Homemade Sports Drinks Recipes Anyone

I hate gatorade! Yuck! That goes for most of the other ready made sports drinks.
I've been making my own mixture of a little OJ or any other fruit juice I have on hand (mainly for taste), a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar and fill my bottle with water.
Does that sound like a reasonable drink for riding? Does anyone have any other recipes that might be better?

this might sound discusting to some but try blendering silken tofu with fruits you like or you can even make your own flavor like chocolate or vanilla. I saw this at good eats. by the way decide on how much silken tofu you like.

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Chi

tofu is mostly protein, isn't it? i'm looking for energy from carbs and to replace minerals from sweating.

I've been doing it for years. I started by diluting the juice, later added the salt. It was my own idea, but I've heard many others do it.

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Kan Ya Ma Kan...

I also use orange juice with salt but I try not to make the mixture sweet or salty, because it will make you even more thirsty.

If you want you can buy energy juice drink in powder form and mix them with cold water. it tastes better and cost lesser than gatorade. <- look for caffeine free

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Chi

Posted last week by member "TiMan":

This is the Sports drink I used as a Cat 1 racer. Got the formula from Lemond.

JET FUEL !!!! please read on.....

Most sports drinks have fructose as the first ingredient. This Carb is a poor choice for on the bike fuel because it does not have a carrier molecule to carry it across the intestinal wall and into the blood stream. It enter the blood via passive diffusion which is slowish. Then it has to go to the liver to be converted to the only carb the body can use(GLUCOSE).
Fructose is used because it is cheap, has a long shelf life and it tastes good.

Sucrose(table sugar) is actually a better choice than fructose as this sugar converts to 50% glucose and 50% fructose in the gut.

Maltodextrane is good as it is a chain of glucose molecule but it is slower to assimilate than dextrose(simple glucose)....and it's more expensive as well.

GLUCOSE is by far the better choice. It delivers immediate energy as it enters the blood stream very rapidly with the help of a carrier molecule.....it also carries water and sodium across with it so it really helps with hydration.

Try this very cheap and very effective sports drink. Buy a set of measuring spoons first.
CHEAP....like 20 cents per bottle!!!

Buy DEXTROSE(glucose) in bulk at a wine brewing store or health food store. Mix one level measuring teaspoon of dextrose per every 2 onces of water. That's about 12 level measuing teaspoons per regular large water bottle. This gives you a 6% carb solution made of pure glucose. By the way all sugars be they fructose, sucrose, glucose etc give 4 grams of carbs per level measuring teaspoon.

* You don't want more than 6-8% carb solution as a higher carb percentage will hinder water absorption and it can also make you feel sick....so no soda's(12% carb).....leave the soda's for after the ride.

To this mix in about 1/4 teaspoon of sodium(table salt) and about 1/16 teaspoon of postassium choride. The potassium can be bought at a health food store or simply buy Nu-salt at the grocery store.

This sports drink doesn't taste very sweet as glucose isn't that sweet but it tastes just fine. Not only is this drink cheap but it works much better...way faster...and this is what you want during training and racing. Leave the fructose for post workout carb intake.

Be careful ! Even though Glucose is indeed exactly the carb you need (In fact most other carbs either decompose into Glucose or get converted to Glucose), your body cannot tolerate excess Glucose in your blood, and reacts with Insulin secretion, which in turn results with a drop in your blood Glucose level. You may feel "high" and energetic for several minutes, then experience a great fall and fatigue.
So, either you consume the exact amount of Glucose required (which is almost impossible to know), or you mix you Glucose with some complex carb which easily decomposes into Glucose. Thus, you get some immediate Glucose absorption with additional delayed absorption.
Such complex carb is Maltodextrine, which is (roughly speaking) partially decomposed Starch. This is why good sports drinks contain both.

Such home made mixtures seem cumbersome to me. Either I'd buy the good drink, or make the simple one myself - well diluted Orange or Apple juice with some salt.

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Kan Ya Ma Kan...

A diet and physical activity prof at my Uni told us that flat, diluted coke with a bit of salt added is pretty good. Sounds sick though.