In 1965, the performance of the players in Florida Gators, the football team of the University of Florida, began to decline, and some diseases were emerging among the players. The team's coach then asked the doctors to find out what went wrong.
Physicians doing research; found that players lost electrolytes and carbohydrates after a match or practice, but did not regain them. That's why they developed a drink that meets these needs of the players. They named the drink "Gator-Aid". The product was used by the Gators team and contributed to the team's success, after which the product's popularity spread rapidly in the sports world.
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries.[3] The beverage was first developed in 1965 by a team of researchers led by Dr. Robert Cade.
When the product starts to be sold commercially, its name is; Changed to "Gatorade". The success of the product has increased over the years. Today, the brand means much more than brightly colored drinks.
James Robert Cade (September 26, 1927 – November 27, 2007) was an American physician, university professor, research scientist and inventor. Cade, a native of Texas, earned his bachelor and medical degrees at the University of Texas, and became a professor of medicine and nephrology at the University of Florida. Although Cade engaged in many areas of medical research, he is most widely remembered as the leader of the research team that created the sports drink Gatorade. Gatorade would have significant medical applications for treating dehydration in patients, and has generated over $150 million in royalties for the university.
Year 2007, November 27
In a statement from the University of Florida, it was stated that the death of Doctor Cade, who invented Gatorade, was a great loss. Cade had invented the first sports drink, Gatorade, in 1965 to compensate for the carbohydrates and electrolytes lost by college football team players during matches and training in extreme heat.
The name of the drink, which is sold in 80 countries and in different flavors, is named after the coach of the University of Florida Gator football club, Dr. He asked Cade, 'Why don't the players urinate after the game?' It remained as 'Gatorade' due to the fact that it asked the question and the research started on it.
Cade and his associates developed the first sports drink that tasted almost like 'toilet cleaner', at a cost of $43 after setting out to investigate why an American football player lost 7 to 8 pounds and 90 to 95 percent of their body water after a 3-hour match. Then they added some sugar and lemon juice to it. Their first try on Gator players was successful. The Gator team started to beat their opponents with their amazing and famous performance especially in the second half. Thereupon, the naming rights were registered and an agreement was made with PepsiCo. In the process it became known as the 'drink of champions'.
When Gatorade, which held 81 percent of the $7.5 billion sports drink market in the US in 2007, became popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, companies in the US and other countries began to produce other energy and sports drinks. 30 different flavors of sports drinks are produced in the USA and 50 in the world.