Healthy Homemade Sports Drink Recipe
It’s no secret: sugar-laden sports drinks are not healthy. You don’t have to be a nutrition nut to realize that the high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, and artificial colors in those plastic bottles spell bad news. But it is important to stay hydrated during exercise, especially when you are losing salt and water through sweat.
This adaptogenic sports drink recipe relies on a few time-honored, healing ingredients to help your body adapt to the stress of exercise. It works to balance the harmful stress hormones that rise during anaerobic workouts to reduce the toll on your body. Here’s how it works:
Tulsi (Holy Basil)
Tulsi, also known as Holy Basil, is the star ingredient here. As an adaptogenic substance, it helps the body adapt to and handle stress. Russian scientist Brekhman first applied the title adaptogens in 1969 to certain plants that had the following properties:
1. An adaptogen must show a non-specific activity, i.e. an increase in power of resistance against physical, chemical or biological noxious agents
2. it must have a normalizing influence independent of the nature of the pathological state
3. it must be harmless and must not influence normal body functions more than required.
One recent study showed that adaptogenic plants increase attention, cognitive function and mental performance. One strain of adaptogenic ginseng has been shown to increase endurance. The study offers an explanation for the effectiveness of these herbs:
“The beneficial stress-protective effect of adaptogens is related to regulation of homeostasis via several mechanisms of action associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the control of key mediators of stress response”
Tulsi is also said to:
- Boost the immune system
- Support healthy thyroid function
- Support healthy adrenal function
- Improve sleep
As an adaptogen, tulsi makes an excellent choice for hydration while exercising because it can help the body adjust to the increased physical stress and may even increase endurance.
Here is the tulsi tea that I purchase and love.
Raw Honey
Raw honey is a healing superfood for many reasons, but I’ll just discuss a few here. Of course, source raw and preferably local honey. Regular pasteurized honey is stripped of its beneficial enzymes and medicinal properties and may even be cut with corn syrup.
Honey offers quick energy in the form of glucose. This recipe is low in sugar compared to traditional sports drinks, but provides some instant glucose replenishment.
As a side note, evidence suggests that honey, in comparison with sugar-free sweeteners and table sugar (sucrose) may improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. In another study, diabetic patients consuming honey had lower blood sugar than the diabetic patients consuming sucrose and dextrose.
Sea Salt
Like the honey, salt plays an important role of balancing the stress hormones during exercise. Salt reduces adrenaline levels and supports overall metabolic health.
But that’s not the only reason salt is such an important ingredient in this sports drink recipe. Here are some more benefits of salt:
- Sea salt supports healthy hydration by providing electrolytes and trace minerals
- Salt is a natural anti-histamine
- Salt has been shown to reduce blood cortisol levels and therefore it helps to suppress the damaging effects of cortisol
- Salt encourages insulin sensitivity and that means better blood sugar control. (A salt-restricted diet is shown to cause systemic insulin resistance.)
I recommend Real Salt – it’s packed with minerals and produced in the US.
Trace Mineral Drops
This is not an absolutely necessary ingredient in this sports drink recipe, but it does boost the electrolyte and nutrition content. I highly recommend investing in these trace mineral drops because a little goes a long way… you literally need only a few drops per serving.
Americans are generally deficient in trace minerals, as our soils are woefully depleted and because we eat very little sea vegetables. Many people find that supplementing with these drops just gives them a sense of vitality. Others report better sleep, reduced cravings,
The drops are just good stuff. Enough said. (Also, I’m tired of typing and I want to finally hit the “Publish” button on this post!)
- 8 cups filtered water
- 6 teaspoons loose tulsi tea, found here, OR 6 tea bags of it
- 2 Tbs. raw honey (or more to taste)
- Big pinch of unrefined salt such as Real Salt (adjust to taste)
- 15 drops trace minerals (approximately), optional but recommended
- Boil the water, add the tulsi tea and let it steep (off the heat and covered) for 10-20 minutes. Stain. Let it cool to room temperature before adding the honey to preserve the enzymes in the honey. Mix in salt and minerals to taste. It keeps in the fridge for probably a week. Sip it slowly during a workout.
Do you frequently drink sports drinks (homemade or purchased)? Have you used tulsi before?
Hi Lauren! I suffer from premature menopause (I’m 28) due to a genetic mutation. I’m currently on HRT, but interested in natural ways to keep my hormones balanced. Since I’m already deficient in estrogen, would Tulsi be safe for me? Thanks!!!!
Do you ever use juice instead of honey? I fresh press juice and would only add a little bit.
I think that would be delicious, although I’ve not tried it 🙂
Lauren, I’m so glad I found you! We are on the same track. I started drinking Tulsi with raw honey but I use the 4 Eternals in as well. I already use the minerals you suggest. And luckily I live in a state that allows the sale of raw milk and I can definitely tell difference in my gut. I love using coconut oil in making my own almond joy bars and peanut butter cups. Keep up the great work!!!
Thank you for your blog. I have adrenal fatigue and hypothyroid. I’ve done a number of things to recover, including sleep hygiene, changing my work shift from through-the-night (killer) to 2nd shift. I continue to eat real food (organic, grass-fed, no grain, make-from-scratch, bone broths, probiotics, fermented veggies, etc.) as I have done for years. After getting exhausted with the night shift, my cause-based doctor (simply excellent) recommended adding hydrocortisone to my regimen of dessicated thyroid. I can feel a huge negative difference if I forget to take a dose (which I do sometimes now that I am feeling a little better).
So, isn’t it counterproductive to try to reduce cortisol when I am deficient in it during my recovery? I don’t have too high cortisol – it is too low.
Hello Lauren,
After reading this article I’ve been looking up information on Tulsi and a lot of it appears to state that it can negatively affect fertility; are you aware of anything further on that subject? I was keen to try it, particularly to combat the damage from stress and poor adrenal function, however I am wary of using anything which could impact on the hormone balance issues I already have.
Thank you.
Is this okay to drink while nursing?
I have had multiple “problems” for decades and only recently started treating my thyroid and adrenals as both are severely compromised. I’m an insulin-dependent type 2 diabetic (insulin resistant) also. I had a magnesium deficiency and have mostly corrected that, but all of these issues eventually brought me to my knees, crippled me up and made it impossible to work. After reading the benefits of tulsi, I think it might be a good idea to add it to my daily regimen, even without the exercise (which I can’t do anyway due to extreme exhaustion). I don’t think the amount of sugar in the honey is enough to outweigh the benefits. I just wanted to know if you’re aware of anybody in a similar position that this helped and what do you think about my adding it to my arsenal (doctors have failed me horribly) since I’m forced to “fix” myself? Thanks!
I have been drinking the Tulsi tea with just honey added. I love the taste but am now finding that my teeth have become very, very sensitive. I looked up some info online & it said chewing Tulsi can damage tooth enamel but as tea it should be fine. I really want to drink it but this is definitely a problem for me. Any ideas?
I see that the recommendation is to “sip it slowly”. When I am on a long run, I sometimes drink as much as 64oz of fluid in the span of a 2 or 3 hours, so I was wondering if drinking this much pf the sacred basil tea is over-doing it. Also, can I use a liquid extract instead of boiling the fresh herb?
I was happy to see you mention the H.P.A. axis, because I had adrenal fatigue after my first marathon and it took me 22 months to recover.
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
What does stain mean in your procedures?
Strain.