According to PepsiCo’s website, 49% of Pepsi’s entire company sales are for sports drinks. These drinks are aggressively and successfully marketed to our kids by their favorite athletes. The marketing message is that we need to replace electrolytes (which are basically salts) after exercise. However, the ingredients used to make them are typical of large food corporations who are not interested in the health of their customers, but rather in profits and shelf-life. These products receive an “F” grade from Foodfacts.com, a website that grades packaged food products and provides references for their ingredients. Below are the ingredients for two of the popular sports drinks, taken from the makers’ websites:

Ingredients for PepsiCo’s Orange Gatorade:
Water, Sugar, Dextrose, Citric Acid, Salt, Sodium Citrate, Monopotassium Phosphate, Gum Arabic, Natural Flavor, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Glycerol Ester of Rosin, Yellow #6.

Ingredients for Coca-Cola’s Lemon-Lime PowerAde:
Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Less Than 0.5% Of: Citric Acid, Salt And Mono-Potassium Phosphate And Magnesium Chloride And Calcium Chloride (Electrolyte Sources), Gum Acacia, Natural Flavors, Glycerol Ester Of Rosin, Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide), Yellow 5, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin), Ascorbic Acid (To Protect Taste), Calcium Disodium Edta (To Protect Color).

Sounds like a science experiment! These drinks might have (inferior chemically-sourced) electrolytes, but they also have a large quantity of sugar. Fortunately, we can make a healthy sports drink with ingredients from our own kitchens for our kids. Below are 2 of our favorites. We like to use honey for our sweetener and Himalayan pink sea salt for our “electrolytes”. The possibilities are endless!

If your kids take awhile to adjust to the switch, that’s ok – keep trying! Soon, they won’t want to drink the store-bought versions ever again! They won’t like the way it makes them feel.

Lemon-Lime Upgraded Gatorade:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 c. coconut water (or just plain water)
½ c. water
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. honey
½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
pinch of Himalayan sea salt

Strawberry Citrus Upgraded Gatorade:
Juice of 1 grapefruit
1 Tbs. lemon juice
6 whole strawberries
1 c. coconut water (or just plain water)
½ c. water
2 tsp. honey
½ tsp. apple cider vinegar
pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend. Taste and adjust flavors to your preference.