Staminade

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Staminade

Type	Sports drink
Manufacturer	Steric Pty Ltd
Country of origin	Australia
Introduced	1970s

Staminade is the first sports drink to be commercially manufactured and marketed in Australia, available in Australian retail outlets since the late 1970s.^[1] By comparison US competitor Gatorade launched in Australia in 1993; Powerade came to Australia in 1988 in powder form and its bottles launched in 1992.^[2]

Staminade is wholly owned by an Australian, family-owned company Steric Trading Pty Ltd and manufactured in Villawood, New South Wales, Australia.^[3]

Sports drink

Staminade is a sports drink as described under standard 2.6.2 in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards code.^[4]

The product is available in retail as a concentrate and a powder and is researched, developed, manufactured and distributed in Australia.

Powder

A 585-gm tub of Staminade powder makes nine litres of Staminade drink when mixed with water. Directions for mixing recommend that one scoop of powder be mixed with 250ml chilled or iced water.

Staminade also produces 19g powder sachets (one sachet makes up 350ml) and a one kilogram powder tub which makes up 21 litres of sports drink. These two options are only available to wholesale food service customers.

Concentrate

In 2005 Staminade concentrate was available in a 750-ml bottle. This product has since been discontinued.^[5]

Since September 2013 Staminade concentrate has been packaged in a one-litre bottle, which makes five litres of Staminade drink when mixed with four litres of water. Directions for mixing recommend that 50ml of concentrate be mixed with 200ml of water to make up 250ml of sports drink.

Staminade flavours

Lemon lime fusion (concentrate and powder)
Wild berry rush (powder only)
True Blue (discontinued)

Staminade formulation

Staminade is an electrolyte drink. In the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code an electrolyte drink is defined as “a drink formulated and represented as suitable for the rapid replacement of fluid, carbohydrates, electrolytes and minerals”.^[6]

During intense training, some athletes can lose up to two litres of sweat in an hour and if fluids are not maintained within normal limits some organ function may be impaired.^[7] An electrolyte drink replaces vital minerals lost through sweating including sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride and calcium which are necessary for maintaining the body’s fluid balance and allowing the body to function normally.^[8]

Most commercial sports drinks in Australia contain sodium levels of between 10 and 25 mmol/L and potassium between 3 and 5 mmol/L.^[9] Staminade is formulated to contain sodium and potassium levels at 16.4mmol per litre and 4.8mmol per litre which are well within the desired standard.

Staminade is also an isotonic drink. To successfully replace electrolytes after heavy exercise and endurance events, an electrolyte drink must also be an isotonic solution.^[10] Beverage solutions that have identical osmotic pressure to body fluids are said to be isotonic solutions, and are readily absorbed into cells.

Staminade concentrate and powder, when made up according to directions, have an osmomolality of approximately 275milliOsmol per litre – well within the human body’s average range of osmotic pressure (250 to 340milliOsmoles per litre).^[11]

Magnesium

Staminade was the first ready-to-drink sports drink available in Australia to add magnesium to its formula.^[12] Staminade powder contains magnesium lactate and Staminade concentrate contains magnesium sulphate.

Magnesium is one of the four most abundant elements found in the body and is essential for normal body function, playing a vital role in the body's energy metabolism by helping cells utilise sugars to produce vital energy for cells’ mechanisms to work at their optimum levels.

During sweating magnesium is lost along with other electrolytes. Magnesium is known to help recovery from muscle cramping and also plays a key role in energy metabolism in the body.

Scientists believe that endurance athletes may be at heightened risk of magnesium deficiency and consequent health and performance problems as a result of metabolic response to exercise, as well as losses incurred via sweat and urine.^[13]

Rehydration

After hard exercise the body may show signs of dehydration including muscle weakness, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, thirst and cramps.

Staminade is used for rehydrating after intense exercise. Research has shown that solutions containing between 4 and 8 per cent sugar make a good base for hydration.^[14] When mixed according to instructions, Staminade powder contains 6 per cent sugar made up of 4.4 per cent sucrose and 1.6 per cent glucose which are designed to complement each other, glucose giving instant energy and sucrose breaking down more slowly to give sustained energy. Staminade concentrate contains 4 per cent sugar.

Staminade also helps restore glycogen which is the main storage form of glucose in the body, located primarily in liver and muscle cells. Glycogen ensures body glucose concentrations are kept at sufficient levels to supply the brain.

During high intensity exercise glycogen is broken down to sugars to sustain body functions and can be depleted within 60 to 90 minutes. Blood sugar level drops as glycogen reserves are used up and lactic acid (a by-product of energy metabolism) builds up in muscles causing fatigue and muscle cramps.^[15]

Other Steric products

Colour Catcher

External links

v t e Sports drinks

10-K 100plus Accelerade All Sport Aquarius Gatorade Isostar Lucozade Pocari Sweat Powerade Propel Sporade Staminade

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