Training & Nutrition - Anyone have an electrolyte drink recipe?

Anyone have a favorite, homemade electrolyte drink recipe? I think I need a bit more sodium than normal; my skin is pretty salty after longer rides, and I tend to cramp up, even though my conditioning is pretty decent. I don't have much access to commercial products besides Gatorade. Any help is appreciated, thanks!! :D .

- RJ

One small scoop of frozen OJ for taste
A half teaspoon of baking soda
A few pinches of salt
A B12 vitamin tab (I'm vegetarian)
A Magnesium tab
Add fructose to taste

Leave it sit over night. Eat a banana before riding. Shake well

Here's a recipe for homemade sports drink from the www.roadbikerider.com web site:

"You won't believe how close this sports drink recipe is to a commercial product. It has 110 mg of sodium and 38 mg of potassium per 8-oz. serving. Cost is only about 30 cents per half gallon. Compare that to $3 for Gatorade! You can adjust the sweetness to taste. -- John R.

► 1 packet any flavor of unsweetened Kool-Aid or similar product for making 2 quarts
► 8 tablespoons sugar
► 3/8 teaspoon of salt
► 1/8 teaspoon salt substitute that contains potassium chloride
► 2 quarts of water"

A variety of homemade foods/drinks...

http://www.cptips.com/hmdesnk.htm

One small scoop of frozen OJ for taste
A half teaspoon of baking soda
A few pinches of salt
A B12 vitamin tab (I'm vegetarian)
A Magnesium tab
Add fructose to taste

Leave it sit over night. Eat a banana before riding. Shake well

Great ideas Losligato, SSP (John R.), and fujibike! I think I'll try them all, or maybe a combination with varying amounts. Quick question Losligato (or whoever else might know), what's the baking soda for?

- RJ

Quick question Losligato (or whoever else might know), what's the baking soda for?

- RJ
Not sure. I believe it has something to do with stomach ph and absorption of salty/sweet nutrients.

what's the baking soda for?
I've seen recommendations for eating baking soda, I think the reasoning was something like it helped reduce lactic acid by neutralizing the acid. I've also read that it's pretty much a debunked myth. Whether that's the intent of it's inclusion in the recipe, I dunno.

Just wondering if anyone here has tried the RBR recipe? I'm thinking about mixing up a couple of quarts, but would like to get y'alls opinion first. Thanks

Just wondering if anyone here has tried the RBR recipe? I'm thinking about mixing up a couple of quarts, but would like to get y'alls opinion first. Thanks

I've tried it several time, including earlier this week when I ran out of regular powdered Gatorade. It's not quite the same as regular Gatorade, but it's pretty darned close. The color depends on which KoolAid you use...the color is usually a little too "vivid" compared to Gatorade, and can look weird in a water bottle (think, fluorscent green). But, otherwise, it's OK.

thanks for the info. i was thinking of using the berry blue flavor, so it should be a interesting shade of bright blue when all is said and done.

Anyone ever try grinding up a multi-vitamin for the nutrients? I noticed that Accelerade, Enervit G, and Ultima all list potassium and magnesium as major ingredients besides sodium. My One-A-Days (from Wal-Mart) list 100mg of potassium (from potassium chloride), 120mg of magnesium (from magnesium oxide), 18mcg of B12, and 3mg of B6, along with a bunch of other stuff. How do you think this will work to fill the mineral portions of some of the recipes above?