Sports Drinks, Energy Drinks, and Juices
Making juice from scratch allows you to drink your nutrients in the freshest way possible. Our recipes are mostly fruit and vegetable blends, but if you are trying to lose weight, always use more vegetables than fruit. If you enjoy having a glass of juice as part of a healthy morning routine, we recommend investing in a high-performance blender so you include fiber (the skins and seeds). Fiber found in nature’s plants has many benefits. It slows down the release of sugar into the bloodstream and helps provide stable energy levels. Using a juicer is great, too. We try to keep the skins from the back of the juicer and add them to muffins. They’re so tasty!
We recommend limiting commercial energy drinks and sports drinks because they contain some artificial and synthetic ingredients that may leave you more drained than energized. Try our natural drinks for real energy and natural hydration. No bogus claims and no crash afterward. It’s worth the few extra minutes spent in the kitchen.
Chocolate Raspberry Energy Shake
◁ Beet the Competition
Beets are an endurance athlete’s best friend because they have been shown to increase oxygen and blood flow to the muscles, helping to increase athletic performance. Sports-nutrition supplement companies have created powders and concentrated juice shot supplements to market to athletes. We think you get the greatest benefit from consuming beets fresh from the ground. Can’t beet ’em.
1 medium beet
1 carrot
1/4 lemon, peeled
2 celery stalks
2 teaspoons (4 g) fresh ginger, chopped
Juice all ingredients in a juicer, or place them in a high performance blender and blend until smooth.
Servings: 2
Notes: Add 1/2 cup (118 ml) water if using a blender.
DID YOU KNOW? Beets are naturally packed with nitrates. The body converts nitrates to nitric oxide, which helps with blood flow. Some elite athletes drink fresh beet juice before an intense workout or competition. About 2 cups (500 ml) is the ideal amount. Other good sources of nitrates are spinach, celery, radishes, lettuce, and Chinese cabbage. Cooking dampens some of the nitrates, so eating the vegetables raw is best.
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This recipe is a great replacement for pasteurized beet juice or nitric oxide supplements.
Chocolate Raspberry Energy Shake
Supplement companies love marketing to athletes, who are always hungry for an extra boost. Some companies claim their energy shots are equal to consuming vegetables. Sorry, we’re not buying it. The ingredients are synthetic, counterproductive, and can even block the absorption of electrolytes and nutrients. Try this shot when you need a real energy boost.
2 tablespoons (10 g) raw cacao powder
1 teaspoon green coffee bean powder or matcha powder
1 cup (235 ml) water
1/2 cup (75 g) frozen raspberries
3 drops ginseng
1 tablespoon (20 g) pure maple syrup
Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Servings: 2
DID YOU KNOW? Green coffee bean powder is made from unroasted young coffee beans, which have more antioxidants and more energy-providing nutrients than roasted coffee beans.
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This recipe is a great replacement for energy shots and energy drinks—and coffee.
Lemon~Lime Quencher
It’s important to drink liquids to hydrate, but most conventional sports drinks have food dyes, additives, and lots of sugar. Too much sugar can lead to gastrointestinal distress while training. Conventional sports nutrition wisdom says that sports drinks should have 6 to 8 percent sugar but some emerging research has shown that 4 to 5 percent is optimal.
3 cups (750 ml) water
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons (40 g) pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink sea salt
Combine all ingredients in a 24-ounce (710 ml) water bottle and shake vigorously.
Servings: 2
Notes: To hydrate properly and avoid cramping, it is important to use a high-quality sea salt. Sea salt has trace minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride and electrolytes that your body needs to replenish itself.
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This recipe is a great replacement for traditional sports drinks.
◁ Anything but Sapped
Mother Nature is the best chemist and this nutrient-rich refresher taps into that natural power. Combining two incredible hydrators, this high-electrolyte drink helps prevent dehydration and fatigue. If you’re feeling dehydrated, add a pinch of sea salt to replace excess sodium loss.
1 cup (154 g) of seedless watermelon
1/2 cup (160 g) maple water
1/2 cup (115 g) ice
6 leaves fresh mint
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Servings: 2
Notes: Kate and her triathlon training partner Jeff Rose are cofounders of DRINKmaple, a maple water company based in Concord, Massachusetts. Check out drinkmaple.com.
DID YOU KNOW? Maple water is the sap that comes straight from maple trees. Traditionally, this sap is boiled down to make maple syrup. Maple sap has a waterlike consistency and is a natural hydration drink. It contains minerals, polyphenols, and antioxidants. The sugar is naturally created from the photosynthesis of the tree. Surprisingly, the sugar content is very low, about half the amount of sugar in coconut water.
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This recipe is a great replacement for traditional sports drinks and flavored coconut water.
◁ ACK Fresh Just Greens
We fell in love with this green juice from ACK Fresh on Nantucket Island because it is just greens without any fruit, making it lower in sugar than most juices. Green juices are packed with chlorophyll, which makes them great natural energizers. Try green juice in place of your energy drink for a pick me up. If you ever make a trip to Nantucket, stop by ACK Fresh and thank them for sharing this recipe or visit ackfresh.com.
1cucumber
4 stalks celery
2 dandelion leaves
1/2 head of fennel
2 tablespoons (2 g) cilantro
1/2 lime, peeled
Juice all ingredients in a juicer or place them in a high-performance blender until smooth.
Servings: 2
DID YOU KNOW? Dandelion greens aren’t just the weeds that grow on your lawn; they are nutrient-rich greens. They have a bitter taste, so go easy on the amount you use until your taste adapts. A good source of iron, calcium, and vitamin C, dandelion greens are known for being a powerful detoxifier by stimulating the liver and helping to remove toxins.
“I’m probably the only person in the world that enjoys the taste of dandelions.”—Kate
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This recipe is a great replacement for juice, coffee, or energy drinks.
Pucker Up Shots
You’ll either love them or hate them. There’s no middle ground here. But you may just warm up to our pickle juice and lemon shots when you find out how efficient they are as a pre-, during, or postworkout elixir for preventing muscle cramps. Who’s in?
2 ounces (60 ml) pickle juice
Juice of 1 lemon
With your favorite 1-ounce (28 ml) shot glass, measure 2 shots of pickle juice and put them into a mason jar with a secure lid.
Add the lemon juice and shake well.
To serve, pour into 2 small glasses or shot glasses. Down the hatch!
Servings: 2 (or 1 serving for a “salty sweater”)
Notes: Athletes who sweat a lot during exercise, also known as “salty sweaters,” may suffer from muscle cramps due to dehydration and the loss of electrolytes. Pickle juice helps replenish the sodium efficiently. If it’s not practical to drink a Pucker Up during a long event or race, try having a shot about 30 to 45 minutes before you start. The shots may help right after a long endurance event, too.
DID YOU KNOW? Not all pickles are created equal. Be sure to read the ingredient labels and look for varieties without added sugar, food dyes, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
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This is a great replacement for sports drinks or powdered electrolyte mixes.
Sporty Spa Cubes
Water can be boring, but not drinking it makes it hard to keep up with hydration goals for optimal performance. These zesty ice cubes can be made with anything you have in the refrigerator that will add flavor. Fancy enough to dress up your water, but not so fancy that they require much effort.
1 ice cube tray (larger squares or fun shapes preferred)
1 cup (96 g) fresh mint, finely chopped
1 cucumber, coarsely chopped
1 lemon, zest first and then coarsely chopped
Water
Mix mint, cucumber, lemon, and lemon zest together.
Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the ice cube squares. Add water slowly to fill trays. Freeze.
Servings: 4 to 6
Notes: Some of our other favorite combinations are strawberries with mint, lime with basil and cucumber, and Meyer lemon with raspberries.
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This recipe is a great replacement for plain water or bottled flavored water.