More Than Our Story

Homemade Sports Drinks

Homemade electrolyte sports drink.

Total Time: 10 Minutes

Servings: 10

Table of Contents

Inspiration

Today we’re going to take a look at electrolytes, what they do, and how you can make your own (and a lot cheaper) homemade electrolyte-based sports drinks.

What Are Electrolytes?

So what exactly are electrolytes are and why they matter? Electrolytes are ion-rich minerals and salts in our body that help regulate essential functions like hydration, muscle function, nerve impulses and pH balance. Some common electrolytes include sodium, potassium, calcium, bicarbonate and magnesium.

Electrolytes are found in many foods and drinks, but can also be lost through sweat during physical activity, heat, or illness, leading to an electrolyte imbalance. Without electrolytes our bodies can’t function properly, that’s why it’s so important to replenish lost electrolytes, and electrolyte drinks can help support proper rehydration. Maintaining proper electrolyte balance is crucial to our health and wellbeing. Improper balances can lead to muscle cramps, fatigue, and even seizures in severe cases.

Importance of Hydration

It’s not only electrolytes, maintaining proper hydration is necessary to keep your body and organs functioning properly. Maintaining proper hydration keeps your temperature regulated, lubricates your joints, can prevent infections, moves nutrients to cells, can improve your sleep and help your brain and mood.

HYDRATION GUIDELINES:
As your activity level increases your hydration needs increase:

  • When exercise less than 60 minutes, drinking water or an electrolyte drink will not make much of a difference.
  • With extreme exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, you should consume 600 to 1,200 milliliters of fluids. Aim for 0.5 to 0.7 grams of sodium and 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour to replenish lost fluids and electrolytes and provide energy to continue.

Why Make Homemade Electrolyte Drinks?

Electrolyte-based sports drinks are a common place on sports fields, arenas and courts around the world and your neighborhood. They energize you before exercise, help you stay hydrated, and replenishing electrolytes lost through sweating, they can even improve your athletic performance. Problem is, like everything else found in the corner store and grocery stores these days – their cost keeps going up, and it’s only rising faster with the new generation of influencers, celebrities and athletes promoting their own brands and hyping the industry.

One of the benefits of homemade electrolyte drink is their cost-effectiveness, much cheaper than store-bought alternative, especially when you consume them frequently. Additionally, you can control what’s in them, and what you put in your body. Artificial sweeteners and colors? Not when homemade. Not only that, you choose the flavor, and can customize the nutrients and minerals in them, not to mention calorie and carb levels.

Ingredients

The necessary ingredients for making homemade electrolyte drinks include:

  • Water (regular or coconut) – This forms the base of the drink and supports hydration.
  • Salt – The electrolyte component. These are the important minerals lost through sweat that need to be replenished.
  • Sugar – The carbohydrate component. Sugars and natural sweeteners (such as honey, agave, maple syrup and citrus juices) serve as a source of energy and flavor aid.

Recipes

The following recipes support hydration by replacing the essential minerals and electrolytes lost during physical activity, heat or sickness. They also contain easily-absorbable simple carbohydrates to boost your energy level.

Lemon-Lime Electrolyte Drink

  • 9 cups water
  • 4 tablespoons honey
  • ½ teaspoon fine Himalayan pink salt
  • 1 teaspoon calcium magnesium powder (Optional)
  • 2 tablespoons ginger juiced, strained (Optional)
  • (1 cup) 3 medium oranges juiced, strained
  • 3 medium lemons, juiced
  • 3 medium limes, juiced

Coconut Water Electrolyte Drink

  • 7 cups coconut water
  • 2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • (1 cup) 3 medium oranges juiced, strained
  • ½ teaspoon fine Himalayan pink salt
  • 1 teaspoon calcium magnesium powder (Optional)

Preparations

Without Calcium Magnesium Powder

  • Mix all ingredients together, chill, serve.

With Calcium Magnesium Powder

  • Add 1 cup of water to a large pot with calcium magnesium powder (CA-MG).
  • Whisk over low heat until ingredients have dissolved.
  • Remove from heat and allow to return to room temperature.
  • Add remaining ingredients, chill, serve.

SALT FACTS:
Salt contains sodium, but it also contains potassium, calcium, and magnesium. The best type of salts you can use to boost your water are Sea Salt and Himalayan Pink Salt as they are less processed than normal table salt.

BENEFITS OF COCONUT WATER
Coconut water contains the electrolytes (magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium), carbohydrates, as well as vitamins and minerals. It provides rapid hydration, can help to improve muscle function, and promotes recovery.

Conclusions

Homemade electrolyte-based sports drinks offer a more cost-effective and custom alternative to store-bought options. They also present a healthier, more natural alternative, as you can avoid additional sugars, and artificial sweeteners and flavors.

Storing

  • Homemade electrolyte drinks can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
  • Electrolyte drinks can be frozen in an icetray for an easy, cooling addition to your favorite base.

Tips

  • You can easily add electrolytes to any drink through natural sources like sea salt, ginger, watermelon or turmeric.

SOURCES

Picture of Daniel

Daniel

Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit. Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.

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