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GoodSport Milk-Based Sports Drink Upcycles Dairy Byproduct

GoodSport Milk-Based Sports Drink Upcycles Dairy Byproduct

GoodSport is a first-of-its-kind natural sports drink made from milk which provides hydration in a clear beverage.

GoodSport Nutrition has introduced a line of milk-based sports drinks that is innovating in this crowded category. This sports drink is made from the goodness of milk and provides consumers with hydration that is clear and thirst quenching.

The beverage, GoodSport, uses milk as its main ingredient because it is an essential and natural source of electrolytes and carbohydrates. Though milk has a great nutritional profile, there are aspects of the beverage that make athletes think twice about drinking it pre or post-workout. In comparison to water and other electrolyte sports drinks, milk’s consistency and protein content makes it difficult to digest.

GoodSport believes they have broken through these barriers by creating a drink with all the benefits of milk, while also being clear and refreshing.

“I didn’t want my son drinking the sports drinks filled with artificial ingredients that were being offered at his baseball games,” said Michelle McBride, the founder and CEO of GoodSport, in a statement. “I gave him chocolate milk as a healthier alternative after his workouts and it provided the inspiration to look at milk as a source of hydration during physical activity.”


Related: Slate Chocolate Milk: The Better-for-You, Canned Dairy Beverage Designed for Adults


GoodSportGoodSport has a patent-pending formula that has three times the number of electrolytes and 33 percent less sugar than other sports drinks. Some of the ingredients include calcium and vitamin B, and the drink is also lactose-free and shelf stable.

According to a study in European Journal of Sports Science, “Milk augments post-exercise muscle protein synthesis and rehydration, can contribute to post-exercise glycogen resynthesis, and attenuates post-exercise muscle soreness/function losses…milk is at least comparable and often out performs most commercially available recovery drinks, but is available at a fraction of the cost, making it a cheap and easy option to facilitate post-exercise recovery.”

“Having spent my career in hydration and exercise performance research, I’ve known milk has the ingredients to provide superior hydration, but never before has anyone found a way to transform milk into an extremely effective and refreshing sports drink,” said Dr. Bob Murray, co-founder and former Director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, who also helped oversee GoodSport’s formulation.

“It’s exciting to be part of the team that’s bringing something entirely new with superior hydration to the sports drink category,” he added.

The company sustainably sources its milk. Ultrafiltering milk is a process often used by dairy companies to make chesses and similar products. When this is done, nutrient-rich parts of the milk are discarded, but GoodSport is using this byproduct to make their sports drink, which contributes to a more sustainable food system.

“When I heard the idea, I thought it was a big one. I thought if we could create a clear, shelf-stable sports drink from milk that would taste great and provide effective hydration, we could disrupt two categories – sports drinks and dairy. It’s very exciting,” said Andy Friedman, founder and former CEO of SkinnyPop Popcorn, who joined GoodSport as the company’s founding partner.

GoodSport will be available for purchase from Amazon and their online e-commerce website. The beverages are sold in 12 packs of 16.9-ounce bottles and consumers have four flavors to choose from; lemon lime, fruit punch, wild berry and citrus. In the spring, GoodSport will be available in some retailers in Chicago and there will be more to follow.