How to Make Homemade Gatorade

How to Make Homemade Gatorade
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Athletes know the importance of staying hydrated. Water is often not enough. The practice of consuming carbohydrates can keep your performance more consistent. Sports drinks like Gatorade, PowerAde and others on the market offer a carbohydrate concentration of 6-8%. These are quickly absorbed and utilized in the body.

Sports drinks help bring balance to your system by replacing the electrolytes lost from sweat through the added sodium. Typically 50-150 milligrams per serving, the salt speeds absorption and keeps your thirst up to avoid dehydration.

This is all well and good, but the cost can be restrictive if you are only one of several athletes in your family, are on a strict budget or simply want to cut costs, because you can. Learn how to make homemade Gatorade for pennies a serving.

Homemade Gatorade; Basic Recipe

The basic recipe for 2 quarts of homemade Gatorade includes;

  • 1 kool-aid package
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 quarts water

Stir and chill. Sports drinks should be consumed when you are sweating profusely from working out or just working outside in general. Preparing this before doing a hard labor in your garden or yard is a better choice for your body than lemonade or sweet tea. The salt replaces lost electrolytes and offers you the chance to create your own recipe.

Delicious Variations

Making your Gatorade is not simply a thrifty practice. It also lets you custom design a sports drink. Change the flavors to cater to your individual taste preferences. The following recipe is for personal sized sports bottles, but can easily be expanded to make a larger batch.

In a 20 ounce bottle, add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. This solution creates a base with a 6 percent carbohydrate solution and 100 milligrams of sodium, the equivalent to a bottle of Gatorade.

Add the flavorings of your choice to this base. Consider the following;

  • 1/3 package of Kool-Aid, or other drink powder
  • 2 Tablespoons Lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons Orange juice

Choose one of these and then fill the bottle halfway up with water and shake well. Then fill the bottle to the top.

Tea Gatorade

For a unique, grown-up variation to homemade Gatorade, replace the kool-aid or juice with;

  • green tea
  • cinnamon tea
  • hibiscus tea
  • coffee
  • chai
  • add ginger or lemon for additional punch

Cocoa Gatorade

  • Base solution from above
  • 1 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • dash of vanilla

This adds 10 milligrams of caffeine, which is about what is in 1/10th of a cup of coffee. It also ups the carbohydrate solution from 6 to 7%.

References

Make Your Own Damn Sports Drink-https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Damn-Sports-Drink/

Bike Forums- Training/Nutrition, Sports Drinks-https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-99342.html

Daddy Cooks Quick-https://daddycooksquick.com/2009/06/12/how-to-make-your-own-gatorade-style-sports-drink.aspx