Index
Natural Energy Drinks for Athletes
Many commercial energy drinks such as Red Bull contain harmful ingredients such as caffeine, high amounts of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, additives and # 40 red dye.
Caffeine can be so dangerous in large quantities that the 5-hour energy drinks were related to heart attacks and seizures in the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigations after the complaints were filed.
Of course, you can find healthier versions of energy drinks in natural stores and health food stores, but many of them are pasteurized to prolong shelf life.
Pasteurization decreases the nutritional value of even the healthiest ingredients, this includes instant pasteurization, although it is better than other forms of pasteurization.
You can easily make your own natural energy drinks in your home to get much healthier alternatives to commercial energy drinks.
These can be taken on the road in an insulated thermos to give you energy at work, school, during training or after training. These are also great for hiking!
Below you will find suggestions for some natural energy drinks that contain easy-to-find ingredients and are super easy to prepare:
Banana smoothie with wheat grass
- 3-4 ripe bananas
- 2 cups cold water (add more for a finer shake)
- 1 tablespoon of powdered wheat grass (or fresh if you have it)
Bananas give a lot of instant energy. One or two bananas give enough energy for a strenuous workout.
Bananas are very rich in potassium and also the B vitamins that are perfect for restoring depleted energy and increasing energy when you need it.
They are also an important source of fiber. Bananas are a delicious smoothie and they also have properties that can help put you in a good mood!
Like Spirulina, which will be discussed later in this article, wheatgrass is another superfood that contains a wide variety of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.
You can never go wrong adding to a smoothie, both are also two of the most alkalizing foods one can eat.
This is important because the modern diet has many acid-forming foods that throw the body into an acidic state that can make it more susceptible to diseases such as cancer and more prone to infections.
Blue green coconut water
- 8-16 ounces of coconut water
- 1 / 2-1 teaspoon of spirulina powder
This natural energy drink is one of the easiest homemade natural energy drinks you can make, besides being one of the healthiest. Best of all, you do not even need a blender to do it!
You can use fresh coconut water from fresh young coconuts (hard to get unless you live in the tropics) or canned coconut water. Keep in mind that this is not the same as the liquid you get from an older brown coconut.
If you buy canned coconut water, try to get organic. Coconut water is one of the best replacements of natural electrolytes because it contains a very high potassium content, much more than Gatorade and other sports drinks, in addition to many other minerals.
Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae that is sold as a powder in most health food stores.
You can also find this powder in the bulk section of most supermarkets.
Spirulina is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. It is 60-70 percent protein, which contains the 8 essential amino acids in perfectly balanced proportions.
In comparison, beef is only about 22-24 percent protein. Spirulina also contains chlorophyll, a molecule that is very similar to hemoglobin and that works to accumulate your red blood cells and helps you carry more oxygen.
This helps your tissues oxygenate more. Spirulina contains a wider range of micronutrients than any other known food source.
These include antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and several bioavailable pigments other than chlorophyll.
If you do not have coconut water on hand, you can still get the benefit of spirulina powder by mixing it with water.
Try using filtered alkaline water to help keep your body’s pH in balance. If you do not like the taste of spirulina powder (some sources have a stronger flavor than others), you can also buy capsules or spirulina tablets and simply take them with water.
Kale and banana smoothie
- 3-4 ripe bananas
- 2 cups of cold water (add more for a less thick shake)
- 1 cup of ice
- 1 small cluster of kale
It is said that kale is one of the healthiest foods you can put in your mouth, mixing kale in a shake is an excellent way that all the health benefits it offers are quickly absorbed into your system.
This includes a large amount of energy from high concentrations of iron and other minerals.
In fact, kale has more iron than meat. This is the reason why it is sometimes called “new meat”.
If you want this beverage to be less bitter, remove the stems from the kale before mixing, as this is the most bitter part.
However, these sections are perfectly edible so they do not need to be removed and will add more fiber. Also keep in mind that kale is generally sweeter in the colder months.
Green drink
- 3 – 5 leaves of kale
- 1 lemon (may include part or all of the skin)
- 2 green apples
- 3-4 celery stems
- 1 small portion of ginger
This is a great combination of power that you will love and come back for more! The apples balance any bitterness in the greens and the lemon provides a bit of sparkle.
If you are really adverse to a bitter flavor, peel the lemon and add only the outer layer of the peel, the inner peel is the bitterest part.
Ginger is excellent for increasing circulation, it is also ideal for mental energy and physical energy.
Lemon is the most alkalizing food you can eat. This helps the body maintain a healthy pH balance that will give it much more energy.
Celery is known to lower blood pressure, it is also good to replace electrolytes and rehydrate the body after a workout.
Carrot and parsley juice
- 5 medium carrots
- 1 red or green apple
- 1 small cluster of fresh parsley
It has a very refreshing taste, be sure to eliminate the core of the apples in these recipes because the apple seeds are slightly toxic.
Natural energy drinks are relatively easy to make and are much healthier than commercial energy drinks like Red Bull. Your body will respond very well to this!
If you have some favorite fruits and vegetables, you can modify the previous recipes and add them too.
