Why waste money on Gatorade when you can brew an equally effective sports drink from sugar, lemon juice, salt and orange juice? Hit the jump for the simple, inexpensive recipe.

Sports drink recipe from “Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook”
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 1/2 cups cold water

In a quart pitcher, dissolve the sugar and salt in the hot water. Add the remaining ingredients and the cold water. The drink contains about 50 calories and 110 mg of sodium per 8 ounces, approximately the same as for most sports drinks.

The Times warns that sports drinks aren’t designed to quench couch potato exertions like reaching for the remote and the pretzels, but “are only appropriate in the context of sports, and I mean serious sports.”

Phys Ed: Are Sports Drinks Actually Good for Kids? [The New York Times]
(Photo: Welvis Tarn)

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