How sad for your friend :-(
I can understand why it could lead to health problems if consumed indiscriminately or to excess. Gatorade (even the reduced calorie version) is very high in refined sugar.
The really sad thing was he had created it to better people’s health. The people who wrote the contract left out (on purpose) the part about not being marketed as just a beverage They lied to him.
He died after a long life but tried to the end to get the message out -— read the small print.
Used correctly, it’s a great asset to athelstes.