Awesome sports drink

[juliejem]

I started my first whole30 two weeks ago, two days after my first half ironman triathlon.  Since then, runs and rides have been horrid.  Total dead legs.  I started doing some research into better fueling ideas, and saw a blog mention sweet potato puree, coconut milk and apple juice.  Being the numbers kind of person that I am, figured out a recipe and all its stats.  I used it this morning on an 18-mile ride, and for the first time didn't feel awful.  So I thought I'd share.  I welcome any comments or feedback if this is a horrible idea, LOL!  

1 carton frozen apple juice concentrate
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp "light" salt (has potassium)

* Combine above with water to make 64 oz total.

8 oz apple juice from above
1 (3.5 oz) container baby food sweet potatoes
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
water to top off sports bottle (I use a 20 oz bottle)

* Shake it all up.

Contains: 
330 cal: 38 g carbs / 14 g fat / 2 g protein
158 mg sodium / 225 mg potassium

That looks like a lot of fat for a sports drink, but we're trying to get fat-adapted here, right?!  And it looks like a lot of carbs for whole30, but you need 30-70 g per hour for endurance activities (though I recognize that number might be different if you're fat adapted)

[Tom Denham]

Feeling better after 2 weeks of the Whole30 is normal, so your 18-mile ride going okay may be due to your fat-adaption and not a new sports drink.

 

Your recipe for a sports drink that you consume while exercising is okay from a Whole30 standpoint. It would not be okay as a drink at home as a snack or in situations where whole foods are available. You are not suggesting that, but I want to make that point for others who may see this as an approved smoothie (it is not). 

 

I would probably leave the coconut milk out. Fat in a sports drink is probably a bad idea. Fat slows digestion and the point of taking in nourishment during exercise is to enjoy the carbs fast. Your body already has enough fat stores to cover what you can burn from fat. You don't need more fat to sustain you through an exercise session. And leaving out the fat may make the drink easier to tolerate during exercise.

[Mindy D]

Are sports drinks compliant during Whole30? What about the apple juice, is it compliant?

[Physibeth]

Are sports drinks compliant during Whole30? What about the apple juice, is it compliant?

 

Conventional sports drinks are far from compliant during Whole30 for many reasons. 100% apple juice is compliant when used in cooking but not for drinking. To fuel high intensity workout is an exception (as Tom states above). Personally I do my long runs (12-13 miles) with just a 50/50 coconut water/water mix and am perfectly fine.