Yes, you can make your own sports drinks
When it comes to sports drinks or gels, most runners favour readymade to homemade. But you needn’t be MasterChef material to concoct your own running fuel.
Sure, store-bought products are ultra-convenient, but if you can spare some time before lacing up, you can easily craft your own homemade electrolyte drinks in the comfort of your own kitchen using nothing more than a few simple ingredients – and also cutting down on plastic packaging.
When your workout lasts beyond one hour, reach for any of these homemade rocket fuel options to energise your runs.
[Want to start running? The Big Book of Running for Beginners will take you through everything you need to know to get started, step by step.]
Electrolyte Drinks
Electrolyte or sports drinks are designed to deliver liquid for hydration, fast-digesting carbohydrates for a source of energy, and some electrolytes (namely sodium) to replace some of what is lost in sweat. But you need not rely on store-bought versions when making your own elixir is easy (plus, it saves you some hard-earned cash).
Each of these recipes provides a concentration of carbohydrates (about 5 percent) that encourages better intestinal absorption to quickly give your working muscles the energy they need and to lessen the risk for stomach issues. None are overly sweet, and there is enough sodium to help prevent too drastic of a drop in levels when working up a sweat.
But you can tweak each recipe to create your perfect formula. If you want fewer sugary carbs and a touch more sodium (a good option for hot, sweat conditions), simply replace some of the fruit juice with water and add an extra pinch of salt. But hold back on the idea of using nearly all fruit juice, as that will greatly raise the carbohydrate concentration of the solution leading to delayed gastric emptying and an increased risk for digestive issues.
These sports drink hacks makes enough to fill a 24-ounce (3-cup) water bottle, so go ahead and scale up the ingredients if you want to fill multiple bottles. The drinks can be made a day or two in advance if kept chilled.
Limey Pineapple
2 cups water
1 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 + 1/16 teaspoon salt
Place all of the ingredients in a large water bottle and shake well to combine.
Nutrition per bottle: 136 calories, 1 g protein, 33g carbs, 0 g fat, 441mg sodium
Ciderade
1 3/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups apple cider
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon + 1/6 teaspoon salt
Place all of the ingredients in a large water bottle and shake well to combine.
Nutrition per bottle: 150 calories, 0 g protein, 39g carbs, 0 g fat; 467mg sodium
Minty Grape
2 cups brewed mint tea, cooled
1 cup 100-percent grape juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon + 1/16 teaspoon salt
Place all of the ingredients in a large water bottle and shake well to combine.
Nutrition per bottle: 156 calories, 1 g protein, 39g carbs, 0 g fat; 449mg sodium
Amazing orange
300ml orange juice
300ml water
¼ tsp salt.
Place all of the ingredients in a large water bottle and shake well to combine.
Nutrition per bottle: 142 calories, 30g carbs, 450mg sodium (equivalent to Lucozade or Gatorade)
Totally tropical
300ml pineapple juice
200ml coconut water
¼ tsp salt
Place all of the ingredients in a large water bottle and shake well to combine.
Nutrition per bottle: 173 calories, 55g carbohydrate, 630mg sodium
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