Replenish with this Homemade Electrolyte Drink

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Stay hydrated with a homemade electrolyte drink. Great for hot, humid summer days when you need a little bit extra to replenish.

homemade electrolyte drink

Drinking water is essential for good health…it’s essential to stay alive!

And yet, sometimes water alone isn’t enough.

Maybe you’re sick, or you’ve been turned inside out by a gastro bug.

Maybe you exercise hard. Or you work outdoors in the heat. Or live in the tropics like me.

This summer I added a glass of this homemade electrolyte drink to my daily water intake on hot days and it made a huge difference to how I felt. A lot of the lethargy I’d been feeling day after day from the heat disappeared. Water alone didn’t seem to cut it.

While I wouldn’t drink this all the time, or at the height of summer, when even thinking about moving can break out a sweat, this drink helped me feel replenished.

You can buy electrolyte drinks like Hydrolyte or sports drinks, but they are pretty expensive. However…

This is not a replacement for commercially prepared drinks. If your doctor recommends commercially prepared electrolyte drinks then follow your doctor’s advice!! Commercially prepared mixes are specially formulated to have all the essential minerals the body needs in precise quantities. 

So what are electrolytes and why do we need them?

Electrolytes are the fancy term for salts, or specifically ions. The major electrolytes in the body are sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, bicarbonate, phosphate, sulphate, calcium.

They are important because they regulate nerve and muscle function. Gastro bugs that involve vomiting of diarrhoea, heavy exercise or anything that induces heavy sweating can lead to electrolyte loss. In these instances plain water might not be enough to rehydrate – you may need to replenish electrolytes too.

Electrolyte drinks not only replace lost fluids, they replace these essential electrolytes.

What’s in an electrolyte drink

Last time we had gastro, my doctor recommended we make our own electrolyte drink from cordial and salt. While this solution is cheap and simple, there’s a better alternative that is almost as simple and inexpensive.

The ingredients included in an electrolyte drink include:

Water – rehydrates. You can also use cooled herbal tea or coconut water*.

Unrefined salt – This provides the bulk of the electrolytes. Don’t use ordinary table salt, which is just sodium. Instead, use an unrefined salt like Celtic Sea Salt or Himalayan Rock Salt. Unrefined salts include other minerals and trace elements like magnesium and calcium.

Honey or sugar – The honey is important for helping the body absorb the minerals in the salt. It also adds glucose and improves the taste of the drink. Any honey will do, but if you have raw honey, all the better. Raw honey has anti-microbial properties that can aid healing. It can also help soothe a sore throat and cough.

It’s important to note that honey is not recommended for children under 1. If you have a young child that is dehydrated you should seek medical advice!

Lemon Juice – Citric fruits are high in potassium, another essential electrolyte, as well as adding other immune-boosting nutrients like Vitamin C to the mix. The lemon juice also improves the tastes. You can use orange or lime juice instead. Freshly squeezed is best.

*Coconut water is a popular rehydration drink – the problem is that it can be just as expensive as the Hydralyte. If you want to use coconut water instead, you can drink it plain with a dash of unrefined salt.

Yield: 1 litre

Homemade Electrolyte Drink for Hot Days

Homemade Electrolyte Drink for Hot Days

While a homemade electrolyte drink won't be precisely balanced like commercial preparations, it can be good on a hot day.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 litre of water
  • 1/2 tsp. unrefined salt
  • 1 – 2 tbsp. honey or sugar
  • Juice of 1 – 2 lemons or oranges to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients and stir until dissolved.

Notes

It may be easier to dissolve salt and honey in a little hot water first.

This can be stored in the fridge for 3 days.

Change up the flavour by adding fresh mint or ginger.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 97Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 338mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 2gSugar: 21gProtein: 1g

Nutritional information is calculated automatically using the Nutritionix database. Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, serving size or the source of nutrition data. We strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy. We encourage readers to make their own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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10 Comments

  1. A very timely post for me, Melissa! My husband, a recently diagnosed Diabetic, had a bout of food poisoning after a meal at a local club. It ended up with a short stay in hospital. It took him ages to get well and I suspect, a drink like this would have been a massive help. Thank you! And the recipe has been saved :-)

    1. Melissa Goodwin says:

      Hi Maria, Sorry to hear that about your husband. Hope this helps in the future. Thanks. Melissa

  2. Thanks Melissa. I’ll be saving this for next time we need electrolytes. My daughter likes being sick and getting those electrolyte ice blocks – but I don’t like ask the plastic involved. I’m going to try making some ice blocks with your recipe. Thank you.

    1. Melissa Goodwin says:

      Iceblocks are a great idea! Hope it goes down well and does the job. :)

  3. Perfect. All the ingredients are at home. Thank you.

  4. Abdul Quader says:

    Dear Melissa,

    Today morning got food poising, vomiting whatever, I eat. GP advised me not to take any foods except Hydrolyte drink, liquid…However, I found your homemade drink very useful and after drinking I regain energy. Alhamdulillah..

    Thank you so much for writing such a useful block.

    1. Melissa Goodwin says:

      Hi Abdul, Great to hear it worked for you but please listen to your doctor and take their advice.

  5. Kev Porter says:

    In terms of the major electrolytes sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, bicarbonate, phosphate, sulphate, calcium, wat will this frugal drink supply for each ?

    1. Melissa Goodwin says:

      If you need to be specific about quantities then a commercial electrolyte solution that can tell you exact quantities is the way to go.

  6. This is great thank you! Recently on a health kick so needed something cheap and easy!