Natural Sports Drinks

This recipe is from WellnessMama.com

The topic of sports drinks for kids came up in class last week. I don’t like drinking big name sports drinks because of the artificial coloring and excess sugar. While you need carbohydrates when you workout intensely for more than an hour, you DON’T need them with less intense workouts or workouts less than 1 hour. Plain water will be just fine.

The easiest sports drink that is nutritionally amazing is plain coconut water with a TBSP of added lime juice. Coconut water has more potassium than sports drinks, and more natural sources of sodium. A lot of athletes swear by it these days, and I will be drinking it in labor.

Here is a  healthy and tasty alternative, this versatile recipe is the next best thing…

Homemade Natural Sports Drink Ingredients:

• 1 quart of liquid (options: green tea, herbal teas, coconut water, plain water, etc)
• 1/8-1/4 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt (regular table salt will work, but it doesn’t have all the trace minerals)
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed Calcium magnesium tablets or powder (optional)
• 1/4 cup or more of juice (optional. Can use grape, apple, lemon, lime, pineapple, etc)
• 1-2 TBSP sweetener (optional)- can use honey, stevia, etc. I suggest brewing stevia leaf into the base liquid for the most natural option.

[As an example, my normal recipe includes 1 quart of tea (brewed with Red Raspberry Leaf, Alfalfa, Nettle and Stevia),  1/4 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp calcium magnesium powder (about 1,000 mg), and 1/4 cup grape or apple juice]

Make Natural Sports Drink:

1. Brew tea if using or slightly warm base liquid
2. Add sea salt and calcium magnesium (if using)
3. Add juice and mix or shake well
4. Cool and store in fridge until ready to use

Another easy alternative is just mixing Vitamin C powder or Emergen-C with water and a little juice!