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Make Your Own Sports Drink

by · July 24th, 2008
Events, Hazon, Health, Kosher, New York, Recipes

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Imagine you are out on your bike (or running, rock climbing, extreme gardening – whatever you like to do) on a hot day. You’re sweaty and tired, and feeling like you need a boost of energy. The question is, do you reach for a bottle of Gatorade and a squeeze of Power Gu, or are there less expensive, less heavily packaged alternatives? Ok, leading question.

In planning long distance bike rides, Hazon has found it particularly challenging to find kosher-certified sports drinks (who knew this would be such a problem?) that fall in line with our larger food values. But during a typical NY Ride we probably go through about 100 gallons of the stuff! For the last several years, we have used powered Powerade (OU certified) , which we’ve purchased in bulk and mixed with water in big, sturdy coolers. It keeps cyclists happy and at least avoids the plastic bottle pile up. This year, we will probably switch to CLIF’s version (KSA-certified), because powdered Powerade is for some reason harder to come by since the company was purchased by Coca Cola.

For now, and honestly for the sake of convenience, Hazon will stick with the powdered stuff for our bigger rides – but let’s get back to you. There are lots of alternatives for quick homemade power drinks that deliver all the salt and sugar that your body needs after a good sweat without the “tougher-than-thou” image, fake food dyes, or landfill potential.

Here are two recipes to try:

Lemon-Lime Power Drink
* 1 can orange juice
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon lime juice
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* water

Honey-Lemon Power Drink
* 1/2 cup honey
* 1/2 teaspoon lite salt
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* water

As you can see, making your own version of these sports drinks is pretty easy. The ingredients are mostly items that you already have around the house, making these recipes a very cheap alternative to expensive sports drinks.

Enjoy the refreshment – and feel free to share your own variations and recipes. And if you’re looking for a reason to drink these delicious concoctions, register here for the 2008 New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride over Labor Day Weekend as crew or as a rider.

Recipes from Tyler Cooper, Road Cycler
Power Drink image: Time

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9 Responses to “Make Your Own Sports Drink”

  1. chanie Says:
    July 25th, 2008 at 7:20 am

    is it the salt that makes these ‘power’ drinks? (as opposed to just lemonade or something?)

  2. Leah Koenig Says:
    July 25th, 2008 at 8:29 am

    I’m not an expert on these things, but I think it is the salt. While sugar gives you an energy boost, it’s not replacing all of the salt you lost through sweating. I remember we ate these *nasty* power bars on the Israel Ride. They were called Isogel, I think, and they were like large, sticky gummy bear bars that were literally covered in salt. So gross, but really effective.

  3. Melinda Says:
    July 25th, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Right – there are several things going on in sports drinks, notably electrolytes (sodium and potassium) and carbohydrates (sugars). Electrolytes are to replace electrolytes lost through sweat and to protect against dehydration, and carbs are for energy. If you’re out for less than an hour just plain water is fine.

  4. Ilana Says:
    July 28th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    Interesting. I have been told by doctors to drink a lot of gatorade when I want to consume caffeinated beverages, because I get weird muscle pains from coffee, etc. Of course I’d prefer to avoid Gatorade with its high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, etc.

    At least CLIF is a green business (their site in Berkeley is certified by the local gov’t). I haven’t read their powdered drink ingredients- are they healthier than Gatorade?

    Does your orange drink recipe call for a can of *concentrated* OJ and then lots of water?

  5. deva Says:
    July 31st, 2008 at 12:18 am

    awesome!

  6. basagf Says:
    October 10th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    The salt isn’t to replace lost salt from sweating it’s to make you absorb water faster

  7. redify Says:
    June 27th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    how much water do we need

  8. redify Says:
    June 27th, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    someone please answer me soon

  9. Leah Koenig Says:
    June 28th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    Hey redify – good question. The water is really up to your own taste. For lemon lime, I’d start with a quart and modify from there (meaning, add more if it tastes too strong)

    For honey lemon I’d start with 2 cups of water and modify from there.

    good luck!

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