DIY Sports Drink Calculator
Make a homemade sports drink with the right electrolyte balance. Enter your batch size, carbohydrate percentage and sodium target, and get the exact grams (and teaspoons) of sugar and table salt to dissolve in water.
Volume unit
%
mg
≈ 7.1 tsp of granulated sugar (6% carbohydrate solution)
- 1
Carbohydrate fraction
6% ÷ 100 = 0.06 - 2
Sugar to add
500 mL × 0.06 = 30≈ 7.1 tsp of granulated sugar (6% carbohydrate solution).
How does this calculator work?
Add sugar (g = batch mL × carb%) and table salt (g = sodium mg ÷ 393) to water. A standard recipe for 500 mL is 30 g sugar (7 tsp) + 0.77 g salt (⅛ tsp) for a 6% carb, 300 mg sodium drink — roughly equivalent to a commercial isotonic sports drink, at a fraction of the cost.
Formula
How this is calculated
Commercial isotonic sports drinks typically target 6–8% carbohydrates by volume (g per 100 mL of water) and 200–500 mg of sodium per 500 mL serving. This range matches the approximate osmolarity of blood, promoting rapid gastric emptying and fluid absorption compared with plain water or hypertonic concentrations above 8%.
Sugar is the simplest carbohydrate source: sucrose or glucose from ordinary granulated sugar adds 4 calories per gram. Table salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) provides the sodium; because NaCl is 39.3% sodium by mass, dividing the target sodium in milligrams by 393 gives the salt in grams. One level teaspoon of granulated sugar weighs about 4.2 g and one level teaspoon of table salt about 5.7 g, so the output is given in both grams and teaspoons for convenience.
Optional additions not calculated here include potassium (often from cream of tartar — about 500 mg K per ¼ tsp), citric acid or lemon juice for flavour, and food colouring. The recipe is preservative-free; make fresh batches and refrigerate, consuming within 24–48 hours. Athletes with kidney disease or who use medications affecting electrolytes should consult a healthcare provider before using customized electrolyte drinks.
Frequently asked questions
Solutions in the 6–8% carbohydrate range are roughly isotonic with blood plasma (~280–305 mOsm/kg). This promotes fast stomach emptying and intestinal water absorption. Below 4% provides less fuel; above 10% (hypertonic) slows gastric emptying and can cause cramps and nausea during intense exercise.
Yes, but adjust by weight (not volume) because honey and syrups have different densities. Honey is about 80% sugar by weight, so multiply the sugar grams by 1.25 to get the equivalent honey grams. Artificial sweeteners add no calories and no carbohydrates, so they are not appropriate for fuelling endurance exercise.
The calculator uses only sodium (table salt) for simplicity. For longer efforts or heavy sweaters, adding potassium can help: ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) provides roughly 500 mg of potassium with a mild tart flavour. Potassium loss in sweat is much lower than sodium loss, so it is less critical for sessions under 90 minutes.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). DIY Sports Drink Calculator [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/diy-sports-drink-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "DIY Sports Drink Calculator." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/diy-sports-drink-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "DIY Sports Drink Calculator," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/diy-sports-drink-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_diy_sports_drink_calculator, title = {DIY Sports Drink Calculator}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/diy-sports-drink-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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