I have long been of the opinion that sports drinks are a high dollar marketing ploy. The army taught us that plain water was nearly as good, because these drinks replenished only the mostly easily reproduced electrolytes. I've gone with that philosophy for 23 years now. Its probably been more than a decade since I've had ANY sport drink.

I recently purchased a bottle of Gatorade G2 that was short-dated and cheap. I took it with today because I anticipated a need with the temps going high early. Intended to test this newer, updated product. Sure enough, I was sweating freely all morning and needed fluids. I drank the inoffensive 32oz. I noticed a stronger salt taste than I expected. The short version is that I feel that it helped me.

Yes, I think that this is HUGE business, but I am no longer opposed to buying & using these products, especially if they can be gotten on sale. Somewhere, I have a recipe for a homemade drink. Think I'll try to make some soon.