Gatorade+and+Soda

Effects of Powerade on Blood Glucose Levels of Female Teenagers
 * Title:**


 * Abstract:** The effects of Powerade on blood glucose levels was tested. The Powerade caused a rise in the test subject's blood glucose levels of 37%, which was a significant change. The volunteer who was the control also had a significant increase of 39%. Both of the subjects received a significant change in blood sugar levels.


 * Introduction:** Blood Glucose levels measure the amount of sugar in your blood stream. This sugar (glucose) comes from carbohydrates and is broken down into a monosaccharide. Normal ranges of blood glucose for a person range from 80-120. Your blood glucose levels can be affected by your activity levels, carbohydrate intake, protein intake, alcohol intake, stress and illness, and medication. Insulin, which is produced in the pancreas, can help keep your blood glucose levels down by helping make glucose into glycogen, which is a polysaccharide. Insulin also helps keep blood glucose at a normal level throughout the day by taking glycogen and making it back into glucose once blood glucose levels start to dip. Many people think that sports drinks like Powerade are better for you than soda, but that isn't necessarily true. Sports drinks contain a large amount of added sugars and chemicals that are bad for your body.

We are studying the effects of Powerade and soda on blood glucose levels and seeing which one has more of an effect on blood glucose. Two female teenagers will have their fingers pricked and blood glucose levels tested. We will use SurgiLance Safety Lancets to prick their fingers and Freestyle Lite Blood Glucose Testing System to test their blood sugar levels. The experimental group will test the effects of Powerade on blood glucose levels and the control group will just have their finger pricked. We will give one of the volunteers one serving of Powerade, which contains 14 grams of sugar, and see if that affects her blood glucose levels at all. The independent variable will be the addition of Powerade to the female volunteers and the dependent variable will be the volunteers' blood glucose level changes.
 * Method:**

Experimental || 104 || 142 || +37% || Control || 89 || 124 || +39% || The data says that Female 1's blood glucose was 104 before she drank one serving of Powerade, and about 20 minutes after she drank the Powerade, her blood glucose level changed to 142. This was a 37% change from the control. Female 2's blood glucose level was 89 the first time, then changed to 124 afterwards. This was a 39% change between the two tests of Female 2. However, Female 2 did not drink any Powerade. Both test subjects had a significant increase from their control blood glucose levels. Female 1's change in blood glucose can be attributed to her Powerade consumption but we are unsure what caused Female 2's increase. We were right in our thinking that Female 1's blood glucose would increase, but we are unsure about Female 2.
 * Results:**
 * __**Volunteer**__ || __**Blood Glucose Before**__ || __**Blood Glucose After**__ || __**Change in Blood Glucose Levels**__ ||
 * Female 1
 * Female 2

We believe that our experiment went well and that the increase of Female 1's blood glucose level was expected. The belief that Powerade would increase blood glucose levels was proved in this experiment, but we are unsure as to what caused the change in blood glucose levels in Female 2. Maybe it was due too something eaten by the subject, or to another condition that we weren't aware of. Overall, the experiment went well, but we are still curious as to what caused the increase in Female 2's glucose levels.
 * Discussion:**


 * References:**

Blood Glucose Levels: Testing and Normal Levels. Healthwise. February 15, 2013. Web. Normal and Diabetic Blood Sugar Level Readings. Global Diabetes Community. February 15, 2013. Web. Powerade Ion4. Coca-Cola Company. February 19, 2013. Web.