When you are exercising for long durations and at a high level of intensity, your body requires more than water; sodium and other electrolytes that are lost in sweat and simple sugars that fuel working muscles. When you are sweating a lot, drinking simple water may dehydrate yourself because the kidneys sense the diluted sodium levels and begin filtering excess water to let you pee more.
The following formula was created based on Skratch Lab’s Hydration Mix. A full dose for 16 oz of the drink contains 360 mg of Sodium, 40 mg of potassium, 49 mg of calcium, 45 mg of magnesium and 20 g of sugar. The concentrations of electrolytes are similar to sweat (5). Vitamin C and taurine are not for hydration purpose but for preventing tendon injury (6) and for fuel efficiency (8) with better exercise performance (9–10), respectively.
You can remove sugars although hydration efficiency goes down when your stomach is empty. Serving size of non-sugar mix is 4g (~0.8 teaspoon) and electrolytes-only is 2.6g (½ teaspoon).
Kayo’s Mix
Serving Size: 24 g (1.5-2 tablespoon) – makes 16 oz (or one bottle) prepared. Amount Per Serving: Calories 80
Sodium 360mg (15% DV), Potassium 40mg (1% DV), Total Carbohydrate 20g (7% DV), Fiber 0g (0% DV), Sugars 20g, Protein 0g, Vitamin A (0% DV), Vitamin C (556% DV), Calcium (7% DV), Iron (0% DV), Magnesium (11% DV). Percent daily values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Ingredients for 20 servings
| Electrolytes | |
|---|---|
| Sodium citrate | 27 g |
| Magnecium Gluconate | 15 g |
| Calcium citrate | 7 g |
| Potassium citrate | 2 g |
| Optional Nutrients | |
|---|---|
| Vitamin C | 10 g |
| Taurine | 20 g |
| Taste and Sugar | |
|---|---|
| Citric acid | 5 g |
| Glucose | 200 g |
| Sugar, granulated | 200 g |
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a food processor, place a plastic wrap under the lid and blend well. Keep the powder mix in an airtight case with desiccant (e.g. packaged silica gel).