Homemade Honey Lemon Sports Drink
Homemade Honey Lemon Sports Drink
By Chris Newport, The Endurance Edge Head Sports Nutritionist & Coach
There are TONS of sports drinks on the market. And I mean tons. In fact, we are constantly updating the list in our our proprietary fueling and hydration calculator with over 180 products as part of our Fueling & Hydration Bootcamp (even listed by carb content, electrolyte content, cost per serving and more). No wonder everyone is confused! So I decided to try my hand at creating my own homemade honey-lemon sports drink to have something that I can adjust to my own taste preferences for mere pennies per serving.
What makes sports drinks so great?
They (hypothetically) pack the 3 major components of hydration into one bottle: fluid, electrolytes and carbohydrates. Check out our blog on the Best Sports Drink.
However, many of them have some sort of artificial colors, sweeteners and other junk in them. While a little “junk” might be ok, consider the amount and frequency that you’ll be drinking it. If you’re an endurance athlete, probably a whole lot.
So if you want to get all the benefits of a sports drink with the flexibility to make it taste the way you want it for mere pennies per serving, give this recipe a shot.
Why is hydration for athletes so important?
Proper hydration is one of the easiest ways to boost performance. It can delay fatigue, reduce the likelihood of muscle cramping, and avoid tummy troubles during exercise.
Grab our free hydration guide for athletes here and learn our #1 simple step to determining if you’re hydrated:
How to make a homemade sports drink
Think about what flavor you want your drink to be. I happen to love lemon juice. If you don’t like lemon juice, use your favorite juice (or combinations): orange, lime, cranberry, pomegranate, pineapple, you get the idea.
Just make sure it’s not low sugar or sugar free. You want the sugar. Remember, this drink serves a purpose: to fuel you for your long (1+ hour) or high intensity workout…not to sip on throughout the day.
Using natural sweeteners in your sports drink
If you do choose honey, your drink will take on that flavor. So be sure it’s a honey you like! Honey is naturally flavored based on whatever plant the bees are getting their nectar from. So you can choose clover honey, wildflower, orange blossom, or whatever you prefer. Check labels too and make sure your honey is from the USA.
If you can’t tolerate honey (many of my fructose intolerant clients don’t do well with it, especially in large quantities), you can use corn syrup (yes, the stuff you get at the grocery store–just keep in mind it tends to have vanilla flavoring–which can be super yummy or way gross), brown rice syrup, or maple syrup. Or you can substitute it with coconut sugar or cane sugar, for which you’ll need 4T (1/4 cup) instead of 3T. It will likely be a little sweeter, so be warned.
Use high quality water and salt
This might go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyhow: use good quality filtered water and a good quality salt, like fine pink sea salt. Measure your salt well. If you’re a “salty sweater,” you can add another 1/8-1/4 tsp to the recipe.
Get fancy, if you want
If you really want to get fancy, you can steep ginger, turmeric, cinnamon or other spices in the hot water for 5-10 minutes. I like using green tea instead of the water for the flavor, caffeine and antioxidant boost.
You can try coconut water too if you need extra potassium, like we do in this video (although it will adjust the recipe below). Get creative! Why not?
Want to work with our expert sports nutritionists to create a personalized homemade sports drink using sweat testing?
We’ll help you determine if this drink or a variation works best for your fueling and hydration needs.
We love using out sweat testing to help us get there, both in our Exercise Performance Lab in Cary, NC or from the comfort of our home with our Home Sweat Testing Kit.
Plus, we have no commitment to using a certain product, other than helping you use what’s best for you!
Now get out there and run, ride, or tri with your new fuel!
Want more recipes for athletes?
Homemade Honey Lemon Sports Drink
Ingredients
- 3 T honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 T lemon juice
- filtered water or green tea to make 32oz or 4 cups
Instructions
- Mix honey and salt in hot water until dissolved.
- Add lemon (or other) juice and water until you reach 32oz or 4 cups.
- Drink often immediately before, during or after you high intensity workout or hour+ long ride, run or workout!
- Keep any remaining portion in the fridge for up to two weeks.
