Okay, so I’ve been seeing a lot of talk online about why NBA players don’t seem to be chugging Gatorade on the sidelines like they used to. I got curious and decided to do some digging, and what I found was pretty interesting.
My Deep Dive into NBA Hydration
First, I hit up Google. I just started searching for things like “NBA players Gatorade alternatives” and “why don’t NBA players drink Gatorade.” I skimmed through a bunch of articles and forums. Seemed like a lot of people were talking about the sugar content and artificial ingredients in Gatorade.
Then, I checked out some sports nutrition websites. I was trying to see what the current thinking was on sports drinks. It looked like there’s a big move towards drinks with more natural ingredients and electrolytes, and less sugar.
Next, I looked at what some NBA teams were actually doing. I found some articles mentioning that teams were hiring nutritionists and making their own sports drinks. I even found some recipes online! It seemed like they were focusing on things like coconut water, natural fruit juices, and adding things like sea salt for electrolytes.
I decided to take things a little further and compare ingredients. I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and compared it to the ingredients list of some of those homemade sports drink recipes. The difference was pretty obvious. Gatorade has a lot of stuff in it that you can’t even pronounce, while the homemade stuff was mostly just fruit, water, and salt.
So, putting it all together, it seems like NBA players (and probably a lot of other athletes) are moving away from Gatorade because they’re becoming more aware of what they’re putting into their bodies. They want drinks that are going to hydrate them and give them energy without all the extra sugar and artificial junk. Makes sense, right?
I’m not a pro athlete, but I figured I would try out a homemade electrolyte drink as an experiment and see how it felt, especially during my longer bike rides. Found a simple recipe: water, some orange juice, a little lemon juice, and a pinch of sea salt. I must say, I felt more consistently energized, no sugar crash like I sometimes got with the super-sweet sports drinks.
