How to Make Your Own All-Natural Sports Drink

Back in my marathon-training days, I used to go through a lot of Gatorade. Like, a lot. But never once did it dawn on me to make my own.
FACE PALM.
It is so darn easy to make your own sports drink. It takes little time, you can make as much or as little as you want, it’s all-natural and it’s a whole heck of a lot cheaper than the stuff on the shelf. Not to mention that’s it’s pretty darn tasty, too!
In fact, we got this Cranberry Sports Drink Recipe from Pure Canadian Maple Syrup, and it’s so great that, gosh, I kind of want to train for another marathon just to make up for all that lost all-natural-sports-drink-making time!
 

Cranberry Sports Drink Recipe

This all-natural homemade energy drink provides a great tasting mix of carbohydrates to fuel your muscles. It also contains electrolytes (sodium and potassium) to help replace what your body loses through sweat. The added bonus is what it doesn’t contain — artificial flavors, colorings and preservatives found in many commercially prepared energy drinks. Woot!
Yield: 4 16-ounce servings
Per serving: 114 calories; 0 g protein; 0 g fat; 30 g carbohydrates; 0 g fiber
Ingredients
3 cups unsweetened cranberry juice (100 percent juice)
5 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 star anise, optional
Directions
1. Mix together all the ingredients. If using star anise, leave to infuse for one hour then strain. Refrigerate.
Have you ever made your own sports drink at home? What’s in your fave sports drink recipe? —Jenn