Michael works outside all the time, and in the heat I wonder if he's drinking enough fluids. Gator*de and other such sport/electrolyte replacement drinks are rather expensive, AND full of nasty high fructose corn syrup, so I recently did a little research and came up with this recipe, which Michael likes a lot better than Gator*de.
2 cups water
2 cups 100% fruit juice (any flavor you like - recently we've used Juicy Juice Kiwi Strawberry)
1/4 tsp salt (important to replace electrolytes in the heat)
I personally reuse 32 oz containers, and I pour the water in, add the salt, shake to dissolve and then add the juice. A 12 oz can of concentrate or a 46 oz bottle of juice makes 3 32-oz containers. Perfect!! Make sure you store them in the fridge.
IF you spent $2.29 on a bottle of juice, it works out to around 76 cents per 32 oz bottle. But if cost is your primary concern, you should be able to get your juice quite a bit cheaper than that.
Also, I just did the nutrition breakdown. Per 8-oz serving (4 in a 32 oz bottle), Gator*de Rain in Berry Flavor has 50 cal, 110 mg sodium, 30 mg potassium, 14g carbs (14g sugars) and that sugar is all from HFCS! And no vitamins. My recipe, using Juicy Juice Kiwi Strawberry, per 8oz serving (still 4 in a 32 oz bottle) has 60 calories, 158mg sodium, 120mg potassium, 14.5g carbs (12g sugars) (naturally occuring fruit sugars) and 60% of the RDA of vitamin C.
Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more helpful tips!
8 comments:
GREAT alternative..and sounds yummy!!!! My son Dan is a volunteer firefighter/emt. They have had calls for heat stroke victims. When the person was asked, were you getting plenty to drink while you were out here mowing lawns all day in the heat, they replied, 'Oh yes, I have been drinking Coke all day'. In the EMT training, they learned that 'sugared ANYTHING!!!'
is the worse for the heat. This is a great time of year to remind big AND little people to drink lots of water and/or non-sweetened fruit juice. Thanks for the 'recipe' :)
(We freeze Juicy Juice in Dixie cups for the grandkids' 'popcicles' too.)
Thanks for the summer drink recipe.
Shelley
That sounds awesome! And way less calorie-ridden, I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the recipe!
have to give that a try with hubby - thanks!
My tween and teen boys have been playing baseball every night in this 106 degree Arizona heat. I am so worried about them and about all the sugar they consume in their gatorade everyday. Thank you so much for this alternative!
Hey, thanks! Nate works outside quite a bit; I'll have to try this on him.
Great idea.. My husband spends a fortune on all these sports drinks.. grrrrrrrrrrr lol I will try this.. Thanks for posting!
Here's another tip. Most of the thicker PET water bottles, such as Aquafina or club soda, can be frozen and reused quite a few times without rupturing. In fact, I've been doing this for years and have never had one rupture. It helps to to not completely fill it to leave some expansion room. Getting one to thaw out on a short run won't happen unless you partially thaw it under the hot tap first, but I'm primarily a hiker and usually by the time I'm close to the half-way point I've got a pretty good natural Slushee going.
John Reece
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