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3 Homemade Electrolyte Drinks for Better Fueling

By Amanda M. Faison, Outside, 09/19/19, 2:15PM PDT

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Making your own delicious performance beverage is as cheap as it is easy

Since Gatorade helped popularize sports drinks in the mid-sixties, companies have concocted an assortment of beverages to help athletes replenish electrolytes and carbohydrates. While many of the drinks succeed at that main goal, they’re often loaded with dyes, sugar, and additives. Kevin Sprouse, a sports-medicine physician based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and head of medicine for the EF Education First Pro Cycling Team, bristles at the idea of an athlete fueling with poor-quality food and drink. “It seems illogical to me that someone would engage in an activity for their overall health but fill the body with unnatural chemicals,” he says.

One alternative to these highly processed beverages is to craft your own. It only takes a few minutes and simple ingredients. We asked some experts and athletes for their favorite go-to drinks that are rich in hydrating nutrients and restorative ingredients and a cinch to make.