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I found these alternatives to “Gatorade” at http://www.davidhays.net/running/sportsdrink.html. Good for rehydration after workouts and much less expensive.
Homemade Sports Drink
Gatorade (tm) has worked hard to come up with what they feel is a good balance of carbohydrates and electrolytes for extended physical activity. Most researchers agree that the optimal concentration of carbohydrates in a sports drink is about 6%. This concentration actually allows the water to be absorbed more quickly in the body than plain water alone. Gatorade has a formulation that gives the following for an 8oz serving: 14grams Carbohydrate (5.9%) 110 mg Sodium 30mg Potassium 52 calories
Assuming that is a pretty good formula, we can get close by using one of the following recipes:
Recipe #1
10 tbs. sugar
(5/8 cups or 120 grams)
The recipe will give a total of 124 grams of solute which in 2 liters water gives a total of 6.2% concentration. For an 8 oz serving this gives: 14.2 grams carbohydrate (6%) 53 calories 103 mg Sodium 121 mg Potassium
You'll notice that the amount of potassium is quite a bit higher than Gatorade, but the rest is pretty close. If you wanted to reduce the potassium, another option would be to use 1/2 tsp. each of regular salt and the Morton Lite Salt. This would change it to: 104mg sodium 40mg potassium
Recipe #2
If you wanted to reduce the amount of potassium, or simply didn't want to buy some Morton Lite Salt, here is another option.
1/2 cup orange
juice
This gives, per an 8 oz serving: 14.4 grams carb (6.1%) 104 mg sodium 28.4 mg Potassium
Coach Jorge recommends for the most complete after workout rehydration/replacement drink add whey protein, either by adding directly to your drink, or with a protein bar.
REMINDER:
**Gatorade and other sports drinks are fairly high in sodium. Limit drinking them to only after working out. Drink plenty of plain water throughout the day.
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