New Gatorade Longer Lasting Drink Focuses on Hydration Over Energy

The new formula promises more electrolytes, less sugar.

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After 60 years on the market, Gatorade’s manufacturer, PepsiCo, is looking to shift their focus from providing energy to athletes to keeping drinkers hydrated through out the day. To that end, they’ve recently unveiled some new drink options, including a a new “Gatorade Longer Lasting” drink. Here’s what it’s all about.

So, what is Gatorade Longer Lasting?

It’s a new Gatorade formula that they’re promoting as allowing drinkers to stay hydrate for longer. Or as they put it in a recent press release, “One of the biggest misconceptions about hydration is that it only matters for elite athletes or extreme situations. In reality, mild to moderate dehydration can build gradually across the day for most people, often without realizing it, and thirst is not always a reliable signal.”

According to a recent CNN article, the formula was developed after Gatorade uncovered a surprising new market: people who were trying to avoid drinking water throughout the day to avoid using the bathroom, including people on long-flights or teachers.

So, it looks like they want people to think of Gatorade as something you drink to avoid being dehydrated—like amore efficient replacement for water—rather than something Athletes chug to get energy before a game. It’s part of an overall brand change by Gatorade’s manufacturer, PepsiCo, to position it as healthier drink than before by lowering sugar and working to remove artificial colors from across the brand.

As part of this same push, they recently unveiled Gatorade Lower Sugar, a version of the drink that they say contains 75% less sugar than regular Gatorade, with no artificial flavors, sweeteners or colors.

How is this different from regular Gatorade?

The big difference is that this new drink has more electrolytes than the regular formula, along with the addition of a plant-based glycerin, which they say helps cells retain and reabsorb water.

If you’re trying to figure out how this fits with the rest of the Gatorade line, they’ve released a guide to which drinks meet different hydration needs, broken down into three different areas:

Drinks that hydrate better than water

(Gatorade Thirst Quencher, Gatorade Zero, Gatorade Lower Sugar, Gatorade and Gatorlyte powders) They recommend these for “Everyday occasions like a fresh morning start or to accompany an afternoon walk,” or “On the field of play and athletic endeavors.”

Drinks that hydrate faster than water

(Gatorlyte) They recommend this for any time you need to replenish fluids fast, like when you’re sick, performing a high-activity job or recovering a long night of partying.