Fuel and Cool: How to Make Your Own Sports Drink

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Sports drinks like ... um ... a couple that end in "ade" are popular on soccer fields, at race water stations, and unfortunately, in kids lunchboxes. But, at about 300 calories a bottle and including ingredients like flame retardants, they aren't exactly the healthiest thing to toss back after a workout. Yes, we do need to replenish our bodies with liquids and electrolytes after a tough workout or a long run, but there are clean and natural ways to do it without all the sugar and chemicals.

Read why flame retardant is allowed in your food.

The whole point of energy drinks is to replace the sodium and potassium that we lose when we sweat. Its important that we do this so we don't get muscle cramps or get dehydrated, and so we have enough energy for our next workout. Some foods that are naturally high in sodium and potassium, and therefore great options for a real-food alternative to sports drinks, are:

Potassium and Sodium-Rich Foods 

• yogurt
• orange juice
• bananas
• raisins
• potatoes
• pretzels
• kiwi
• iron-fortified cereal and milk

To assess how much sodium you lose in sweat, weigh yourself without clothes before and after an hour of exercise and note the difference. Each pound lost is about  700-1,000 mg sodium, and you can easily replace those losses with one of the snacks listed above. If you want to have a sports drink to accomplish that, keep in mind that most sports drinks are simply water, sugar, and salt. Remember, the goal of companies that make miracle gels and potions is to to sell them to you, not necessarily make you healthier.



  
Workout recovery is as simple as diluting some orange juice with water and eating a banana, or creating this recipe from Web MD:

Homemade Sports Drink

• 1 quart (950 mL) water
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) baking soda
• ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) table salt
• ¼ teaspoon (1.25 g) salt substitute (potassium-based), such as Lite Salt or Morton Salt Substitute
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) sugar

It's not neon colored, but it'll get the job done.

Click here for more homemade sports drink recipes.

The key to pre and post-workout nutrition is to keep it real: real foods and water are what athletes relied on before the wonders of food technology, and they are still our best bet for a sustainably healthy life. Get out there and get healthy today, even if you don't sweat neon.

Crystal Light Pure Fitness: Like water, only more calories!

Saw a commercial for Crystal Light Pure Fitness yesterday while huffing through some bike intervals.

And it made me think - really? No artificial sweeteners? What's sweetening it, then? I headed to the grocery store and took a gander for myself. Ah. Sugar.

Here's the low-down: It's sweetened with evaporated cane juice, which is a fancy way to say sugar, and stevia, which is also sugar. It also contains electrolytes, which of course we all know is what plants crave.

Electrolytes are also important for maintaining a healthy balance of nutrients, which can be altered by heavy exercise. Marketers of processed foods would love for you to believe that this can only be done by drinking their product, but you can replenish electrolytes with natural foods. Electrolytes really refer to salt, so eating unprocesed foods high in potassium such as bananas, kiwi, oranges, peaches, potatoes, legumes, and tomatoes can provide the same benefit as a sport drink, or Crystal Light Pure Fitness, in a more natural way.

And, you get to chew, which is always a bonus for me.