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The Effects of Gatorade on Athletic Performance

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When athletes are training or competing, it is apparent that they sometimes benefit by consuming various drinks that contain water, carbohydrate and electrolytes. This can assist and improve an athlete's performance, and it may reduce physiological stress on an athlete’s cardiovascular, central nervous and muscular systems. During endurance events Gatorade is an effective drink to have in order for the athlete to sustain their maximum energy throughout the competition. Gatorade has been proven to reduce the risk of hyponatraemia, improve endurance performance if consumed during training or competition and it allows fast release of fluid to the tissue as well as rapid fluid absorption.
Hyponatraemia is a disorder in fluid-electrolyte stability that results in an unusual low plasma sodium concentration. A continuous decrease in plasma sodium concentration upsets the osmotic balance across the blood-brain barrier, ensuing in an direct entry of water into the brain. This causes brain swelling and a flow of gradually more severe neurological responses such as confusion, seizure, coma which can result in death from break of the brainstem. The faster and lower the blood sodium falls, the greater the risk of life-threatening consequences. (Eichner, 2003). Athletes who drink too much water before and during exercise (high endurance) in warm and humid weather are at a higher risk of developing hyponatraemia. In addition, bigger athletes are not resistant to hyponatraemia but smaller

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