Project: Electrolytes
Project NDA
What do you usually drink while playing sports?
Two companies are currently dominating the sports drink market, PowerAde and Gatorade. These two companies advertise strongly to young athletes, using professional athletes in their advertisements. As a company, their target market is most likely the common athlete, but are their drinks effective for that level of play?
Electrolytes are electrically charged particles that help the body function normally. Some of the more familiar electrolytes include sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Calcium and magnesium help muscles contract and relax. Sodium and potassium help water stay in the right balance inside and outside of cells. Sodium is the electrolyte lost in the highest concentration in sweat.
Gatorade is a major international company. They sell approximately 12.2 million bottles of their sports drink in America every year. Naming themselves "The Sports Fuel Company" it is apparent they believe Gatorade is important to any form of exercise their consumers participate in, But for the average female student athlete is Gatorade the best option for your game?
Powerade, similar to Gatorade is another leading sports drink seller. Like Gatorade they advertise with professional athletes to attempt to entice younger athletes to purchase their drinks. We are testing to try and find out if we as consumers should purchase these drinks to enhance our level of play and our energy.
This nutritionist that was interviewed for a running magazine says that an runner should try to only have about one sip if running for longer than 30 minutes.
American Fitness. Jul/Aug2014, Vol. 32 Issue 4, p66-68. 3p.
Some nutritionist are beginning to say sports and energy drinks are something you should try to have as little as you possible can, if not any. Our project will test to see if these sports drinks positively or negatively effect you performance during physical activity.
Alternatives To These sports Drinks That We Are Testing
Our Driving Question
How can electrolytes in sports and other drinks improve female athletic performance among teens ?
Our Hypotheses
* Electrolytes have a positive effect on female athletic performance.
* Electrolytes have no effect on female athletes performance.
* Electrolytes have a negative effect on female athletes.
Our Prediction
We predict that the amount of electrolytes in a drink does not affect the average high school female athlete's performance during sports activities