Sports drinks have grown in popularity since the creation of the very first one (that would be Gatorade FYI) in 1965. I feel like they come out with a new one as often as Nike comes out with a new shoe…a lot! Unfortunately, these colorful drinks are often filled with less than desirable ingredients. Body Armor is one of the new sports drinks that is all the rage among nursing mamas right now. I am not sure what athletes think about them but lactating mothers online are in love for sure. The marketing push for these drinks is the coconut water. The benefits of coconut water are becoming more widely known and that is a good thing. I love that BA has coconut water in it, I just don’t love the rest of the ingredients, specifically the first three. While it is marketed as “no artificial sweeteners” and technically that is true – it is actually pure cane sugar and quite a bit of it (28g).
Ingredients: Filtered Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Coconut Water Concentrate, Citric Acid, Dipotassium Phosphate (Electrolyte), Vegetable Juice Concentrate (Color), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Magnesium Oxide (Electrolyte), Natural Berry Flavor with other Natural Flavors, Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Calcium D-Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Zinc Oxide (Electrolyte), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin A Palmitate (Vitamin A), Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12).
Another thing I don’t love is the price tag. The cheapest I have seen is at Walmart for $1.24 each (plus tax) That is cheap compared to other drinks but it isn’t what I want to pay for a beverage, particularly one with so much sugar.
My kids love the taste though (no surprise) and honestly, so do I. So I decided to create my own homemade version. It really wasn’t that hard! I looked at the ingredients and knew I could do better.
A grocery trip and a few stirs later…here you go! I chose to copycat the Blackout Berry flavor because that is our favorite but you could alter the recipe and come up with other flavor combinations. I plan to share others in the future. Note: I included Baobab powder because of its high vitamin C as well as many other benefits. Baobab is a great all around multi vitamin, straight from nature. I use the Trim Healthy Mama Brand
This would be a great drink for kids, pregnant or nursing mamas, mamas in labor, sick family members or just a yummy treat anytime.
We did a taste test and found that aside from the original having a bit more tartness (which you can take care of with a little added lemon juice) the taste was remarkably similar. I pretty proud of this one. Hope you love it too!
For other electrolyte drink recipes check out my blog post here.
This recipe makes over 1 qt but most of the products I purchased could be used again, including the coconut water and juice. This means you should be able to make around 3 quarts depending on how much water you add. You can always add more or less water based on your preference.
Homemade Black Cherry BA style Sports Drink
Ingredients
- 16 oz Just Black Cherry Juice
- 16 oz Good Quality Coconut Water I like Harmless Brand
- 1 TBS Baobab powder
- 2 envelopes (True Lime) Limeade Black Cherry or 2 squirts Sweet Leaf Mixed Berry Water Drops
- dash salt
- 2 bags Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry Berry Tea
- 5 cups water use 1 cup to make the tea
- Ice
- 13 oz flavored water kefir optional
Instructions
-
Brew both bags of tea in 1 cup of water. Set aside.
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, keep in refrigerator. Enjoy!
