sports drink recipe

Gary’s 4:1 Ratio Targeted Carb Sports Drink

This is a sports drink recipe I created for use during exercise.  It is made with a 4:1 Ratio of Carbs to Protein, as recommended in the books The Performance Zone and The Paleo Diet for Athletes .  This recipe is designed to give a custom mix of top-quality ingredients that cost much less than any commercial drink.  I recommend reading the above books for additional information on how much and when to consume this type of drink.  I recommend buying the ingredients for this mix at www.bodybuilding.com. 

If all ingredients are purchased from bodybuilding.com, the recipe below will cost about $0.65 per serving -  this is about 25-30% of the price per serving for a comparable commercial product (such as Hammer Nutrition Products ), and you can totally adjust the protein:carb mix any way you like, AND use higher-quality ingredients (no soy protein, etc.).  With this in mind, the serious athlete may find it is worth the effort to mix it at home!

In general, you will want to use it as follows:

• Begin taking the 4:1 ratio mix within 30 minutes of your scheduled workout
• Bring enough with you during exercise to consume about 25% of the calories you will burn during exercise
• Take more after exercise (preferably within 15 minutes of finishing), drinking about 50% of the calories you burned during exercise.
• All 3 steps above will result in a full pre-during-and post exercise recovery drink which will help meet your glucose needs during endurance exercise. 

I will go more into this issue in later posts – I will add here that I do not do any carb loading for exercise – I rely on this beverage, or a fruit-and-protein equivalent, for the purpose of raising my insulin levels and adding glucose to my blood as needed during exercise.  I do not agree with the general recommendations that just because you exercise, you should keep y our insulin levels high all day long with a high-carb diet.  With that said, here is the recipe:

Sports Drink Recipe 4:1 Mix

500 G (1/2 lb) Maltodextrin Powder
125 G (1/8lb) Vanilla Whey Protein
10 Scoops Endurolyte Powder (2g salt may be substituted)
50 G (2 oz) Glutamine Powder
3T (10 packets) Stevia Powder(for flavor – Maltodextrin is not sweet)

Instructions:  Recipe Makes 10 servings. 
1 serving =2/3cup (80g), mixed in 20 ozs of water= 240 cal
Measure with a kitchen scale, Mix together in a 1 gallon freezer bag.
You can adjust this serving size for your own flavor and strength preferences.
(notes: you can substitute 40% sugar for maltodextrin if you prefer(300G malto/200G sugar), if so you will not need Stevia powder. You can use different flavors of whey protein to make different flavored mixes)