This DIY formula will help you hit refresh on how your sport drink can serve you.
Jump to RecipeIf you’re in Front Range Colorado right now, it’s hard to ignore the swirling pollen, the bursting flowers, the parched dust on the trails – and the feeling your skin gets after spending a concentrated amount of time moving over them; sun-kissed and almost tender. Summer is HERE – no question.
Summer is the season of pitta, the season of transformation where all of the hard work of regenerating, restoring and building that nature has done over the winter bursts forth and undergoes metamorphosis. In our bodies, too, all of the rest and regeneration we welcomed in the winter months, the cumulation and building attention we put in through the kapha spring, now bursts forth and we evolve into the hard hitting, fun loving, adventure seeking, high-energy beings we’ve been dreaming of being since the last leaves fell last fall.
But just the desire to move, shake and do is not sufficient to support our endeavors. We need fuel. And, we need moisture…but more specifically we need ELECTROLYTES. Simply drinking water will NOT do.
And that’s where this Essential Electrolyte Flavor-Ade comes in. This recipe is based off a tried and true Ayurvedic formula, originally designed for patients undergoing panchakarma to rehydrate their bodies after svedana (or sweat therapies.) This same recipe has come in very handy over the past couple of years for my athlete clients who find themselves consistently find themselves experiencing flavor-fatigue from too-sweet sport drinks, clients who experience digestive distress or gut rot during races and endurance efforts, everyday humans who just want something delicious to drink that will help them tame the summer heat and it’s effect on their bodies AND even clients in Europe who find if difficult to source straight forward electrolyte drinks for their training and racing. For all of these folx, and many many more, Flavor-Ade has come to the rescue.
This recipe got it’s name from the Six Flavored ingredients that make it not only rehydrating, but also deeply balancing on a cellular level. While electrolytes are the focus here, the side benefit of having such simple pantry ingredients in your electrolyte drink is a significantly reduced risk of digestive distress, boosted metabolism and metabolic function during exercise, which equates with improved assimilation, recovery and more. All this from some spices and salt? YES.
No. No it’s absolutely not when it comes to rehydration.
The reason water, or pure coconut water, isn’t a substantial electrolyte drink is that these liquids don’t have all of the trace minerals and electrolytes that exit the body WITH the sweat. Sodium, is the most important. If we don’t put those minerals and electrolytes back in, stuff starts happening in the body that we won’t find to be pleasant. Things like digestive distress, brain fog, cramps, and difficulty keeping our body temperature, heart rate and respiration rate in check. Lacking electrolytes also leads to dehydration or hyponatremia because the electrolytes ARE the molecules responsible for keeping our body’s hydration levels in check. These are all symptoms that aren’t great if you’re a regular human and they’re even less appealing if you’re an athlete out pushing your body to it’s limits.
So for those of you wondering why your performance is lacking, digestion is off, sleep and recovery are poor….but you’ve only been drinking water when you run/ride/hike etc….now you have your answer.
If you’ve been following along now, you know that your “workout” isn’t the only factor threatening to deplete your matchbox – your vitality or ojas in Ayurveda. And by this same wisdom, sweating through sport isn’t the only activity that stands to dehydrate you or diminish your electrolyte balance. Anything that makes you sweat will cause a loss of electrolytes, the minerals responsible for maintaining electrical neutrality in cells, regulating muscle contractions, and generating and conducting action potentials in nerves and muscles. Electrolytes also help balance the amount of water in your body, balance your body’s acid/base (pH) level, and move nutrients into your cells.
When we sweat, these minerals leach out through our pores. This is why salt is sweaty, and why our sweat can leave stains on our clothes. And, while it IS important that we put the water lost back in, it’s absolutely critical that we put these minerals lost back in with it.
Yes there ARE sports products out there – especially here in the United States. A couple of my favorite electrolyte replacement drinks are the Ginger Maple Aide from Untapped Maple and Skratch Labs Hydration Sport Mix as well as their Hydration Everyday Mix . But there are far more products out there that have long lists of unpronounceable ingredients, non-food fillers, and highly refined calorie-free sweetners that sabotage your gut health. No thanks.
But this recipe goes a bit further in the way it supports bodies in motion. How is it special?
Absolutely you can. True, it’s a bit more of a hassle to batch up this greater-ade than it is to add a powder to a bottle, but from an electrolyte perspective there are so many reasons to consider this strategy.
If you do choose to use this drink for sport, it’s important to consider the sodium content. One batch of this electrolyte drink contains about 1 tsp flaky sea salt which contains about 580mg of sodium. The average human being loses between 200-2000mg per hour, and the sodium content already included in the recipe might be plenty for your system! But then again, you might need a bit more.
If this is you, or if you notice salt stains on your clothing after a long effort, chances are you’re not optimizing your sodium intake and should add more. Start with 1/4 tsp and see how that serves you, working your way up if need be. It’s worth noting that you can now take a home sodium sweat test that will help you to determine how much sweat you lose each hour, which can help you to determine how many milligrams of sodium your electrolyte drink must have.
In a sport capacity, I feel that this drink is most supportive of shorter efforts in the heat where you won’t need to replenish your bottle during the effort, and also very long efforts where you are relying on a support crew to help you replenish and refuel. In these instances, receiving a bottle of Greater-Ade would be a godsend, especially if you’re experiencing digestive distress during your effort or race.
…may look unassuming and maybe even boring in comparison to other recipes on this site. But it’s pretty damn brilliant, and pretty essential to our lives as active folx.
And, it contains spices. Cumin and nutmeg, honestly, which is a flavor combination I LOVE and have grown to crave after a long, hot day. But it also might not be for everyone (my husband included.) If you’re of the mind that spices do not belong in your electrolyte drink, no judgement here – simply omit them, and proceed with the lime, maple and minerals. But if you’re down to clown, you’ll get to reap the benefits of a tummy settler, a digestive distress banisher, and a yummy, unique way of beating the dehydration blues.
Lastly, it couldn’t get any easier. Everything you need to make your own electrolyte drink is *probably* in your pantry or fridge right now. And the flavor combination is so delicious, so grounding, so soothing. I’m actually sipping a glass as I type to rehydrate, ground and settle my system after a long, hot active day.
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