For this
week’s Find Out Friday I decided to share some knowledge I already had but that
I think is a pretty cool story. Clearly I have a thing for creation, as you
could see in last week’s Find Out Friday post about well Post-its.
This
story begins in Florida during the 1960s at the University of Florida. The
football team there; the Florida Gators; were continually becoming severely
dehydrated due to sweating after hours of practice and games in the hot sun.
The coach and staff sought out Dr. James Robert Cade about possible solutions.
Dr. Cade
spent some time questioning the player’s behaviors and routines. Dr. Cade found
it odd that the players were not urinating during games or practices indicating
that losing too much water that was not being properly replaced. It was
discovered that players were losing about eighteen pounds a per three hours of
game time which equals about ninety-five percent loss of water!! I do not know
how there were not any deaths.
Thus it
was imperative they find a method or product that could perform such a task. At
the time there was nothing of the kind available.
Dr. Cade
and his team began a series of research experiments between 1965-1966 and created
a drink containing glucose and electrolytes. Coach Ray Graves and the members
of his freshman Gators were the first to try it out. When it showed signs of
working it was given out to the rest of the team. The only apparent downside
was that it “tasted like bodily waste.” This is where you will find that behind
every successful man there is a brilliant woman. Dr. Cade’s wife, Mary,
suggested he add lemon juice to improve the flavor. In the end he also added
the artificial sweetener, cyclamate.
Originally
the team called it “Cade’s Ade” which morphed into “Gatorade” in honor of the
team that gave it notoriety. After the Florida Gators won a series of a major
games without incident, Dr. Cade applied and was granted a patent. After a
series of legal disputes the University of Florida and Dr. Cade split the
profits twenty-eighty respectively.
However,
that first batch was financed by Dr. Cade himself through a bank loan. He
initially made over two hundred thousand dollars which certainly made the
University sit up and take notice. The first batch cost forty-three dollars to
make which is the equivalent of three hundred twenty-five dollars
nowadays. Currently Gatorade is
owned by PepsiCo and is sold in over eighty countries in at least fifty
flavors. It hands down created the market of sports drinks.
Since the
positive effects of Gatorade’s powers to rehydrate became known it went on to
lead a life in many other fields. For one is went on to save babies, first at
U.F. Health Shands Hospital, who were previously dying from dehydration. Dr.
Cade’s daughter, Phoebe Cade Miles said: “there used to be hundreds of babies
admitted for severe dehydration, many of whom died, and this changed
overnight.” I am sure this was a precursor to products like Pedialyte today.
I know
when I am nauseous or severely dehydrated Gatorade will be found in my
refrigerator. I am not an athlete nor do I enjoy spending hours in direct
sunlight but as a chronic migraine patient there are days when extra hydration
is a must. For me I would be lost without it.
Some
extra trivia:
- The Gatorade shower began in 1985 when Jim Burt of the New York Giants poured it over Bill Parcells of the Washington Redskins after a win.
- Michael Jordan was the first celebrity to endorse Gatorade making one and a half million dollars per year for ten years beginning in 1991.
- In 1983 Gatorade became the official sports drink of the N.F.L. and is currently the only company that sponsors all thirty-two teams in the league.
- It is estimated that over one hundred billion ounces of Gatorade are sold each year.
Now who
can go for a tall, cold glass?
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