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Homemade Electrolyte Drink (With Flavor Options)

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Homemade Electrolyte Drink (With Flavor Options)

Drinking enough pure clean water is one of the most important things we can do for overall health. In most cases, water alone is wonderful. When there’s hot weather or we’re exercising and sweating though we lose minerals through our sweat. A homemade electrolyte drink can help replenish minerals and remedy electrolyte imbalances.

Do We Really Need Electrolytes?

You may have heard that our bodies are 80% water, but they’re actually 80% salt water.

Plain water doesn’t have high levels of electrolytes. And our body loses a lot of minerals during exercise and hot weather. Adding electrolytes and minerals helps with rehydration after times of high-intensity exercise or lots of sweating. They’re also useful during times of illness if someone has vomiting or diarrhea to maintain fluid balance.

We need electrolytes to maintain healthy blood pressure, for our nervous system, and to prevent muscle cramps. They help move waste through the body and are overall necessary for every function! In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need supplements but electrolyte water and drinks can be very helpful for some.

My Cautionary Tale

This post could also be titled “How to avoid a big hospital charge for IV fluids while on vacation.” Hopefully, you can learn from my mistake on this one.

Years ago I went on vacation and spent days on the beach snorkeling, sailing, and scuba diving.

Normally, if I’m out in the sun I have my own homemade electrolyte drink with me, but this time I’d forgotten some of the ingredients. I figured I would just drink enough water, which worked fine until I had wine for dinner that night, coffee the next morning, and not enough water.

At that point, I noticed I was getting a headache. I started drinking water but the headache got worse and I also started having a rapid pulse, dizziness, and nausea. Even after drinking lots of water I still had dehydration and heat exhaustion symptoms.

This resulted in a trip to the international hospital to get fluids. After the most painful IV of my life with a 12-gauge needle, the fluids were in and I started to feel better!

After several hours of sitting in a hospital getting hydrated with IVs, I couldn’t help but think how much easier, cheaper, and less painful things would have been if I’d remembered my DIY electrolyte drink.

Why Not Regular Sports Electrolyte Drinks?

So why not just drink one of the many store-bought electrolyte drinks available (Gatorade, Powerade, etc.) these days?

Regular sports drinks contain lots of glucose, artificial flavors and colors, and not much nourishment.

I’m all for rehydrating, but are the preservatives, mystery flavors, and artificial dyes really necessary? I know from experience that these ingredients typically make me feel terrible and just aren’t worth it. Now when I need something more than water to hydrate I make my own version.

Natural Sports Electrolyte Drink Recipe

Coconut water is one of the simplest sports drink alternatives and can be used as is. It’s similar in structure to the fluid used in IV rehydration. For this reason, there are rumors it was used during the Pacific War as an IV electrolyte replacement. It makes a pretty good natural electrolyte drink on its own or with a splash of lime juice.

Coconut water is a great source of potassium and sodium and I even used it during labor. The only downside to coconut water is the price. If you want an inexpensive (yet still healthy and tasty) alternative, this recipe is the next best thing.

Homemade Electrolyte Drink Recipe

You can make this recipe in a variety of ways, but the ratios are the most important part. The base is any healthy liquid of choice and some good options are:

To turn the basic liquid into a sports drink, add some or all of these ingredients:

  • Salt – A high-quality salt adds sodium and other essential minerals. Table salt is pure sodium chloride and doesn’t have trace minerals, but Himalayan or sea salt are great options.
  • Calcium and Magnesium – Adding calcium magnesium powder helps replenish minerals.
  • Juice – Optional but adds sweetness and natural sugars if needed during exertion. Orange juice, lime juice, and fresh lemon juice are some of our favorites and add vitamin C and potassium.
  • Natural Flavors – Add natural flavors like fresh ginger, fresh herbs, or even natural-flavored stevia extracts

This recipe is naturally gluten-free and can easily be made low-carb by omitting the added juice.

Want to Buy it?

Looking for a quick way to have electrolytes on hand, especially during travel? These are my favorite no-junk electrolyte powder drinks.

  • LMNT – I’m a big fan of these flavored electrolyte powder that replaces vital electrolytes lost from sweating. They work amazingly on their own with just water and have different flavors like citrus, grapefruit, or watermelon.
  • Jigsaw Health Electrolyte Supreme – My favorite flavor is the Berry-licious.
homemade electrolyte drink

Homemade Electrolyte Drink Recipe

Save money and avoid artificial ingredients by making your own homemade natural sports drink recipe with electrolytes. There are endless options to make a flavor you love!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Calories 70kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

4 cups

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Brew tea if using, or slightly warm base liquid.
  • Add sea salt and calcium magnesium powder and mix.
  • Add juice and sweetener if using and mix or shake well. A mason jar works well for this.
  • Cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
  • This will last up to four days in the refrigerator, but I prefer to make it as needed.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Electrolyte Drink Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 70 Calories from Fat 5
% Daily Value*
Fat 0.5g1%
Saturated Fat 0.4g3%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.01g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.02g
Sodium 395mg17%
Potassium 620mg18%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 13g14%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 1IU0%
Vitamin C 28mg34%
Calcium 77mg8%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

  • My normal recipe includes 1 quart of tea (brewed with red raspberry leaf, alfalfa, nettle, and stevia), ¼ tsp sea salt, 1 tsp calcium magnesium powder, and ¼ cup grape or apple juice.
  • Another easy alternative is mixing vitamin C powder with water, salt, and a little juice.
  • The magnesium in this recipe is 27 mg per serving. Nutrition data was calculated using raw honey, coconut water, and grape juice. The exact nutrients will depend on which ingredients you use. 

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Scott Soerries, MD, Family Physician and Medical Director of SteadyMD. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.

What’s your favorite sports drink? Ever made your own?

This homemade natural electrolyte sports drink recipe is an alternative to store-bought drinks with artificial ingredients and provides vitamins and sodium.

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

214 responses to “Homemade Electrolyte Drink (With Flavor Options)”

  1. Melody Avatar
    Melody

    I tried this without warming the liquid And it was really good

  2. Denise Passero Avatar
    Denise Passero

    5 stars
    Doing this today. Prepping for a colonoscopy. They want me to drink Gatorade and I am sooooo not doing that. Glad I found it!!!!

  3. Julie Avatar

    Do you know how long this would keep in the fridge? If I made a batch up, could I save it for a few days or a week maybe to have some each day? Also does it need to be stored in a sealed container like your picture, or would a regular pitcher work? Thanks!

  4. Wanda Avatar

    5 stars
    My kiddos and I have fast renters, and in need of quality hydration. Plus, who wants to go out? I’m using natural calm, acerola powder for C, celtic grey sea salt, 2 c loose leaf tea and 2c fruit juice. I’ll top it off with water, to fill my 2 qt jar. Fingers crossed, cause I feel like heck! There’s only so much bone broth we can drink!! Thanks Katie!!

  5. Craig Avatar

    Amazing site! I’m an ironman distance triathlete looking for more natural hyrdation and fueling options. Right now I use coconut water for training but it is expensive. Just curious, you wouldn’t get any potassium out of this drink would you? If not what are your thoughts on that? Other than that, sounds like a great alternative!

    1. Wanda Avatar

      Hey Craig, if you use a little fruit juice you’ll get some potassium. Depending on the juice, maybe as much as 400 mg in a qt.

    2. Dom Avatar

      Hey Craig. I’m an amateur triathlete (very amateur!). Have you had chance to try this in training/racing? How did it work out? Hydration, especially on the bike, is my Achilles heel. And water on its own makes me feel terrible by the end of a race.

      1. Craig Avatar

        Hey Dom, I tried this but honestly couldn’t stand the taste. I liked in concept, but not in practice (sorry mama, i love everything you do!)

        I stick to NUUN tabs, vega sports hydrator, and coconut water for training. For racing I used a concentrated mix of Hammer Perpetuem and salt tabs. I think they are, in my amateur opinion, among the cleaner ready made options available.

        If you haven’t already done so, check out the Ben Greenfield podcast. Its literally changed my life! The guy is a genius! Has some great stuff on hydration among everything else. Hope its ok to drop that in the forum!

        Good luck!

        1. Dom Avatar

          Hi Craig

          Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I’ve made some this afternoon, and honestly I’m not sure I can drink it! I’ll perhaps have another go with a different formula.

          I’ve read a couple of Greenfield’s books, but he’s a little bit too motivated and enthusiastic for my liking.

          I’ll check what he has to say on hydration, though. Thanks for the tips.

  6. Melanie Avatar

    Thanks much for this. It’s well below zero, we don’t have a car, and hubby is sick. I was not wanting to walk even the short distance to the store to get gatoraide, but he needed something to help fend off dehydration. I used herbal tea (mostly for color), salt, and agave nectar.

  7. deb Avatar

    hi . this recipe would work great if i added a larger amount of magnesium citrate for a colon prep. But i dont know how much any ideas? I think the OTC in cvs has 1000mg per glass container. anyone else use the natural calm poweder for a colon prep. the OTC in cvs has saccharin in it bummer.
    thanks

  8. Bridy Avatar

    i find nothing boost my kids energy more when they are sick then sports drinks. However, I feel horrible giving them the the kids. So I thank you for this. I just made a batch of it for my son who is sick and feverish with Strep. He will probably drink it warm as it will help sooth his throat.

  9. Kristina Avatar

    I’m planning for upcoming birth of my first 🙂
    Can I use Natural Calm powder in this? Alternatively can I use magnesium and calcium tablets separately, and crush them? Thanks! Love your site!

  10. Emily Coutant Avatar
    Emily Coutant

    My question is about the green tea in this recipe. Can it be affective with decaf green tea or does it have to have caffeine? I ask because I can’t have caffeine. I am an exercise junkie, but I hate the sports drinks that are available. I have been looking for a natural alternative and this sounds great. I can’t wait to try it so a quick response would be appreciated. Thanks, Emily.

  11. Laura Avatar

    Could you please explain why monopotassium phosphate is a problem in store-bought gatorade?

  12. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    I got too much sun yesterday and now I’m suffering dehydration and sun sickness. All I have are calcium magnesium capsules with 1000mg of calcium and 500mg of magnesium each. Can I break them open to use and if so, how many should I use? Thanks so much.

    1. Katie - Wellness Mama Avatar

      I would think it would work, but I haven’t tried and I’m not sure on the taste… but you could just take whatever supplements you need and hydrate a lot with a little salt in your water

  13. Marci Avatar

    I’m surprised that you would recommend using Emergen-C since it contains those mystery natural flavors, and also maltodextrin and aspartic acid (both are neurotoxins).

    1. Jasmine Avatar

      I agree with you Marci! The ingredients look like this:

      [ Fructose, malic acid, citric acid, vegetable juice color, natural mixed berry flavors, maltodextrin, raspberry juice powder, silica, tartaric acid, caramel color, stevia (leaf extract), glycine, aspartic acid, and cysteine hydrochloride. ]

      There’s quite a few ingredients that are a no-no.

  14. Dan Rollins Avatar
    Dan Rollins

    5 stars
    Thank you for this post! My wife was pretty sick and we needed something like Gatorade but not poisonous 🙂 I was looking for what I had in the house to make your recipe and realized I could do it with 2 ingredients. We had Strawberry Zevia that can act as the base liquid AND the sweetener since it is a natural soda with Stevia. I mixed 2 12oz cans with 1/4 tsp of Himalayan Sea Salt and it was pretty dang good, my said it seemed to help. I am going to go mic up some Cal-Mag tablets from the coop to keep on hand for the next batch.

  15. Anna Avatar

    My husband and recently went hiking and we only brought straight water to drink, not a good idea! after a lot of research, I came up with my own rehydration drink recipe. No more water intoxication! It is similar but different!

  16. Vahram Avatar
    Vahram

    5 stars
    Hi,

    I came across your page when I was looking for a homemade electrolyte solution.

    Thank you for the recipe.

    FYI, there is no such thing as “Himalayan Sea Salt” as the Himalayas are a mountain range.

    I think what you are referring to is Himalayan PINK salt.

    Regards,

    VS

    1. Carol Avatar

      At one time, the Himalayas were an ocean floor: the Tethys Ocean, which was lost when the tectonic plates formed the mountain range.

  17. Cheyenne Shepard Avatar
    Cheyenne Shepard

    A lot of these look awesome..except that they contain one or more artificial sweetners (yes stevia is included) my roommate is allergic to all of them, cannot be in the same room with them..and I won’t risk his life over it. Maybe show with and without?

    1. Sarah J Avatar
      Sarah J

      Sweetner is simply for taste, if someone is allergic to sweetner then I’m sure they’re used to food and drink without them and won’t miss the sweet part.

  18. Cate Avatar

    The most important ingredient is the salt. Water can’t rehydrate you unless your salt reserves are high enough for the necessary electrolytes.

  19. Jessica Olejnik Avatar
    Jessica Olejnik

    I’ve been making my own sports drinks for quite some time. Im constantly altering them as I learn new tricks. I use 1/2 tsp liquid minerals (sea harvested), a pinch of magnesium powder (I dissolve it in the tea as its steeping), fresh squeezed lemon juice, honey and herb tea as my water/liquid base (usually green tea, dandelion or hibiscus). all in all it’s still cheaper than coconut milk, I run, mtn bike and horse back ride far too often to use cocnut milk for every adventure- so this concoction works amazingly well and it tastes great! I have friends and family hooked on it too!

    1. Becky Lolley Avatar
      Becky Lolley

      5 stars
      Magnesium malate will not cause diarrhea like magnesium citrate does. Magnesium is a necessary part of around 300 crucial enzymatic processes in the human body.

      1. ron Avatar

        Depends on the person, Wife and I in our 80’s have no problem with Magnesium citrate. I also have had low sodium and have been told to reduce amt of all liquids I drink to max 1 1/2 qts.

    2. Greg Avatar

      Jessica (#23), can you suggest specific brands you use to make this? I’d like to try this. I run and bike as well and want to try the homebrew version.

  20. dee Avatar

    Anyone know a brand of Coconut Water in the UK which is pure coconut water with no sugar or sweetners added. So far I’ve not found such a product. Help appreciated.

    1. Fay Avatar

      I would just go get a real coconut from an Asian market and get it from there… NOTHING beats coconut juice from a real coconut! Yum!

      I usually pay .75 cents (less than a dollar / buck / $1.00) for a whole coconut! (Not the brown mature ones, but the ones that are hexagon shape from them chopping them that way! Delicious!

    2. Alice Avatar

      I don’t know about the UK, but in the US you can buy pure coconut water made by Goya Foods at the market. They also sell a coconut water *drink* which you don’t want.

    3. Vira Avatar

      5 stars
      Have you tried “Harmless Harvest Coconut Water?” it’s amazing and the best on the market. You will only find it in the cooler section of the store, not in the regular isle. That should tell you something.

    4. Esther Avatar

      3 stars
      along w the recipe or on its own i recommend 1/2 to 1 tsp molasses and tsp+ of raw ACV. both have many and varied benefits from trace amounts of minerals. The molasses alone in water brought me back from feeling like i may actually die when i had a very bad high fever last year. i used this also when working in a horse barn one particularly grueling winter (along with replacing my coffee with bone broth) and it is far more sustaining than water alone. tastes great too.

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