As the non-doughnut consumers become increasingly health conscious, the UK has seen an explosion in the sports drinks market, although as that market has become more competitive, the leading manufacturers have to fight harder to maintain market share. In 2009, the sports and energy drink market was worth £706 million, with the market leader Lucozade Sport taking £102 million of that. Powerade (produced as part of the enormous Coca-Cola empire) is a relatively small player in the UK market, with sales of £34.4 million in 2008, a decline of 4.6% on the previous year. Of course, it’s the US where the real money is. 49% of all sports drinks consumed globally are within the USA.
You’d think that drinking was fairly straightforward. When you exercise (or even, indeed if you don’t) your body consumes water and it’s vital to your well being that your body remains hydrated throughout. For the scientists, however, that’s just not enough. As they have examined the mechanics of human biology, an increasingly diverse selection of sports drinks has come on to the market, each boasting varying properties. It’s no coincidence that the three leading brands all contain the suffix ‘ade’ in their names. This means action – an association that is obviously vital to those interested in the consumption of sports drinks.
It’s Time For The Science – Concentrate
The fluids in your body are very carefully balanced, with a virtually constant concentration of certain substances such as mineral salts. The body is designed such that this fluid concentration maximises the efficiency of key processes. So this ensures, for example, that oxygen is carried through the red blood cells as efficiently as possible and that nutrients pass from the blood cells into the muscles. Remember that it’s only when the nutrients reach the muscles that they can be transformed into energy. During exercise, your body is consuming energy at a far greater rate. It’s therefore critical that new supplies of energy are delivered to your muscles as effectively as possible.
There are essentially three types of sports drink available that each contain a different mineral salt concentration and will therefore act differently in the body:
Hypotonic drinks – have a lower mineral salt concentration than your regular body fluids and will therefore provide the fastest possible rehydration.
Isotonic drinks – have a
mineral salt concentration that is in line with normal body fluids. They also rehydrate but they also maximise the efficiency in which energy is delivered to muscles. They’re a good combination drink for athletes.
Hypertonic drinks – have mineral salt concentration greater than that normally found in the body. They contain high levels of carbohydrates and are designed to boost energy in endurance sports, where the sustained supply of energy is more important than the rapid delivery.
Why can’t I just drink water?Consumption of water is certainly vital and in a normal environment, mineral water is entirely appropriate.
However, exercise disrupts the balance of both fluids and salt minerals and water alone will not necessarily restore this balance as efficiently or completely as possible. Sports drinks are more effective the more vigorous the workout. Gentle exercise can almost entirely be accompanied by plain water, but the longer and more vigorous the workout, the more likely it is that they will help maintain body fluids and mineral balance.
What are energy drinks?An energy drink works on a slightly different basis. Sports drinks are intended to replenish nutrients and minerals as well as maintain hydration. Energy drinks are intended solely to give you a boost of energy and are normally just loaded with caffeine and sugar.
Can sports drinks make you fat?If drunk as part of an every day routine (i.e. not during exercise) sports drinks will encourage weight gain. The excess of carbohydrates will not be burnt off and the overall well being equation will mean that you’re likely to put on weight. Sports drinks really should only be consumed during vigorous exercise.
You shouldn’t rely on sports drinks during exercise alone, either. It’s vital to ensure that you are well hydrated prior to the workout so that the sports drink is simply maintaining hydration rather than overcoming pre-existing dehydration.
The Product Test
I decided to put to the test the three leading brands in the UK sports drink market. It’s worth bearing in mind that most of the major supermarkets now do their own branded versions, but I wanted to stick with the primary products. On the test panel we have:
Powerade Isotonic (Cherry Flavour)Gatorade (Orange Flavour) – the bottle doesn’t state that this one is isotonic but the web site does
Lucozade Sport Isotonic (Tropical Fruit)To test each, I’ve consumed a bottle as part of a daily workout routine at the gym. I have to say that I would never normally go to the gym three times in four days, but to make sure that the test was as fair as possible, I spent the first day drinking gallons of water to make sure that I was fully hydrated for the first of the three tests. Had I simply gone straight into it without doing this, the test would have been unfair, simply because whichever drink I consumed on the first day would have been hydrating my body far more than the drinks on days two and three. For each workout, I used a treadmill at a consistent setting for a 45-minute calorie burn. Bear in mind that the tests cannot be completely consistent – what I had eaten, the air temperature, how I had slept the night before – all these things would have had an impact on the results. The fact that I nearly died, however, (I didn’t realise how unfit I am) is irrelevant – it was all for the consumer!
The Test Results
OK - so here is the low down on all the tests conducted.
Product Packaging – Bottle Design
Powerade – dark and masculine, the bottle sports a black and red shrink wrapped surround. The label is dominated by the Powerade logo with all the nutritional and product information squeezed onto one panel on the back.
It’s arguably relatively wasteful. The sports cap has a minimal, small plastic cap, which is relatively easy to remove. Overall, this is probably the most attractive design of the three but isn’t as efficient a use of resource.
Lucozade – the design is currently dominated by the drink’s sponsorship of the England football team. The shrink-wrap is just as wasteful as the Powerade one and actually less attractive. It’s a rather fussy design, made a bit wishy-washy by the fact you can see through much of it to the drink inside. The lid over the sports cap is easy to open and can be easily replaced – it’s a better use of resources because it stays attached to the bottle and is more likely, therefore, to get recycled along with the rest of the bottle.
Gatorade – has a very simple, minimal design with a very small, narrow label containing all the necessary information. The Gatorade logo is embossed into the plastic, rather than requiring a huge piece of shrink-wrapped plastic, so the design is far less wasteful. There is, however, a removable green cap for the sports cap, which is probably unnecessary. The Gatorade logo is, itself, rather retro. The Powerade logo is modern and vibrant.
The winner – For me, it’s Gatorade for efficient use of resources and a simple design.
Product Packaging – The Sports Cap
Powerade – pull the sports cap up and out and then squeeze the bottle. The liquid comes out quickly, neatly and easily. The sports cap is easy to pop in and out but requires two hands unless you use your teeth. Whilst exercising, there’s a risk you will bang your teeth/gums if you try and do this. The cap is perfectly watertight when pressed shut and the drink doesn’t leak in your bag if the bottle is tipped upside-down.
Lucozade – the sports cap is simply activate by squeezing the bottle, the valve is designed to allow the liquid out when you squeeze but is closed when the bottle is relaxed. This is definitely the best design to use one-handed whilst exercising as you can squeeze and suck (!) in one movement and there are no caps to pop up and down. Unfortunately, the red lid gets in the way a bit and you’ll quickly pull it off, especially if you intend to drink the whole thing there and then. The bottle doesn’t spill if shaken around in your kit bag. The only slight drawback is that when the bottle is full, if you accidentally squeeze it whilst working out
Gatorade – pull the sports cap up and out the squeeze the bottle. The stopper requires a bit more strength to pull in and out and clicks more robustly back into place when not in use. This is definitely the worst of the three designs. The same ‘teeth damage’ issues exist as per the Powerade bottle, but far more so here where the ridged edge of the nib is more likely to bang on your gums by design. There’s also a circular arrow on the top that suggests you have to twist to release – when you don’t!
The winner – definitely the Lucozade bottle, because you can use that one handed during exercise without ever having to use your teeth.
Product Packaging – Ease of Holding The Bottle
Powerade - this is the squeeziest of the bottles and ‘gives’ the most when you hold it. The design intends to make it easier to grip, as it is ridged around the middle (rather like a hand grip) and naturally seems to sit in your hand. Many users will, of course, simply put it in the bottle holder on the machine, but it’s perfectly easy to carry/hold this during your workout, even when it gets slightly slippery with sweat and/or condensation.
Lucozade – there’s a ‘shelf’ in the middle of this bottle that seems to help hold the bottle during your workout although naturally if you hold and watch, the bottle slips downwards. There are no handgrips but it’s naturally squeezy due to the nature of the way the sports cap works.
Gatorade – the bottle narrows in the middle but unlike the Lucozade bottle, the indentation is sufficient such that it doesn’t naturally drop out of your hand whilst being held. The minimal labelling means you can easily see at a glance how much you have left.
The winner – the Powerade bottle is definitely the most comfortable and secure to hold during exercise.
Fluid – Smell and Taste
Powerade – the fluid has a very strong, sharply synthetic smell of cherries. It’s rather like a cherry-flavoured fruit sweet and really not much like the natural smell of cherries. It’s quite appealing though – at least until you taste it. The artificial taste is actually weaker than you’d expect and leaves an aftertaste not unlike that of inhaled body spray. It is probably, however, the sweetest of the three.
Lucozade - the smell of tropical fruit is quite pleasant here. It’s not overpowering and ‘in your face’ and smells quite like a juice based tropical drink (i.e. with real fruit in it). The taste is, however, rather explosive and has a dreadful synthetic aftertaste (you can almost taste the additives). The aftertaste doesn’t last as long, but the sharp, intense flavour is a bit too much.
Gatorade – the Gatorade smells like very strong orange squash, almost neat in fact. The smell is perhaps the most natural of the three (you could convince yourself that you could smell real oranges) but is still a little over the top. The Gatorade has the mildest aftertaste, again no more really than your average orange squash.
The winner – the Gatorade is the most palatable of the three drinks.
Fluid - Effect During Workout
Powerade – I didn’t drink much until I’d been going for about ten minutes and then felt myself starting to hit an initial black spot. The Powerade didn’t give me an immediate ‘kick’ but although I was now sweating a fair bit, I still felt pretty good and it wasn’t that uncomfortable kind of sweating. Indeed, after 20 minutes I’d really settled into my stride and had enough energy to get to the end without feeling like a wreck and without being particularly sweaty. Notably, the Powerade didn’t seem to have an acidic reaction in my stomach.
Lucozade – again, I started drinking after about ten minutes. This didn’t seem as effective on the sweating – I’m sure I sweated more whilst running with the Lucozade.
However, I definitely felt a constant boost to my energy levels, probably more so than with the Powerade here. The Lucozade did have an acidic reaction on my stomach though, albeit not enough to stop me working out.
Gatorade – the Gatorade felt like the most ‘natural’ drink and was least like a sports drink. I could quite easily have been convinced that I was just drinking squash. However, after ten or fifteen minutes’ exercise I really didn’t feel particularly sweaty or drained and I would say that the Gatorade was the most effective. There was no acidic reaction in my digestive system.
The winner – the Gatorade seemed to have the most noticeable effects on hydration and energy levels during exercise.
Fluid – Effect After Workout
Powerade – although tired, as I expected, I wasn’t gasping for air, water or energy. I felt pretty stable – worked for sure but not wrecked. Normally, if I’ve drunk a lot of water during a workout, I find that I need to have a wee almost straight away (even during) the exercise, but this wasn’t the case with the Powerade. I’m pretty convinced that the isotonic effect worked very well here.
Lucozade – I needed to have a wee straight after the run, which indicates that the hydration qualities were not as good as Powerade. I felt averagely tired after the workout but slightly ‘unwell’- the fluid in my stomach didn’t seem to be going down well at all.
Gatorade – I felt pretty good after my Gatorade-powered run. I had sweated to a basic level but not excessively so and I didn’t feel the need to gulp loads of water. I only had to wee a very small amount and not immediately after exercising either.
The winner – the Gatorade has the best overall effect on hydration based on how much I needed to wee and how ‘good’ I felt after the run.
The Product - Price and Availability
All three drinks retail for £1.05 per 500ml in Waitrose, with similar pricing in most major supermarkets.
Lucozade is by far the most commonly available of the three. There are quite often Lucozade vending machines in gyms or leisure centres and Gatorade seems quite hard to get hold of sometimes.
The winner - Lucozade simply because it's so easy to get hold of.
The Product – Ingredients and Additives
PoweradeIngredients: water, glucose, maltodextrin, citric acid, acidity regulators, flavourings, stabilisers, sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame), colour – contains a source of phenylalanine
Artificial sweeteners aren’t particularly well-regarded by nutritionists and scientists. As a relatively new sweetener, studies don’t yet really understand what it might cause or exacerbate but you’ll find a story online about every possible condition known to man supposedly being linked to aspartame.
Powerade contains 3.7g of sugar per 100ml.
LucozadeIngredients: water, glucose, maltodextrin, citric acid, acidity regulators, preservative, sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame), antioxidant (ascorbic ascid), stabilisers, flavourings, vitamins, colourings - – contains a source of phenylalanine
The only notable difference here is the addition of vitamins.
Lucozade contains 3.5g of sugar per 100ml
GatoradeIngredients: water, sucrose, dextrose, citric acid, electrolytes, natural flavours, antioxidant, modified starch, emulsifiers, colour
The ingredients here are quite different to the other two, notably the lack of artificial sweeteners, flavours and colours. This is notable both in the taste and the after effects and makes the drink far ‘easier’ to drink. The absence of artificial ingredients is quite inspiring here, taking into account the overall performance (this was the best at hydration and energy for me).
Gatorade contains 6g of sugar per 100ml though – you could only consume this as part of a heavy workout.
The winner – Gatorade, definitely – the lack of aspartame and other nasties is quite encouraging here.
The Product – Corporate Social Responsibility
Powerade – states that it was chosen by FIFA to hydrate 2010 World Cup players – I should imagine it’s more the case that it placed the highest bid. Affiliated to the Coca Cola organisation, the parent brand is increasingly looking for a healthier image but we shouldn’t ignore how nasty Coca Cola itself is.
Lucozade – officially sponsors the England World Cup team but is part of the GlaxoSmithkline group. I shall say no more.
Gatorade – licensed to Britvic in the UK, which forms part of the Pepsi Company, arch rivals to Coca Cola.
The winner –
none of them – all big name, small conscience major corporations
Blimey! I’m Tired Now!
The winner, on almost every front, is not Powerade. Gatorade tastes nicer, works better and is far less wastefully packaged. I do like the Powerade bottle though – it’s very easy to grip and drink from and I like the Lucozade sports cap, which is the only truly one-handed operation. The Lucozade upsets my stomach though and the Powerade tastes like aftershave. The whole isotonic thing works though!
So, after all that, this works but is not the best.
I’m now off for a lie down.
I've Been To The Gym Three Times This Week Because of You 
