All-Natural Sports Drinks To Beat The Heat

05:08 PM on 6/24/2011 As a cyclist, I swear by Hammer HEED. You can buy individual packets or a large canister that you can divide into baggies. There are three flavors, each sweetened with Stevia, so you don't get the spike and crash of sugar-swee­tened drinks like Gatorade. If you happen to be out cycling in really hot weather and drinking a bottle of HEED per hour still doesn't stop you from cramping up, Hammer also sells electrolyt­e caplets called Endurolyte­s. You can literally bite into one and relieve the cramp in a matter of minutes. Find it online at hammernutr­ition.com.

04:51 PM on 6/24/2011 That sounds about right for my average pack load. I'll have to give it a try.

01:40 PM on 6/24/2011 Great comments! The watermelon drink can be thrown into a SIGG or a similar reusable bottle and even diluted for a nice alternativ­e to the taste of plain c.w. The other two are not portable and are more for pre or post activity. Enjoy!

11:00 AM on 6/24/2011 Sounds to me like coconut water, alone would be fine. I do a LOT of biking, in the heat, and sweat profusely. I'm very concerned about electrolyt­e and mineral replacemen­ts. I drink a lot of water but also do a "power drink" at least once a day just to replace those minerals and electrolyt­es. I know the manufactur­ed stuff is not that great, being far to sweet for my taste, so lately I tried that MIO stuff and added it to water. Well the water has some flavor, no sugers, but after I read the contents of the Mio additive (lots of artificial coloring) I decided I won't be buying any more of that. However, the Mio container is very well made and travels in a backpack well, so I think I'll just get coconut water, put it in the Mio container, and use that to spike my water supply.  These beverages listed in the article all seem too complex and time consuming for my lifestyle, but I may give them a try on the weekends. Good article all in all.

03:21 PM on 6/24/2011 Enjoy all those but for me 4 oz of MONAVIE mixed with Propel water is all I need. Nothing better than that...NOT­HING!

05:21 PM on 6/24/2011 coconut water...

22 hours ago (11:44 PM) I have a pal who gives me fresh raw cows milk that is only hours old. It makes me feel invincible­, LOL.

10:35 PM on 6/24/2011 These aren't drinks, they're food.

09:07 AM on 6/25/2011 From these comments, it's obvious that there are many folks out there that aren't educated on pure and natural ingredient­s, vitamins, nutrients and minerals that come from whole, pure and natural foods. I have a Vita Mix and make fresh drinks daily and couldn't go a day without my daily dosage of such pure and simple drinks....­not to mention that I actually know what they are really made of. Plus, that are so delicious and nutritious­! Pooja, I salute your article and the listed recipes...­.these ingredient­s are KEY!)

9 hours ago (12:22 PM) Celery is filled with nutrients as well as a good hydrater. It's not empty calories for the above reason and for the reason that celery is basically NO calories. Celery is so low in calories that the amount of calories you use to eat it is more than the calories in it. So celery is a great food. Of course you couldn't live on just celery. But I eat a bunch of celery a week. It's great just by itself. I love it in salads and in stir fries. You can also use it to eat humus if you've given up grain products like me and need a new delivery system for that wonderful food. By the way, if you're concerned about eating low glycemic, avoid mirepoix, that French base for so many food where you saute chopped onions, carrots and celery in a little olive oil. You see carrots are healthy until they're cooked enough to be mushy, then they go from a low to a high glycemic food. Mirepoix adds so much flavor to things and is healthy except for the cooked carrots. So just vary it by leaving out the carrots and then adding them to the dish at the end leaving them in just long enough for them to heat up. They add a little crunch this way too!

04:10 PM on 6/26/2011 nonsense. These drinks are messing up healthy foods. What should you drink? WATER. Maybe some green tea or a little red wine. But why take healthy fruits and veggies and blend them so you can drink them? EAT THEM. That's healthy. Have a hankering for some blue berries? Why waste time blending them with something. They are juicy. EAT THEM. You know what else is really good for you and is juicy and crunchy? Celery. EAT THEM. At least these aren't Juicing, which is taking out the fiber, one of the healthiest parts of fruit and vegetables­, but straining still takes out too much. Or why not just drink Coconut Water straight while eating some cucumber? I don't get why all this blending or juicing is seen as so healthy when it's healthier to just eat the fresh fruit and vegetables whole and hydrate with water.