 "Photo: Bryant Haertlein")
Since last fall, the UT men's swimming team has been consuming a sports drink developed by a UT professor as a supplement to their daily diet. The drink will make its national debut on July 1.
John Ivy, chairman of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, developed PureSport Performance Drinks while consulting men's swimming coach Eddie Reese, who is also head coach for the 2008 U.S. Olympic swim team.
There are two components to the product: the workout drink and the recovery drink, which both come in powder form and are mixed with water.
The workout drink contains protein, sodium, carbohydrates and sugar to prevent muscle breakdown and give the athlete an energy boost. The recovery drink has a higher protein content to help rebuild muscle tissue torn during workouts.
"During exercise, you want to drink regularly to provide energy," Ivy said, "So the best thing to do when your exercising is to drink about every 15 to 20 minutes if you can. Then the major thing is post-exercise. Taking the right nutrients makes a very large difference in how fast and how well you recover."
Americans drink more than a billion cases of sports drinks a year, according to Beverage Digest, an online database covering the non-alcoholic beverage industry.
Ivy had been involved in research to improve physical performance in athletes for more than 25 years when a friend suggested two and a half years ago that he should develop a sports drink.
"I read through literature and looked at what I thought would comprise the ideal sports and recovery drinks," Ivy said. "It has only half the carbs of Gatorade but is more effective, and calorie-wise, there are fewer with the same benefits."
In 1965, researchers at the University of Florida invented Gatorade, which was named after the university's mascot, the gator, according to the drink's Web site.
Ivy complied with the regulations of sports governing bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA, to ensure that the drinks were acceptable for competing athletes.
RunTex, a running specialty store in Austin, has carried the product for almost two months. The store sells tubs of the formula and individual single-serve bottles containing a powder base for $2.99.
Water is added when the bottle is bought so that the drink is fresh, said Erin Hood, an accessories buyer for RunTex.
"It's easy to sell it when you compare [the drink] to something else," Hood said.
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