Doctor Robert Cade, the University of Florida researcher who invented Gatorade has died. He was 80.
His concoction was born after the school’s football coach asked him why his players “don’t wee-wee after a game.” Cade learned that the problem was dehydration, and his drink helped the Gators players replace carbohydrates and electrolytes lost through sweat while playing in swamp-like heat. The product took it’s name from the team, and would spark a $5.5 billion a year sports drink market.
In a 2005 interview, Cade said he was proud that Gatorade was based on research into what the body loses in exercise. “The other sports drinks were created by marketing companies,” he said.