Gatorade is a brand of flavored non-carbonated sports drinks manufactured by the Quaker Oats Company, now a division of PepsiCo. Intended for consumption during physically active occasions, Gatorade beverages are formulated to rehydrate and replenish fluid, carbohydrates and electrolytes.

Robert Cade, Dana Shires, Harry James Free, and Alejandro de Quesada, medical researchers at the University of Florida, designed the original Gatorade mixture in 1965. The Gators football coach, Ray Graves, was frustrated with the performance of his players during summer practices and asked the team doctor for his insight. The doctor referred the matter to Cade and his research team, who formulated a mixture of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate and lemon juice. The drink is now known as Gatorade in honor of the football team, the Gators. The football team credits Gatorade with their first Orange Bowl win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 1967, and the drink became an instant phenomenon. Yellow Jackets coach Bud Carson, when asked why they lost, replied: "We didn’t have Gatorade. That made the difference."

The original Gatorade contained water, sucrose (table sugar) and glucose-fructose syrups, citric acid, fish oil, sodium chloride (table salt), sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, and flavoring/coloring ingredients; some Gatorade flavorings use brominated vegetable oil as a stabilizer. Gatorade Thirst Quencher meets the Food and Drug Administration's definition of a "low sodium product." Gatorade is available in a variety of flavors, including the original Lemon-Lime, Grape, Orange, and Fruit punch. In 2010, Gatorade switched from high fructose corn syrup to a sucrose-dextrose mix.

See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_drink
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatorade

Source: Wikipedia (All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.)