Gatorade was invented for the Florida Gators in the 1960s, when the football team was having trouble with its players' health and energy levels during games.
Ever paused between eager glugs of your sports drink to wonder where, exactly, the name "Gatorade" comes from? Of course not! You're thirsty! There's no time to postulate! We'll wait ... feel better? As we were saying, linguistically, the name "gator-ade" suggests "the drink of the gators," and indeed, that's exactly what it is. Gatorade's conception all started in 1965 at the University of Florida, when then-coach Dwayne Douglas noticed a troubling pattern emerging among his Gator football team.
The issue was that the college athletes were routinely dropping significant amounts of weight (up to a whopping 18 pounds) during games and practices, but going to the bathroom very little during these periods of intense physical activity. Douglas took his concern to Dr. Robert Cade, kidney disease specialist and director of the University of Florida College of Medicine's renal and electrolyte division. The culprit, explained Cade, was surely dehydration. Athletes need proper nutrition in order to perform well, right? Well, in the 1960s, football players were widely discouraged from drinking water on the field as (went the reasoning) it could cause cramping and take 'em out of the game. Marathon races of the time even lacked water stations for runners.
Still, Cade thought, the issue had to be more complex than dehydration alone. So the doctor assembled a think tank team with Dana Shires, Jim Free, and A.M. deQuesada — who deduced that the heat-and-dehydration combo was causing athletes to rapidly shed sodium and potassium, thereby depleting their bodies' natural energy reserves. Enter: Gatorade.
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University scientist Robert Cade developed an elixir for the Florida Gators
In September 1965, as football season kicked into full swing, Dr. Robert Cade's team began testing samples from 10 freshman football players during different stages of physical activity. The samples revealed not only that electrolyte balance was way off but that blood sugar was sharply dropping. These minerals maintain the body's hydration levels and muscle regulation, so this imbalance posed a serious health issue. Heat-related illnesses also commonly struck Florida footballers mid-game, even leading to hospitalization on more than a few occasions.
Gatorade has been released in dozens of different flavors over the years, but the first "flavor" was a stripped-down solution of only the absolute essential nutrients plus a squeeze of lemon juice. To naturally stimulate bioavailable fluid absorption, the formula combined potassium and sodium with the carbohydrates sucrose, glucose, and fructose, plus the salt that was being lost in sweat. Nowadays, foodies are washing down iconic Florida foods and their go-to tailgate treats during football season with a bottle of the good stuff — but, however folks choose to enjoy Gatorade, it's helping the body stay fueled and balanced. By 1966, the Gators were routinely drinking Gatorade (as the beverage was now called) during games and witnessing performance-sustaining results as rival teams' endurance dropped off mid-game.
Gatorade's Florida football roots continue to benefit the team
Gatorade's invention is all about the intersection of sports and science. Historically, before the drink's commercial release, the realm of sports nutrition was virtually uncharted terrain. Similar scientific revelations wouldn't catch up until a revolutionary 1969 article by C.H. Wyndham and N.B. Strydom published in the South African Medical Journal, titled "The danger of an inadequate water intake during marathon running." By 1969, Gatorade was already available in a second flavor: orange. Although, here at Tasting Table, Lime Cucumber ranks as our all-time favorite Gatorade flavor, for the record.
In 1967, Dr. Robert Cade sold the Gatorade rights to Stokely-Van Camp for just $25,000, but royalties from his invention have earned the University of Florida over $100 million since then. 1973 saw the advent of the brand's now-iconic lightning bolt logo, and in 1983, Gatorade saw its first big-time, wide-ranging commercial release after acquisition by food manufacturing giant Quaker Oats Company. Fruit Punch flavor also debuted in 1983. Quaker Oats has since been purchased by PepsiCo in 2001, which subsequently acquired Gatorade. Fast-forward to the present, and Gatorade sales exceeded $7 billion in 2024 alone (as reported by Beverage Industry). Today, Gatorade royalties continue to be a valuable resource for the University of Florida, funding both its athletic and academic ventures.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Category: General Sports
