In this article, we will investigate whether it’s good for people who suffer from UTI to drink Gatorade or not.
In a quick manner, it would not be good for UTI patients or for people who want to prevent UTI to drink Gatorade because of the high sugar content, and the lack of some important key nutrients and electrolytes in this drink.
Why do people with UTI bother asking about Gatorade?
A urinary tract infection is a big reason for people to worry about dehydration because, in the state of infection, the body can consume a great deal of energy, electrolytes, ions and fluids in order to fight infection.
In other words, the body will spend a lot of its fluid, mineral, vitamin, electrolyte, ion, etc. reserves on fighting the ongoing infection.
It can be described that the relationship between UTI and dehydration is cyclical where each party causes the other.
People with urinary tract infections are usually in a dehydrated or at least hypohydrated state, which means that many of them suffer at least from mild dehydration or that’s maybe why they got UTI in the first place.
To know more about the importance of rehydration and how bad dehydration can be for people with UTI, see this article.
In all cases, continued dehydration or dehydration at any stage of UTI whether it was before, after or in the middle can mean the exacerbation of a urinary tract infection (UTI).
So, it’s best to avoid that of course, and that’s why people seek out drinks like Gatorade to prevent dehydration and to promote recovery from UTI.
On the contrary, hydration or rehydration even if the person was mildly dehydrated or was not dehydrated at all can speed up or aid in recovery and improve symptoms of UTI.
I guess people have known that intuitively at some level because doctors always talk about the importance of hydration for the urinary tract.
But proper hydration cannot be achieved with water alone, therefore people began to search for electrolyte drinks like Gatorade to help them rehydrate and recover from UTI.
Is Gatorade a good rehydration option for UTI patients?
To know whether if Gatorade is a good rehydration choice for UTI patients we must know what constitutes a good rehydration solution for UTI patients, and then we must compare it to the constituents or composition of Gatorade.
Why do we need electrolytes for hydration?
Basically, there is no hydration or rehydration if there are no electrolytes.
Electrolytes regulate all of our bodies’ functions from the immune system to heart rate to blood pressure to bladder muscle contraction to kidney function to urine flow to blood volume, which is a measure of hydration, to almost everything.
The body, especially the urinary tract, cannot do anything well if there is an imbalance of electrolytes and ions.
Irritability and agitation to the urinary tract or bladder may occur if there was an imbalance or scarcity of some electrolytes, and in turn, it can further exacerbate UTI and its symptoms.
People should always opt to keep their electrolyte and ion balance at all times by drinking a lot of fluids, especially those people who are more likely to have an electrolyte or ion imbalance like UTI patients.
Note: Many people who suffer from recurrent urinary tract infections or chronic UTIs are likely to do so in part because they are having an electrolyte, ion or vitamin imbalance or a combination of them.
So, an ideal rehydration solution is one that contains all the important electrolytes and ions, like citrate ions, that are needed for the general well-being of the body and urinary tract at high-enough concentrations to restore and maintain hydration in the body with some added vitamins, amino acids and phenolic compounds if possible.
A good rehydration solution must have low osmolality and osmolarity (hypotonic), which means that it should contain a low concentration of carbohydrates or sugars in order to promote the best absorption of minerals and electrolytes from the intestines.
While on the contrary, a bad rehydration solution contains a high percentage of sugars and carbohydrates (high osmolality or hypertonic) to the degree that would hamper the absorption of electrolytes and ions by the intestines.
You can look for evidence of this in a lot of studies on the internet.
Note: low osmolality solutions mean fluids that contain a low concentration of electrolytes and sugar within their composition, but it’s still higher than that of plain water.
Moreover, Oral Rehydration Solutions should ideally contain little to no food preservatives, coloring and taste modifiers because all of these unhealthy substances could stand in the way of electrolyte and fluid absorption from the intestine.
They also could increase oxidative stress, which is something that nobody wants, especially not urinary tract infection (UTI) patients.
Now, does Gatorade have all these necessary prerequisites to make it a good rehydration choice for UTI people?
The simple answer is no.
Of all the important ions and electrolytes that are necessary for rehydration, especially against UTI, Gatorade has only sodium ions, little amounts of citrate ions and a negligible concentration of potassium.
Gatorade contains zero calcium, magnesium, manganese, chloride and zinc. All of which are important electrolytes for restoring proper hydration and balance to the body.
This study shows that rehydration drinks that have more essential electrolytes, minerals and other key nutrients are much superior to those that lack an adequate amount and variety of them, like Gatorade.
Gatorade has generally good electrolyte absorption, however, the high sugar content of Gatorade raises the osmolality of the drink, which in turn reduces to some extent the absorption of the other more important electrolytes and ions that Gatorade already has already low concentrations of, like potassium and citrate.
Another disadvantage to Gatorade is the high amounts of preservatives, coloring and other food additives that are used in it.
All of these as we said can interfere with electrolyte absorption and even cause extra damage to the urinary tract by increasing oxidation in the body.
Is Gatorade bad for UTI patients or people who want to prevent UTI?
This study shows that enhancing the hydration status of elderly people at care homes has significantly lowered the need for antibiotic use for UTI and UTI-hospital admissions in the UK.
In addition to that, this project has achieved great benefits for these people in terms of improving their health and general well-being.
Fast food and most other diets may contain very low amounts of calcium, magnesium, manganese, chloride and/or zinc, and almost certainly all diets lack sufficient amounts of vitamins, omega 3 and other healthy compounds, like phenolic compounds and co-enzymes and so on.
Gatorade just like most people’s diets also has electrolyte imbalances that make it rather an unhealthy choice for UTI sufferers.
Imbalances like having low potassium concentration, no magnesium, calcium, chloride or zinc, low amount of citrate ions, no vitamins whatsoever and no amino acids.
High citrate ion concentration in beverages could mean that they can prevent kidney stones, but unfortunately, Gatorade does not have sufficient amounts of these important ions.
Because of the lack of such essential nutrients in Gatorade, no proper hydration will be restored in the body.
The heart, immune system, bladder and other organs in the body need minerals and vitamins to function properly, especially during physical exertion or during the time of an illness like diarrhea or more particularly UTI.
All of these aforementioned electrolyte imbalances in Gatorade paired with the worst imbalance of all, which is the high carbohydrate or sugar content of Gatorade, make this beverage a highly not recommended drink for UTI patients.
It was shown in studies that Gatorade was successful in keeping blood volume and making the body produce less urine after drinking it than water, which are both good measures of rehydration.
However, this was only done because of the high sugar and sodium content and not because it had a diverse composition of minerals, vitamins and electrolytes.
So, in cases where people might get mildly or severely dehydrated, Gatorade will not be able to replenish all of those depleted electrolytes and ions, and UTI patients will remain dehydrated after drinking it.
The lack or scarcity of electrolytes like calcium, potassium, zinc, magnesium and etc. will remain in the body and this can create all sorts of problems for UTI patients.
Problems like weakening the immune response against infection (UTI) and increasing the chance of kidney stones formation.
For instance, this study shows that Gatorade failed to correct hypokalemia, which is a condition characterized by a low concentration of potassium ions in the blood, in dehydrated people.
The hypokalemia persisted in patients who drank Gatorade, while those who rehydrated with more balanced fluids were successful in reversing that serious condition.
The high concentration of sugar in Gatorade can lead to improper rehydration which may lead to dehydration eventually. Meaning that the body will return to the state of dehydration faster after drinking a sugary fluid like Gatorade. See this study.
Dehydration can help UTI bacteria adhere to the inner linings of the bladder more easily and can cause a whole other host of problems, like weakening the immune system.
The high amount of sugar in Gatorade, also, offers a significant disadvantage to those who suffer from UTI.
Not only can the sugar participate in making the body even more dehydrated than it already could be because of UTI, but it will also weaken the body’s and the urinary tract’s immunity against infections.
Sugary fluids like Gatorade can increase inflammation in the body, which in turn can blunt the host’s immune response against urinary tract infections. See this article.
Not only will the increased inflammation cause a drop in immunity, but it can directly participate in worsening UTI symptoms by causing bladder agitation and temporary or lasting damage to the bladder muscle.
So, it’s best to avoid high-sugar drinks during an episode of UTI and to reduce their intake for the purpose of UTI prevention.
To summarize we can say that Gatorade is highly not recommended for people with UTI because:
_ It does not restore the much-needed hydration or improve the hydration status of UTI patients because it lacks many important electrolytes and contains a lot of sugar.
_ It lacks many important electrolytes, and that makes it unable to correct electrolyte imbalance in UTI patients, which can reflect negatively on the urinary tract’s ability to fight against infection.
_ Its high sugar or carbohydrate content can cause inflammation in the urinary tract, which can agitate the urinary tract, exacerbate symptoms and reduce immunity.
_ The absence of any kind of vitamins in Gatorade does not give any support for UTI patients’ fragile immune systems.
_ The absorption of the electrolytes found in Gatorade is good but it can be reduced because of the presence of sugar and food additives
What is the ideal way to rehydrate for people with UTI?
Although diuresis is desirable in the case of UTI as it can prevent UTI bacteria from adhering to the inner linings of the bladder and the urinary tract, excessive urination is not beneficial because it can promote the loss of important electrolytes from the body in the time of their most need.
Doctors always advise UTI patients to drink plenty of water and fluids in order to help flush out the bacteria from the urinary system.
But, water is not enough for rehydration purposes against UTI because it doesn’t have enough electrolytes and ions.
Moreover, drinking excess amounts of water can cause the body to urinate more, depleting some necessary electrolytes, as we said earlier.
Low osmolality solutions or solutions that contain the right concentration of sugar and other electrolytes does also cause the body to urinate but not to the extent that will cause it to lose electrolytes more than it gained by drinking these fluids.
So, the idea is that with plenty of water, you may lose some healthy electrolytes, but with a proper Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) you can replenish your body’s store of both water and electrolytes.
This way, proper hydration will be restored in the body, and you will highly increase your chances of getting rid of UTI or preventing it from happening to you in the first place.
The ideal scenario here is for people to drink a mix of water, a good oral rehydration fluid and fresh fruit juice with no added sugar or something similar.
The closer you can get to this ideal scenario, the sooner you will say goodbye to your UTI.
Is Gatorade Zero good for UTI?
The only advantage that Gatorade Zero has over the most popular Gatorade, which is Gatorade Thirst Quencher, is that it has very low sugar or carbohydrate content.
On the other hand, in regard to other kinds of electrolytes, both drinks have almost identical compositions.
Both of them have high sodium concentrations and low amounts of potassium and citrate ions, while lacking magnesium, calcium, zinc and manganese ions.
As we mentioned the advantage that Gatorade Zero has over regular Gatorade now we mention its disadvantage, which is the added artificial sweeteners and flavoring.
Food additives were already a problem with regular Gatorade, but now Gatorade Zero has even more of them because it uses artificial sweeteners instead of sugar to enhance its taste.
More and more research is beginning to appear nowadays on the detrimental effects of artificial sweeteners on people in general not to mention those who suffer from UTI.
Food additives and artificial sweeteners can reduce electrolyte absorbability in the digestive tract and they may have some potential toxic effects on the kidneys as well.
So, this is a big warning sign for urinary tract infection patients as these people are already exposed to the threat of having renal damage because of the infection. See this study.
Is there a proper alternative to Gatorade to help people with UTI?
Actually, there is.
| Nutrient | Gatorade | Gatorade Zero | Rehydrate | Pocari Sweat | Pedialyte | Ideal UTI rehydration drink |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories (carbohydrates) | high (more than sufficient) | nil | high (more than sufficient) | medium | medium | low to medium (sufficient) |
| Sodium | sufficient | sufficient | sufficient | sufficient | sufficient | sufficient |
| Potassium | low | low | sufficient | low to medium (not sufficient) | sufficient | sufficient |
| Magnesium | nil | nil | sufficient | low | nil | sufficient |
| Calcium | nil | nil | sufficient | low | nil | sufficient |
| Chloride | nil | nil | nil | medium | sufficient | sufficient |
| Citrate | low | low | sufficient | low | sufficient | sufficient |
| Amino acids | nil | nil | sufficient | nil | nil | sufficient (not too much) |
| Food additives | medium | high | low | low | low | low (if not nil) |
| Artificial sweeteners | nil | high | nil | nil | nil | nil |
| B vitamins | nil | nil | medium | nil | nil | sufficient |
| Vitamin C | nil | nil | sufficient | sufficient | nil | sufficient |
| Vitamin A | nil | nil | sufficient | nil | nil | sufficient |
In my opinion, Avocare’s Rehydrate is a better rehydration option for people with UTI to drink when going through a bout of UTI or when they just want a refreshment that will not put them in the danger of facing UTI, but on the contrary, might help them prevent it.
Earlier, we talked about how Gatorade lacks for many kinds of electrolytes, vitamins and other key nutrients.
However, on the opposite side, Avocare’s Rehydrate boasts a diverse composition of electrolytes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids that are definitely going to be extremely healthy not just for athletes but also for people with UTI.
These nutrients will improve UTI patients’ immunity, allow for better removal of invading bacteria from the bladder or urinary tract by improving hydration and enhance the tone and health of the bladder and reduce inflammation and agitation in addition to offering many other benefits for UTI people.
The only downside with this drink is that it has approximately the same amount of carbohydrates as Gatorade, but that is compensated for by the presence of such a diverse composition of electrolytes, vitamins and nutrients that can attenuate some of the damage that the sugar content may cause.
Additionally, the amino acids found in rehydrate can slow the absorption of Rehydrate’s sugar content from the intestines, allowing the body more time to adjust and process it.
But, if you are someone who has diabetes, cardiovascular issues or other kinds of illnesses, you might want to consider your diet restrictions before consuming Rehydrate or even worse Gatorade.
We have now reached the end of our article, so If you need any more help with your UTI, feel free to contact us or check the multitude of articles we have about this subject on our website KNOW & TREAT UTI.
Stay healthy and have a wonderful rest of your day.