When you play football, you sweat a lot. When you do this in the Florida heat and humidity, you sweat even more.
In the 1960s, coaches at the University of Florida wanted to find ways to deal with the decline in performance they were seeing in their players during practice and games. Players were losing fluids, salts and electrolytes and plain water was not meeting their hydration needs.
So the coaches went to some university scientists to create a drink that would rehydrate players and fill them up faster than plain water. Florida’s mascot is the gator, so Gatorade caught on and quickly became popular.
But is Gatorade vegan?
When asking the question, “Is Gatorade vegan,” one should consider that there are no animal products in Gatorade — no meat, obviously, but it comes without gelatin products — so in that sense, the drink is vegan.
However, some vegetarians have problems with Gatorade for a few reasons.
artificial colors
Some artificial colors come from animals. Some red hues, for example, come from a Peruvian insect called cochineal (although scientists are perfecting Animal-friendly version) Although most artificial colors do not come from animals.
Some vegans oppose artificial dyes and colors because they are almost all associated with animal testing. Blue #1 and Blue #2 are completely free of animal products, but the researchers fed each animal enough to kill them and ensure maximum intake.
sugar
A key ingredient in Gatorade and other sports drinks is sugar. Since you need to replace carbs after a workout, sugar stands out as an essential component—it provides those essential carbs.
But most use refined sugar Bone meal During the refining process, and it is usually derived from cattle bones.
Biochars generally do not use bone char, and some manufacturers even avoid it. However, there’s no way to know what kind of sugar you used in a batch of Gatorade. If the use of animal products in certain ingredients is a problem for you, then Gatorade should not be your drink of choice.
Natural taste
In another case of not knowing exactly what, natural flavors can be confusing. Technically, a natural flavor is obtained from any number of sources – fruits, vegetables, roots and other plant materials. According to the FDA, its primary function is to flavored rather than nutritional value.
Food manufacturers can get some of these flavors from meat, eggs and dairy. Unless a food product’s ingredients list specifically states that natural flavors are vegan or animal-friendly, you can’t be sure that they are.