Sports drinks are a big buzz, purple drinks that taste…well um…purple. Ever wonder what is in these mystery drinks and just how nourishing are they really? For some people they just can not imagine their gym experience, run, and work out routine without their sports drink.

The amount of sugar, unnecessary ingredients including a flame retardant called brominated vegetable oil. This is also found in Gatorade and several soda pop beverages. Somehow this ingredient helps distribute the flavors and texture easily to make it look more appealing.

Brominated vegetable oil has been banned in Japan and in the European Union. So there is some information out there we are not receiving that is available in other countries. Also, it must be some sort of big bad wolf if the whole European Union and Japan has banned this ingredient.

According to Scientific American, BVO has been patented as a flame retardant and is found in some beverages including some flavors of Gatorade. It is “under intense scrutiny because research has shown that they are building up in people’s bodies, including breast milk, around the world.” in this same article they state that there are, “links to impaired neurological development, reduced fertility, early onset of puberty and altered thyroid hormones.”

Not so healthy then, so much for quenching our thirst instead it ruins out health. I know for me personally I am even more thirsty for answers now, this has been going on far too long as it is. This isn’t some new ingredient that has been recently put into sports and soda drinks either.

So let’s discuss ditching the purple drink that has creepy effects on our bodies and mind!

The BEST alternative is lovely green juice. Honestly, it’s that simple. Vegetables and fruits have loads on water and essential vitamins to aid you in staying nourished, cooled, and feeding your muscles, blood, bones and mind. I have a huge selection of juices on my site that are all excellent choices. Some vegetables and fruits that I personally find most satisfying for a prework out drink are cucumbers, lemons, limes, celery, romaine lettuce, spinach, kale (I am Portuguese what can I say), apples, oranges, grapefruit and chard.

For some, drinking a green juice may feel too heavy or just doesn’t bite their thirst.

Sometimes drinking a mix of kombucha and coconut water, or either of these drinks solo does it. For numerous people kombucha feels amazing on an empty stomach right in the morning and for others the acid is too much.

It could be that the probiotics from the kombucha initiate a die-off of the bacterica already present in the digestive system. The toxins released from the dying bacteria may be responsible for the intestinal issues. Or vice versa the quantity of bacteria is too high. This isn’t to say that everyone will feel amazing or flat out terrible while drinking kombucha. It is not that white and black, I am personally in that grey area. I honestly have a kombucha as a special treat and do not consume it everyday.

For a short span in my life I was obsessed with mixing half a cup kombucha with half a cup coconut water. This felt so amazing, cooling, and revitalizing. Below is a photo of how the concoction looks, I used a ginger kombucha 😀

For those who find greens juices to be too heavy/filling as a pre, during and or after work out drink I have a GreaterAde Recipe that might be a help. This is a wonderful transition drink from processed sugar and preservatives to good ole fruits and coconut water.

Today I made a Pomegranate GreaterAde

1 pomegranate, kernels juiced
1 lemon juice, rind removed
1/2 lime juice, rind removed (optional)
1 cup coconut water (water or green tea would taste wonderful)

I drank this before, during and after my work out today and it really helped me to keep going. The flavors are cooling, warming, sweet, tart…yeah it’s pretty much a little bit of everything! 😉 It totally doesn’t hurt that this juice looks absolutely stunning either!

This flavor may not be so traditional but pomegranate has amazing health benefits. In previous posts I have gone over a few from the long scroll but I just want to quickly go over a few that may possibly interest athletes or anyone with blood/heart problems in their family. In that post I also give some tips on how to get all those precious rubies out!

Pomegranates have chambers, just like our hearts, when you cut through this hard shelled fruit they quickly bleed and you can see all these precious pearl kernels. I see this as pomegranates way of showing us just what exactly it is good for. They increase blood flow to the heart, aid in lowering ones cholesterol levels, blood pressure, osteoarthritis and is high in anti-aging agents. So in a way these kernels can be see an blood cells 😉 Little visuals like this help me out personally to remember all these facts and it also has created a beautiful relationship with food and I. I think it has aided in me eating more consciously, but that’s just my own little observation on this journey.

Some other ideas for GreaterAde…
Blueberries for a blue drink
Grapes and mixed berries for purple
Grapefruit for a softer pink juice
Celery, kiwi and or spinach for green

Have fun with it 😀 see what fruits and vegetables work best for YOU, our bodies are all completely and utterly beautiful and unique.

These next few days I will share more GreaterAde Recipes I have concocted in the kitchen! I can tell you now there will def be a purple juice 😉

In the past I have done posts on both the health benefits of coconuts and lemons. Please take a look at this so you have a better understanding of this brew and what each ingredient does exactly.

I hope this post gives you all some ideas for punches to keep in the house, homemade sports drinks and may be the idea of juicing has popped up in your head. Thank you all so much for taking the time to stop by my website. Much love ❤ and raw power 😉

Also super duper sorry for any technically issues with the site today…I am more then fed up with WordPress at this point.

Jess