making own energy drinks - ingredients

redvision

i think i have seen a thread on here sometime ago on how to make your own energy drinks but cant find it.

does anyone have any good recipes?

will it work out cheaper than buying energy drink mixes / powders?

furrag

Much cheaper. I got £297 worth for £55 raw stock, gratis to JibberJim.

http://jibbering.com/sports/

danowat

Squash + Sugar + Salt

navrig

Good idea.

Worth considering picking up any roadkill you pass on the way home too?

bluesparx

I actually work in the soft drinks industry and would never buy energy drinks, mainly because the are overpriced and too acidic for my stomach and carbonated ones are no good for you at all. The above poster is right in that they are more or less sugar and water with a few vitamins and salts (not table salt) to make them isotonic (quicker absorption) and although a great deal of research goes into producing a peak performing product, Robinsons orange squash will do 95% of the job. Or buy some glucose tablets and stick to plain water.

redvision

so ive just found these recipes on the bbc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/health_ ... 289704.stm

would these seriously be as good as high 5 stuff or equivalent?

Rouge Penguin

I've been told the same thing for years. Squash or fresh juice, pinch of salt and water is as good as the loserades etc. At £1.20 in most places, its getting stupid too

Its all just sugars/salts and good old H20 mostly, plus the marketing gimics. Its only rehydration though, recovery is a different matter.

If youre at home, the juice and salt is much better with fizzy water. Not ideal in a drinks bottle though.

meanredspider

I have seen the squash and water recipe but the salt is a "special" sort the name of which escapes me - has a better range of minerals in it. It's in the book at home - will look.

Gav888

Bought some Maltrodexrin last night for my DIY drinks, works out very cheap considering how many drinks 5kg of it makes!

wall17

when riding only have water.

everyone i no swears buy it

Headhuunter

bluesparx wrote:

I actually work in the soft drinks industry and would never buy energy drinks, mainly because the are overpriced and too acidic for my stomach and carbonated ones are no good for you at all. The above poster is right in that they are more or less sugar and water with a few vitamins and salts (not table salt) to make them isotonic (quicker absorption) and although a great deal of research goes into producing a peak performing product, Robinsons orange squash will do 95% of the job. Or buy some glucose tablets and stick to plain water.

Or more specifically, sports drinks are basically maltodextrin (and water), if I remember what I've read before, maltodextrin is a complex sugar and your body can absorb far more of it more quickly than simple granulated sugar from a packet. I buy packs of maltodextrin from myprotein which I mix with electrolyte salts if it's a hot day and sometimes protein powder in the hope that my body doesn't begin to break down muscle to access BCAA compounds during an extreme ride.

I think squash and sugar will be fine for a relatively short, low intensity ride but if you're out on a fast club ride, proper stuff helps.

BikingBecky

Hi - to make up an "isotonic" drink you could try the following depending on your taste. These are isotonic solutions in the main, which means they are similar thickness as your blood. Means 'water' shouldn't leach essential electrolytes from your body like pure water can. Here's some quick suggestions:

40-80g sucrose
1 litre warm water
1-1.5g salt (optional)
Sugar free / low calorie squash for flavouring (optional)

or

200 ml fruit squash
800 ml water
1-1.5g salt (optional)

or

500 ml fruit juice
500 ml water
1-1.5g salt (optional)

Have a great weekend!

Becky

mousetoo

You can buy Dioralyte over the counter at Boots - it is a sachet mix of salt and sugar which you add to water. It is used in the treatment of dehydration and is great for effective rehydration - that with some added sugar is an ideal energy drink (and is a greatr hangover cure too)

jibberjim

BikingBecky wrote:

Hi - to make up an "isotonic" drink you could try the following depending on your taste. These are isotonic solutions in the main, which means they are similar thickness as your blood. Means 'water' shouldn't leach essential electrolytes from your body like pure water can. Here's some quick suggestions:

40-80g sucrose
1 litre warm water
1-1.5g salt (optional)
Sugar free / low calorie squash for flavouring (optional)

Not sure how something with anywhere between 40grams of sugar and 80 grams could be the same osmoality as your blood - the difference in the drink there is huge. Equally just adding more and more sodium to replace a range of electrolytes isn't quite the same. At least use lo-salt which will have a little more. You're unlikely to need salt in general though, and certainly no reason to link it to your fueling requirements.

Also there's little sense using an artificially sweetened squash in an energy drink and then adding sugar to it, just use a full sugar squash and less sugar! Not that artificial sweeteners are necessarily bad for you, but few people are going to want to drink anything that sweet!

I'd also really recommend people try maltodextrin or other more complex sugar instead of sucrose, it's a lot less sweet tasting and generally more palatable for a long ride.

Gav888

Headhuunter wrote:

Or more specifically, sports drinks are basically maltodextrin (and water), if I remember what I've read before, maltodextrin is a complex sugar and your body can absorb far more of it more quickly than simple granulated sugar from a packet. I buy packs of maltodextrin from myprotein which I mix with electrolyte salts. .

+1