Is Gatorade better than soda?

I've been hearing a lot about how diet soda is really bad for you even though it's diet so I've been trying to drink healthier... is gatorade healthier than diet soda?

gatorade has calories, diet soda doesn't...and it's basically just sugar water and a bunch of freaky chemicals with names i'd injure myself trying to pronounce.

if you really wanted to drink something flavored, you could have like a crystal light or something...

I realize this post is old, but seriously? If you want to talk about gatorade having chemicals in it...and then suggest crystal light? interesting...

Here are the "chemicals" in gatorade:  water, sugar, salt, carbohydrates, electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride), a few different kinds of sugars. No, gatorade isn't the best beverage for losing weight, but it is a good way to get energy during an intense workout.

As for diet soda and crystal light, these things do contain some mysterious chemicals and artificial sweeteners. It's best to just drink water, or I like to drink unsweetened iced tea to mix it up.

Original Post by adelephant:

Here are the "chemicals" in gatorade:  water, sugar, salt, carbohydrates, electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride), a few different kinds of sugars.

Most instant gatorade comes with partially hydrogenated oils as well. 

I guess maybe the better way to direct this thread would be this.....

When you are sick of drinking water and need something once in awhile to break it up, what are the next best choices? Conversely, whats the LAST thing you should go for?

I've been doing goo sticking to water, but once in awhile I crave something sweet, so I do one of the Crystal Light things to mix in my water bottle.  More of a treat once or twice a week, nothing regular. I particularly like the Wild Strawberry flavor.

How about unsweetened iced tea? Try combining a flavored teabag (a fruity herbal or black tea, for instance) with two or three regular black or green teabags for a quart of tea. If you really can't stomach it unsweetened, try to gradually cut back the sugar content.

Also to try - aguas frescas. They're essentially dilute juices typically made from melons or pineapples. The basic idea is to puree fruit with some water,  maybe a little lime juice, and sugar if the fruit isn't very sweet. You can strain the pulp out or not - I prefer it strained. I think that melons, pineapples etc don't need any extra sugar, but my favorite one is cucumber. Sounds weird, but with a little sugar and lime juice, it's very refreshing.

If you were to make a list of all non-alcoholic beverages and ranked them from good to bad, the last three would surely be energy drinks of all kinds, soda and diet soda.  Energy drinks are one of the biggest scams in the beverage world, they are nothing but sugar, salt and water.  You get more "electrolytes" from drinking milk than you do from energy drinks.   They rehydrate you only slightly better than water, but not so much that you could possibly tell the difference.   The list of negatives of drinking soda and diet soda are so long there isn't enough room here to reiterate them.  Put another way, there are no positives to drinking soda of any kind beyond the taste enjoyment. 

Pick anything other than those...and you'd be better off...lol....anything...

Johnny:

I never really drink gatorade, but it really is a helpful beverage when running for long distances. Carbs and sugars aren't always bad, they're what our body uses for energy. I'm not going to chug a glass of milk while running, for obvious reasons. But I do agree that soda is always bad, diet or not.

You know Adele you are right and I was going to mention that in my post...but you beat me to the punch.  The folks that invented Gatorade, for the Florida Gators football team even said themselves that Gatorade is really intended for high level athletes not everyday usage.  If you are using it as an everyday drink it's really just sugar and water.  In an endurance race, during a hockey game, triathalon etc. , of course it makes sense to down some sugar for energy and some salt and potassium along with it.  At that point you just need quick energy and to replace some of the salt you are losing and it makes sense.  But to buy one at the corner store and walk around drinking it or worse, giving it to young children, you're just asking for a lifetime of bad habits!!!

Original Post by adelephant:

Johnny:

I never really drink gatorade, but it really is a helpful beverage when running for long distances. Carbs and sugars aren't always bad, they're what our body uses for energy. I'm not going to chug a glass of milk while running, for obvious reasons. But I do agree that soda is always bad, diet or not.

Honestly there are better/cheaper stuff out there then Gatorade for endurance events. Gatorade changed it's formula, so it is no longer what was developed for Gators.

UD