There’s a lot of hullaballoo (yep, i said it – It’s 1am…) surrounding Gatorade and BVO (brominated vegetable oil, aka: flame retardant). BVO is a chemical that basically creates consistency within a beverage, eliminating the natural separation that occurs, thus, making it more visually appealing. However, BVO has devastating side effects and so is banned in over 100 rational-thinking countries.
The fact that the FDA allows it in any amount into our food is absolutely ludicrous to me and further proof that they do not have our best interest at heart.
So, due to public pressure, there are rumors that Gatorade is removing it from their ingredients list.
Great, right? Well yeah, except that BVO only makes up a fraction of the problem when it comes to the “thirst quencher”.
Sports drinks are marketed to not only satisfy thirst, but improve athletic performance and give you an “edge” over other athletes who drink plain ol’ water by giving back what you have lost through sweat and exercise.
The only problem is that along with those electrolytes and water you get a heavy dose of sugar (in the form of corn syrup, most likely GMO), “natural flavorings”, and artificial colors. Plus, it’s packaged in plastic bottles that leech chemicals into the beverage if they are ever exposed to heat or friction.
Here’s a clip from the back of a gatorade bottle:
machinemuscle.com
It’s a little hard to read so here’s the ingredient list: water, sucrose syrup, high fructose corn syrup, natural orange flavor with other natural flavors, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, yellow 6, glycerol ester of wood resin, brominated vegetable oil.
In a nutshell it’s just really expensive artificially colored salt water with a ton of sugar and toxic additives to make it look appealing.
So, I created a healthy alternative. I actually got the inspiration from my natural childbirth instructor in Dallas who recommended that we make our own gatorade to help with endurance during labor.
Her formula was very simple: crush up a few calcium-magnesium pills into a bottle of water.
mmm….chalky. effective, but gross.
Here’s how I changed it to make it quite delicious if I do say so myself!
Lindsay’s Organic Sports Drink:
- 32 oz purified water
- 2 tsp ">">“CALM” plus calcium*** – I prefer the “organic raspberry flavor”
- 1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt
- fresh squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon or lime; or 1/4 orange or grapefruit
- 1/2-1 tsp Stevia or about 10 drops of liquid stevia extract (optional)
***of course, if you don’t have the CALM you can always crush the cal/mag tablets, just get them as fine as possible so they mix well.
Refrigerate and shake before drinking. I mean, we aren’t that lazy that we need flame retardant to do this for us, right?
It’s surprisingly tasty! (better than gatorade in my husband’s opinion!) and the color is nice…I always thought drinking something the color of a highlighter or a Smurf was a bit freaky anyway.
The added bonus is that you get the benefits of not only the electrolytes but also calcium, vitamin D3, vitamin C and Boron that is lacking in traditional sports drinks.
PLUS, you get to skip the kidney tumors, chromosome damage, cancer, ADHD, hyperactivity, allergic reactions, psychosis, brain damage, depression, memory loss, diabetes, obesity, dental cavities…all side effects of yellow 6, corn syrup, and BVO. These three are very commonly found in any citrus flavored beverage – so be sure to read your labels!
I really avoid using plastic at all (even the BPA free stuff…I mean, they replaced BPA with something, right?) So I prefer to use glass.
However, I realize that many sports complexes, pools, etc won’t allow it. Fortunately there are some great stainless steel options out there (just avoid aluminum as it leeches into your food/drink.)
Here are a few good ones that I found on Amazon: Stainless Steel Sports Bottles
My little guy is starting soccer in a month – I can’t wait to make another batch for him!
live well. be well.
