Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

does gatorade have any different effect than water on pulse rate while exercising?

Joseph,

This sounds like a great experiment. You could have friends do an exercise like walking or jogging while drinking either gatorade or water, and then take their pulse at the end. You probably want to make sure that they drink the same amount of each and that each person takes each test (water/gatorade) on different days. What is it that you need help with?

You may also want to look at the ingredients that are in Gatorade and do some research on studies that have been done with the ingredients. This can back up your experiment to show what ingredients in Gatorade had an effect on one's pulse rate. Also make sure that the Gatorade and the water are the same temperatures as this could have some effect on one's pulse rate.

Miss Lizzy
3rd Grade Science Teacher

Hi Joseph,

This is an interesting idea! To follow up on what the other experts have posted, remember to have all of your subjects (the people participating in your experiment) drink both water and Gatorade, but on different days (as MelissaB suggested). I also suggest that you test their pulse rates at rest, before drinking the drink and afterward, in case teh Gatorade affects their resting pulse but not their exercising pulse (as different people react differently to exercise).

Let us know if you have more questions!

Heather

joseph1803 wrote:does gatorade have any different effect than water on pulse rate while exercising?

Hey Joseph,

If you need different sources to answer your question, consider these interesting articles:

" What does gatorade do to your body ?"
http://www.livestrong.com/article/25862-gatorade-body/

"Gatorade VS Water"
http://www.livestrong.com/article/35812 ... -vs-water/

"The Effects on Gatorade on Exercise"
http://www.livestrong.com/article/10019 ... -exercise/

Hope it helps

Grace

Well, you could test the effect of the Gatorade on pulse rate and use the effect of water on pulse rate as a control. One thing that I know to be true is that Gatorade contains Sodium (salt) because your body releases sodium in its sweat, so it replenishes it. You could research further into the use of sodium by the body using these links:
http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/nu ... sodium.asp
http://curezone.com/foods/salt/understa ... sodium.htm