Can Gatorade Elevate Potassium Levels in the Blood?
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Can Drinking Gatorade Affect Potassium Levels?

Let’s take a deeper look at the impact of this colorful beverage.
Can Drinking Gatorade Affect Potassium Levels?
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Updated on August 6, 2025
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You may have heard the story about how Gatorade got its start. Back in 1965, an assistant football coach at the University of Florida wondered why his team’s players were always so affected by the heat, developing cramps and nausea or ending up totally sapped of energy after a game. When he asked school scientists for their thoughts, they surprised him with their answer. It wasn’t just because the players had been attempting superhuman feats in the sweltering sun. Instead, they said, the fatigue was due to the electrolytes (primarily sodium and potassium) they were losing as they worked out on the field.

Their famous research into how to address this problem led to the emergence of what’s now known as Gatorade, named after the university’s sports team. If you’re going through a rough, hot day yourself, you might think of this story and reach for a Gatorade to cool down. But it’s important to distinguish marketing hype from science — especially if you already have elevated levels of potassium in your blood.

What Is Potassium?

Potassium is a positively charged ion that circulates in the blood. It is a mineral and a type of electrolyte that is needed for your cells to function normally.

 The concentration of potassium on either side of the membrane of a neuron, or nerve cell, must fall within a very narrow range or the nerve won’t fire.

The body regulates potassium to keep it within a healthy range. Your kidneys remove the excess, which is excreted through your urine. In healthy individuals, potassium levels stay relatively constant because of this kidney function, regardless of how much Gatorade they drink.

Sources of Potassium

Potassium is everywhere in the food supply. Even ordinary tap water has potassium in it. At the same time, potassium deficiencies can be found in people who are malnourished, those who live with medical issues like inflammatory bowel disease, and those who take laxatives or diuretics.

 Athletes playing in the hot sun wouldn’t have a lasting potassium deficiency because their potassium levels would eventually equilibrate once they stopped sweating.
A 20-ounce (oz) bottle of the classic lemon-lime Gatorade has 80 milligrams (mg) of potassium.

 For healthy individuals, this is a relatively small amount to consume.

Special Situations

Patients with advanced kidney disease are often unable to remove excess potassium from their blood. This is dangerous because elevated potassium levels cause irregular heartbeats and heart attacks. While individual recommendations vary between patients, nephrologists generally recommend that adults with high potassium levels limit their intake to between 2,000 and 3,000 mg of potassium per day.

Drinking the occasional bottle of Gatorade fits within this recommendation, but if you live with this condition, you need to speak to your nephrologist about exactly how much you can consume. The regular version is not necessarily the best choice for people with kidney issues, for whom its sugar, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium could be problematic, especially in high doses.

 As with all things, moderation is key.

The Takeaway

  • Proper hydration is essential for athletes to maintain their electrolyte balance, which includes important nutrients like sodium and potassium.
  • While Gatorade is designed to replenish electrolytes, individuals with healthy kidneys typically maintain safe potassium levels regardless of Gatorade consumption.
  • If you live with kidney disease or high potassium levels, consult your healthcare provider before consuming Gatorade because managing these conditions requires attention to your potassium intake.
  • Always prioritize moderation and consider comprehensive nutritional sources for potassium, especially if you have underlying health conditions that affect electrolyte levels.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. 1965: Gatorade First Tested in a College Football Game. History.com. May 27, 2025.
  2. Potassium. National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. March 22, 2021.
  3. Castro D et al. Hypokalemia. StatPearls. January 19, 2025.
  4. Potassium. National Kidney Foundation. February 1, 2023.
  5. Gatorade Lemon-Lime Nutrition Facts. PepsiCo.
  6. Kalantar-Zadeh K. Potassium and Kidney Disease: What You Need to Know. American Kidney Fund.
  7. Healthy Eating for Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. January 2025.
  8. Potassium in Your CKD Diet. National Kidney Foundation. May 5, 2023.
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Simran Malhotra, MD

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Simran Malhotra, MD, DipABLM, CHWC, is a triple board-certified physician in internal medicine, hospice and palliative care, and lifestyle medicine, as well as a certified health and wellness coach. She is currently practicing part time as an inpatient palliative care physician at Medstar Health after serving as the palliative care medical director at Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore for a little over four years.

Dr. Malhotra completed her internal medicine residency at Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center, where she also served as chief resident in 2015. She completed her fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2016. She was named Top Doc in Palliative Medicine in 2019 and 2020 by Baltimore Magazine.

On a personal note, she is a BRCA1 previvor with a strong family history of breast and female reproductive cancers, and underwent a risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy and total hysterectomy in 2020 at 32 years old. After learning about her own genetic risk of cancer, and grounded in her professional experiences in palliative care, she founded Wellness By LifestyleMD, a platform where she works with and educates women at high risk for cancer with or without genetic mutations on the powerful impact that positive lifestyle changes can have on their quality of life and even longevity.

In addition to being a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, she completed the T. Colin Campbell plant-based nutrition certification in 2019, the CHEF culinary coaching certification in 2020, and the WellCoaches health and wellness coaching certification in 2022. She is a member of the ACLM women’s health member interest group and serves as the co-chair of the breast cancer subcommittee.

Malhotra has been featured on several blogs and podcasts, where she has shared her unique perspectives and experiences from palliative care as well as from being a genetic mutation carrier who is passionate about using lifestyle as medicine.
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Shelly Morgan

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Shelly Morgan has been writing and editing for over 25 years for various medical and scientific publications. Although she began her professional career in pharmacological research, Morgan turned to patent law where she specialized in prosecuting patents for medical devices. She also writes about renal disease and hypertension for several nonprofits aimed at educating and supporting kidney patients.

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