Natural Electrolyte Replenishing Drink

With the temperatures rising well above 40C here in Cyprus during the summer, I find myself drinking a lot of water but also, losing a lot of it through sweating. Eventhough drinking a lot of water helps to keep me hydrated, a lot of the electrolytes that are lost due to excessive perspiration are not easily replaced by just drinking plain water.

So I prepare a simple and natural drink to replenish electrolytes during the hot summer days. I keep it on the kitchen counter to take a few sips throughout the day. I also take some of it with me when I am excersising, to help restore minerals during the time I lose most fluids and need the to keep my energy levels high.

The recipe is very simple and flexible, as the only necessary components of it are merely water and salt. The rest of the ingredients are optional so you could skip or replace them with other ingredients, however, they have a part to play in the taste and hydration potency of the drink.

Recipe:

1 glass of filtered water or peppermint tea for extra fresh taste

1/4 tsp of sea salt or himalayan salt (any high quality natural salt or a mix of different salts is great but NOT table salt) Salt is packed with minerals providing essential nutrients and helps balance the stress hormones during exercise.

1 glass of coconut water 

Coconut water has been rightfully named as the water of life, as it is packed with minerals, vitamins and is especially high in potassium, required for proper cell function

1/2 tsp raw honey

Honey provides energy to repair the body and helps keep cortisol levels low by balancing blood sugar levels during strenuous exercise.

1/2 lemon juice

Lemons are full of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants.

Any one or a combination of :

grated fresh ginger, slices of fruit, springs of fresh herbs, cucumber peels

Mix all ingredients until salt and honey dissolve.

Every once in a while I add some magnesium powder to the mixture, since most the magnesium is stripped off the filtered water we have at home.

As I said before, feel free to adjust the recipe and adapt it to your preferences. You can add any herbal tea you want or fresh fruit juice in place if the water.  Also you can use coconut sugar, maple syrup or any other natural sweetener of your choice. Just make sure you use enough high quality salt and avoid using processed sugar as a sweetener.

Have a lovely summer!