Homemade sports drinks for serious and recreational athletes.
Ditch the highly processed and unreal colors of the typical sports drinks and make a simple electrolyte drink of your own. To be honest, for many a sports drink is completely unnecessary, and may be doing much more harm than good in terms of you reaching your goals.
For most replacing electrolytes can be very helpful, but unless you are doing more than an hour of intense workouts the added sugar/carbs may not be necessary. I often do my workouts in a fasted state with just an electrolyte packet. Currently, I use the LMNT brand. This won’t raise blood glucose levels so I stay in a fat-burning state throughout my workout which is ideal for many recreational athletes. When I used to train for marathons/triathlons, I needed a bit more. That’s where these drinks can come in handy. Anytime you are exercising for over an hour or playing a sport in the heat, you will want to be thinking of how to properly refuel.
Electrolytes are minerals-sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and bicarbonate-that carry electrical charges in the body. This electricity allows cells to communicate. These can get depleted with intense exercise.
When doing prolonged exercise, especially in the heat, a sports drink can be useful. Especially since you are sweating out precious sodium and using up your glucose stores (glycogen).
A homemade electrolyte drink is simple to make. The basic components include:
- water (or coconut water)
- Carbohydrates (from fruit, or a natural sweetener such as maple syrup/honey)
- Quality sea salt
These simple recipes are also great for kids. Try making these in advance of their sports practices and keep them in water bottles in the fridge so they can grab them on their way to practice.
If you are interested in fueling your student-athlete. I have created a meal plan called “Fueling the Student-Athlete”. 100% of proceeds go to The Radical Love Project. A charity that helps students, refugees, and senior citizens in our community. Donate $25 and receive the plan here.
Equipment
- High-Speed Blender
Ingredients
- 16 oz filtered water
- 1/4 cup frozen organic raspberries
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 tsp maple syrup to taste/activity level
- packet electrolytes (I used LMNT sub 1/8-1/4 tsp high quality sea salt
- ice as desired
Instructions
- Squeeze lime into mason jar filled with 16 oz filtered water
- Add water and all other ingredients into a high-speed blender
- Drink plain or over ice.
Nutrition
Ingredients
- 16 oz filtered water (or coconut water)
- 1 orange juiced
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp high quality sea salt
- ice
Instructions
- Juice 1 navel orange into filtered water
- Juice 1 lemon into the same filtered water
- Add in maple syrup and sea salt and stir to combine
- Serve as is or over ice
