- Powerade is a popular sports drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola company.
- Today, Powerade is available in various flavors such as mountain berry blast, fruit punch, lemon-lime, etc.
- Powerade is the best source of energy for heavy activities.
- Powerade is gluten free as it doesn’t contain any gluten rich ingredients.
Is Powerade gluten free? In today’s busy lifestyle, everyone longs for a healthy lifestyle. One of the major components of a healthy lifestyle is the healthy food or drinks you consume. While there are different aspects of what a “healthy drink” looks like, one essential thing most of you might ignore is whether your favorite drink is gluten free or not.
In case you don’t know what gluten is, here is a quick brief. Gluten is a protein found in grains like wheat, rye, or barley. Thus, food items that consist of these gluten rich ingredients are unhealthy to consume for gluten-sensitive people.
But what about drinks such as the popular sports drink Powerade? Is Powerade gluten free? If you’re looking for an answer to this, here’s everything you’d know in this regard. So, let’s start.
What is Powerade, and is it gluten free?
Introduced around 33-years ago, in 1988, Powerade is a popular sport drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola company. The company also markets the drink for those who want instant energy for heavy activities.
Going into history, Powerade was launched in 1988 alongside Coca-Cola’s other sports drink, Aquarius. Thus, Powerade became that time’s Olympics official sports drink.
The close competitor of the drink is Gatorade, a PepsiCo product. While many know that Powerade provides instant energy, hardly anyone knows how it does that.
So, let me tell you. Powerade includes a unique formula. This formula contains vitamins such as B3, B6, and B12. According to science, these three vitamins play a huge role in boosting energy and metabolism.
Hence, sportspeople often drink Powerade before their match for instant energy. Since its introduction in the market, the low-calorie and colorless sports drink have never looked back. As a result, the company keeps on introducing new flavors.
What is gluten?
Today, many see gluten as an unhealthy ingredient. It belongs to the family of proteins. It is usually found in grains such as wheat, rye, spelt, and barley. Thus, anything that contains these grains is believed to have gluten.
Of all these grains, wheat is the main source of gluten. In gluten, there are two main proteins – glutenin and gliadin. Out of these two proteins, gliadin is more harmful than glutenin.
Being in powder form, when gluten comes in contact with moisture or water, it forms a sticky and flowy substance. This gives the products their chewy and satisfying texture.
However, if you are gluten sensitive, you must either reduce its consumption or remove it from your diet.
Is Powerade gluten free?
So, you must either reduce its consumption or remove it from your diet. However, there remains a question. Are power or sports drinks such as Powerade based on gluten or gluten free?
So, the simple answer to this is that Powerade is gluten free.
Yes, Powerade is gluten free as it is free from the gluten rich ingredients listed above. Additionally, Powerade Zero is also gluten free.
If you want to know the key ingredients of Powerade or any other sports drink, here is the complete list of the ingredients:
- Water
- Citric Acid
- Fructose
- Esters of Wood Rosins)
- Stabilizers
- Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid)
- Flavorings
- Colour (Carotenes)
- A source of Phenylalanine
- Glucose
- Acidity Regulators
- Vitamin B6
- Sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame K)
Different flavors and colors give this energy drink different flavors that boost your energy levels during heavy activities.
Note that none of the above ingredients contain gluten. Hence, Powerade is a gluten free drink.
How bad is gluten for your health?
When I say gluten belongs to the family of proteins, you may assume it to be beneficial for your body. This is common as every human body requires some protein for its work.
However, it is not the case with gluten. Gluten has no health benefits. It is mainly linked to several health issues in the body, as discussed below.
- The gluten problems are not limited to those suffering from celiac disease
On the backside of food packets, you find a warning stating that people with celiac disease should avoid wheat and its products. Do you know why it is so? This is because of the high gluten content of wheat and other grains.
Even light gluten consumption poses a significant threat to the person intolerant to wheat (or gluten). However, it isn’t entirely true.
That is, an individual not who has the celiac disease can also show gluten sensitivity, known as non-gluten celiac sensitivity. Thus, it no longer matters whether you have celiac or not; removing gluten from your diet is better.
- It leads to gut inflammation
One of the major side effects of having gluten in your diet is gut inflammation. As you would know, gluten is a type of protein. However, the proteins stored in wheat, like gluten, are gut irritants. In simple words, proteins such as gluten slit through the gut lining. This leads to inflammation around it.
Another thing to remember here is that gut inflammation occurring because of gluten is common in people with and without celiac disease.
Thus, it is possible to suffer from gut inflammation regardless of whether you are sensitive to gluten.
- It leads to intestinal permeability
Do you know that your gut functions as a border that directs the digested food and its nutrients into your bloodstream? Further, you intake several unknown viruses, bacteria, or dust molecules daily. But, again, your gut prevents these from entering the bloodstream.
However, due to gut inflammation, it no longer functions as the border and allows the viruses, bacteria, and dust molecules to enter the bloodstream. Thus, it is also called a “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability.
This is the main reason for various autoimmune diseases.
- It doesn’t contain any nutrients
No nutrients is another or probably the main reason why you should give up gluten. As gluten doesn’t contain many nutrients and is a major cause of issues inside the body, you get no benefit from having a gluten rich diet.
All these and other side effects of gluten based food products prove why to avoid its consumption.
What are the different flavors of Powerade?
Today, Powerade is the most popular sports and energy drink in the market alongside its alternatives. Due to its popularity, the company has launched various flavors.
Some of the standard flavors of Powerade are:
- Orange
- Melon
- Mountain Berry Blast
- Fruit Punch
- White cherry
- Tropical mango
- Lemon-Lime
- Grape
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Lemonade
The best part about all these flavors is that all the above flavors are fewer calories and gluten free.
Another sports drink based on Powerade is Powerade Zero. As its name suggests, Powerade Zero has zero calories and is rich in useful electrolytes.
Currently, Powerade Zero is available in six refreshing flavors such as:
- Orange
- Grape
- Strawberry
- Fruit punch
- Mixed berry
- Lemon-lime
Again, Powerade Zero is gluten free, and so are the above six flavors.
What are the other gluten free sports drinks?
Powerade and Powerade Zero are gluten free. But do you know that besides these two, there are several other varieties of sports drinks that are gluten free? If not, here are a few of them.
Red Bull is a popular name in the market with no wheat or gluten-based ingredients. Instead, the key ingredients of Red Bull are water, vitamin B, caffeine, taurine, and sugars.
It comes in different flavors as Powerade and is safe for people suffering from celiac diseases.
You might not have heard much about the Full Throttle energy drink, however, it is a popular option if you are looking for a gluten free energy and sports drink.
Currently, there are two varieties of the Full Throttle energy drink. These are:
- Full Throttle original
- Full Throttle Blue Agave
MTN Dew AMP sports & energy drink is a popular product from Mountain Dew. It is available in a range of flavors and all these flavors are gluten free. The following are the main four flavors of the same.
- Original
- Tropical punch
- Cherry blast
- Strawberry limeade
- Monster energy drink
Monster energy drink is also a good gluten free sports and energy drink available in the market. It is an excellent source of instant energy as its ingredients boost your metabolism.
The monster energy drink is available in multiple flavors. For example, Monster Energy, Lo-Carb, Zero Sugar, Assault, Import, and Monster Mule.
Like Gatorade, Powerade, and Red Bull, this NOS energy drink is another gluten free energy and sports drink available on the market. Its main ingredients include vitamins, guarana, caffeine, and taurine.
It is available in the following varieties.
- Sonic Sour
- Power Punch
- Turbo
- Original
- Gt Grape
- Nitro Mango
So, these are a few gluten free energy and sports drinks you can drink for instant energy for your heavy activities.
Powerade vs. Gatorade – What are the differences?
Both Powerade and Gatorade are today’s in-demand sports drinks. These contain some active ingredients that boost the athletes’ performance levels. So it doesn’t matter your current performance levels; anyone can use these sports drinks for improved performance.
But which one to choose – Powerade or Gatorade? While sports experts claim both are the same in a way or two, it leaves the final decision on your shoulders.
So, let’s discuss both Gatorade and Powerade below along with their differences.
You would know that both Powerade and Gatorade come in different flavors and contain additional ingredients such as:
- Sweeteners
Though the list of ingredients in Powerade and Gatorade is quite huge, both contain some common and main components. These include water, a type of sugar, citric acid, and salt.
Out of these ingredients, the sweeteners are different in both Gatorade and Powerade. In Powerade, the sweetener used is high-fructose corn syrup. On the other hand, Gatorade uses dextrose as a sweetener.
Dextrose is a sugar type with an identical chemical formula to sugar.
Since both dextrose and high-fructose corn syrup have similar nutrients, you get similar amounts of carbs and other nutrients. However, you should be aware of their negative effects, such as harmful insulin levels, appetite response, and obesity risk.
- Vitamins
After sweeteners, vitamins are another significant difference between these popular energy and sports drinks. According to studies, Powerade contains more vitamins than Gatorade.
Due to this, Powerade provides you with extra vitamins and nutrients than the other. For example, Powerade contains more Vitamin B6 and B12, which are essential for your body.
- Taste
Another decent difference between Powerade and Gatorade is the taste difference. Many people believe that the former tastes sweeter than the latter. That is, Powerade is sweeter than Gatorade.
The main reason for this is the high-fructose corn syrup used in Powerade. This corn syrup is sweeter than the regular dextrose used in Gatorade.
Additionally, the presence of more vitamins and nutrients in Powerade is another reason for the taste difference.
So, these are the significant differences between today’s popular sports drinks i.e., Powerade and Gatorade.
What Is The Similarity Between Powerade & Gatorade?
Besides the above differences, there is a similarity between Powerade and Gatorade. The similarity is that both these sports drinks have the same effect on your performance.
Despite the above differences, both Powerade and Gatorade have similar effects on your performance levels. Hence, you need not worry much about which one to choose or not.
As you would know, sports drinks have some everyday purposes. For example, below are a few of them.
- Sports drinks instantly rehydrate your body
- Sports restore the carbs, electrolytes, and other nutrients you might lose
- Sports drinks provide instant energy
To fulfill all these purposes, you can choose anyone between Gatorade and Powerade. Both drinks will provide similar changes in your body and performance levels.
However, you should note that both Powerade and Gatorade are valid only for long-running exercises or workouts.
So, this is the main similarity between Powerade and Gatorade.
What Are The Benefits Of Drinking Powerade?
“What are the benefits of drinking Powerade?”, you must have searched for the same several times over Google. So, here are the various benefits that would make you drink more Powerade.
- Powerade is rich in carbohydrates
Carbs are the primary source of energy in your body. It releases blood sugar or glucose when it breaks down in your body. This glucose mixes into the bloodstream and helps in the various functions of different body parts.
However, your glucose levels decrease during and after an intense workout. This is the main reason behind the feeling of fatigue during activities.
To reduce or avoid this, Powerade is the best solution. It contains around 14g of carbs.
- It is rich in vitamins and minerals
As mentioned, Powerade contains B-complex vitamins such as B3, B6, and B12. These vitamins support energy metabolism in your body. If you eat up to 2000 calories in a day, Powerade contains around 10% of these vitamins.
- Powerade is rich in electrolytes
Yes, Powerade is rich in electrolytes. These electrolytes are necessary for your body as they regulate your body’s water levels and your blood’s pH level.
Furthermore, muscles are made out of mostly water. Hence, any shortage of water in your body can result in dehydration, fatigue, or decreased efficiency.
Hence, it would help if you frequently drank Powerade.
- Powerade prevents muscle cramps
Do you experience muscle cramps during or after a heavy workout or exercise? Are you looking for a reason and cure? If yes, Powerade is your solution.
Muscles contain over 70% water. Therefore, during a heavy workout or after it, the water level in your body decreases. This leads to cramps in your muscles. Depending upon the water shortage, the strength of cramps varies.
Hence, it’s crucial to maintain a sufficient water level in your body. For this, you should frequently drink Powerade during or after your workout.
So, these are the main health benefits of Powerade and why you should drink it.
Conclusion
Gluten has no nutrients for your body. Additionally, it affects your body in multiple ways, as discussed above. Hence, it is best to avoid gluten in your food or drinks.
If you drink sports drinks such as Powerade, you should know it is gluten free. Also, its other alternatives listed above are gluten free.
As discussed above, there are several benefits of drinking Powerade and other sports or energy drinks. So, what is your favorite Powerade flavor among its several options?
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