Simple alternatives to marketed products?

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I’m just wondering if there are any cheaper alternatives to things like sports drinks that I could make at home using common items. For example would stirring some salt into boiling water, and then adding a bit of lemonade powder (for flavor) add any benefits to the speed at which the water is absorbed or anything? A friend of mine does this for football and swears by it, but I usually just fill my bottle with tap water and go on my way.

You can buy maltodex powder from certain places and make your own sport drink, most products if not all have this as there base.

BBC's web site has a "Make your own sports drinks" page
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/healthy_eating/features/newsid_2132000/2132209.stm), although I haven't tried either approach myself.