What's in Your Drink? Discover PowerAde Nutrition Facts
PowerAde and other ‘sports drinks’ can be found everywhere today. Whether it’s on the sidelines of elementary school soccer games or the sidelines of professional athletes’ games, there’s no doubt a bottle or two of the thirst-quenching drink there. But what are your kids really drinking as they chug down this popular sports drink? What are the PowerAde nutrition facts that you need to know?
Let’s begin with a general look at the sports drink and what’s in them.
What originally started with Gatorade has now blossomed into PowerAde and many more sports drink companies. Even Lance Armstrong has jumped on the sports drink bandwagon with his FRS Energy Drink.
In 1988 PowerAde launched its own line of sports drinks to be the number one competitor with Gatorade. Today PowerAde has control of close to 22% of the sports drink market and can claim it’s the official drink of the Olympics.
The New ION4
In 2001 this sports drink was re-released (ION4) with a new ingredient list. Added to the ingredients were the following:
* B3
* B6
* B12 vitamins
More recently, they’ve added the key electrolytes lost in sweating:
* Sodium
* Potassium
* Calcium
* Magnesium
Sports Drinks and You
In general the benefit of drinking a sports drink as opposed to water is that you’ll get a carbohydrate boost as well as replace any electrolytes that may have been lost during physical exertion. This comes from the drink’s content of sodium, potassium, and chloride.
In addition, you’ll hydrate faster as these drinks contain certain vitamins that the body will read as ‘food’ and absorb quicker. Also, the sodium makes the drinker thirsty and they’ll drink more.
While water is an excellent hydrator, sports drinks have the added ability to replenish more minerals and vitamins lost in serious dehydration. And by ‘serious’ what is meant is an athlete who is really pushing him or herself, sweating, and really getting an extreme workout.
What it doesn’t mean is the child who maybe runs down the field once or twice over the course of a soccer game, who isn’t sweating, or huffing and puffing.
This is one of the dangers with the growing popularity of sports drinks, including PowerAde. If someone isn’t really dehydrated or in danger of becoming dehydrated, simple, pure water is a great choice and a sports drink is unneeded. Often people drink these sports drinks even when they don’t really need them, and with high sodium content, this is best avoided.
Specific PowerAde Nutrition Content
Let’s look at a few of the PowerAde Sports Drinks and their specific nutritional content. The following is a list of the flavors of PowerAde available today:
* Grape
* Orange
* Lemon Lime
* Sour Melon
* Fruit Punch
* Mountain Berry Blast
* White Cherry
* Strawberry Lemonade
Although the nutritional content of PowerAde and Gatorade are similar there are some differences. One of the most notable is that PowerAde has half of the sodium content as Gatorade. This is an important fact for anyone who has to watch their sodium intake.
The basic facts on PowerAde nutrition content is as follows:
In one eight ounce serving of PowerAde you’ll find:
* 70 total calories
* 0g of fat
* 55mg of sodium
* 30mg potassium
* 19g of carbs
* 15g sugar
* 0g protein
If you’re looking for a lower sodium sports drink PowerAde may be the choice for you. Remember that consuming too much of anything too often can lead to problems down the road. Drink a sports drink when you need it but remember the immeasurable benefits that come from drinking pure, healthy water.