Guest Author - Lili Pintea-Reed

In the heat of summer many people need to drink not only water, but supplement and hydrate with sports drinks. While we can debate endlessly over whether they are really necessary, many people would never drink enough fluids in the heat if it was not for sports drinks. They crave the sugar and flavor to make drinking enough water in the heat possible. Children and older people are especially prone to not drinking enough fluids in the heat.

All they consist of is water, fruit flavoring, salt, sugar, and a bit of baking soda. The recipe below demonstrates this by using a commercial fruit flavor drink packet, water, sugar and a bit of salt and soda.

Basic Sport Drink Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 package unsweetened fruit drink mix (flavoraide, koolaide, etc.)
2/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 quarts of water

Directions:
Dissolve the salt and soda in a cup of the water. Put in mixing vessel. Add the flavor mix, sugar and the rest of the water. Mix thoroughly.

Great! Now you have a sport drink for just pennies a cup!

If you just want to get some salt and soda in water without the flavoring use the recipe below.

Plain Electrolyte Water Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup of water
a pinch of salt
a pinch of baking soda
2 teaspoons of sugar

Add dry ingredients in a glass. Add water slowly and stir well. This will rehydrate and add minerals. You can also use this to rehydrate people or pets who are dehydrated from heat or stomach complaints.

Here is a link to the Symptoms of dehydration:
http://www.medicinenet.com/dehydration/article.htm


Here is a link to the Symptoms of Heat Exhaustion:
http://www.medicinenet.com/heat_exhaustion/article.htm

These will give you an idea if you or a loved one is suffering from either condition and has suggestions about what to do. Stay cool, and keep out of the heat if you can!