise known as all of the calories you just burned!). Also, the top was too big for me to open. I’m a little girl, I can’t help it. I can’t get a good grip on it and even when I do, with sweaty hands, my hand just slips and I ended up getting cuts all over my hand from it because it’s rigid (likely to make it easier to open). And lastly, I wasn’t super inspired by the melted popsicle flavor, oh, I mean Lemon-Lime Strawberry.
I really am going to try to find something next week that I LOVE. I hate that all of my reviews so far have been a little on the negative side. I just want an after-run drink that doesn’t make me feel like I drank a bottle of sugar. Is that too much to ask?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: beverage review, Gatorade
Gatorade only tastes good when the body needs it, if you ask me. Like most sports drinks, it’s intended to be used when the body needs calories and electrolytes. That’s why I think the “low-calorie” sport drinks are ridiculous and just a way for the companies to make money: If calories aren’t needed, why not just drink water?
That said, some flavors are much better than others. It all depends on your preference. (I’m NOT a fan of fake strawberry and watermelon stuff, so I steer clear of those.)
I’ve never been a big fan of Gatorade either. It tastes like watered-down Kool-Aid to me! I have a very difficult time drinking anything other than water when I run or workout. Even when I was training for, and when I ran a half marathon a few years ago, I always just drank water.
Layla: I think you’re probably right. Maybe I’m not running far enough or long enough yet to actually need this stuff.
Laura: I’m all about the water. Water, OJ, Milk and wine are pretty much the only beverages I’ve consumed for the past 3 or 4 years. I think that’s why it’s so hard for me to get used to artificial stuff. I’d really like to give up this quest to find a fab sport drink, but I already bought about 50 different kinds when I started this blog… Either I’ll keep trying them, or I’ll start pawning them off on friends. Heh.