All-Natural Cannabis Recovery Drink

Features

• A simply DIY recipe for an at-home sports drink
• Multiple cannabis infusion options to choose from
• Ways to customize this drink and make your own

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Are you looking for the perfect DIY at-home recovery drink?

I developed an all-natural recovery drink beneficial for my Well With Cannabis Community members, who always ask me for more healthy cannabis recipes.

I hope you enjoy this drink that tastes great and will help replenish your body with vitamins and electrolytes.

Plus, find multiple different infusion options to choose from!

Ingredient Notes

• Cucumber
• Orange
• Lemon
• Cannabis fan leaves
• Fresh ginger
• Salt
• Sugar
• Cayenne pepper
• Coconut water
• Cannabis tincture

Note: a complete list of ingredients with amounts and printable instructions is located in the recipe card below.

Electrolyte Replacement Drink

Let's be honest; we all have tried Gatorade once or more in our lives. Fruit punch, cool blue, lemon-lime. Remember those flavors?  

As marketing for these processed sugary drinks grows, it's almost impossible to go even a day without seeing an advertisement for them.

These companies always advertise their recovery drink products to athletes, promising you the best recovery because of their electrolyte content. 

Don’t get me wrong; most recovery drinks contain trace amounts of electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and chloride.

However, they may also contain highly processed sugars and artificial food coloring, honestly doing more harm than good. 

Before we detail each ingredient, I think we should start with the first question, that is…. 

What is an electrolyte, and why do we need it, especially after exercise? 

In nutrition, the word “electrolyte” is more specifically used to refer to minerals dissolved in the body's fluids, creating electrically charged ions.

The most important electrolytes in nutrition are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate. 

When we exercise, we sweat; when we sweat, we excrete water from our body containing electrolytes.

Replenishing our bodies with electrolytes through our diet in the form of food and drinks is critical to prevent dehydration. 

Getting electrolytes from an all-natural source like fruits, vegetables, and minerals is the best way to nourish our bodies. 

Why Add Cannabis? 

Exercise creates catabolic stress on the body, which can later turn into muscle soreness and inflammation.

Coincidently, one of the most common reasons community members anecdotally reports using cannabis for its anti-inflammatory benefits, making them the perfect match (1).   

Adding cannabis to your recovery drink will speed up recovery time and give you that body high that we all enjoy, relaxing you after that amazing workout.

Raw Cannabis Leaves

Fresh cannabis leaves do not produce CBD and THC quite like mature female flower buds do, which is why so many people simply discard them. 

According to a research article published in The Journal of Phytopharmacology, they contain essential nutrients, antioxidants, and cannabinoid acids like THCA and CBDA, meaning they are not useless and, in fact, quite valuable.

Large fan leaves or small sugar leaves are the most common parts of the cannabis plant eaten raw or used in recipes, although the raw cannabis flower buds can also be juiced. 

One of the best ways to harness these essential nutrients is to consume cannabis leaves in raw form, in a salad, or to be juiced as we use in this recipe.

Cannabis Tincture

Alternatively, if you do not have access to fresh cannabis leaves, you could make this drink with a cannabis tincture.

Tinctures are extracts from soaking herbs' leaves, bark, or roots in a solvent like alcohol.

The liquid pulls out the active compound in the plants, dissolving them and concentrating them.

Regarding cannabis tinctures, alcohol extracts the active ingredients, including cannabinoids like CBD and THC, and terpenes from the plant material.

Interested in making a homemade cannabis tincture? I got you covered with a few different options:

• Traditional Green Dragon Tincture
• QWET Freezer Tincture
• CBDA Cannabidolic Acid Tincture
• THCA Tetrahydrocannabinolic Acid

Recovery Drink Ingredients

I am so excited to share with you every ingredient in my all-natural cannabis recovery drink and the purpose of each one specifically: 

Cucumbers

Cucumber is made up of 95% water, making it one of the most hydrating vegetables.

Adding cucumber can help soothe your skin from the inside out, and staying hydrated helps your body flush toxins and maintain homeostasis.

Cucumbers also contain high amounts of potassium.

Potassium is an electrolyte that helps regulate the amount of sodium our kidneys retain.

Oranges

Oranges are a great source of vitamin C and contain electrolytes such as potassium and calcium.

They also have the beneficial terpene limonene.

According to a report in Bioscience Reports, limonene is an immunostimulant with anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-depressant, anti-anxiolytic, and antioxidant properties.

Additionally, our muscles and ligaments are made from collagen, and vitamin C from oranges promotes collagen production, aiding even more muscle recovery. 

Lemons

Lemons contain potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamins C and A.

These are just a few nutrients that help our digestive system function properly.

Lemons are also hydrating.

Even though lemon juice is acidic, it helps eliminate excess acids from your body, such as lactic acid formed due to over-exercising.

Also, lemons are cardiotonic, which facilitates circulation by acting on the cardiovascular, helping you recover quicker. 

Spinach

Besides being extremely high in natural plant iron, spinach has a very high potassium and magnesium content, which are key electrolytes the body needs to recover.

Keeping your potassium levels at a healthy level will help to prevent muscle cramps.

Ginger

This spicy, tasty root is one of the best plants to eat after a workout to prevent delayed muscle soreness.

Ginger has anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea properties.

According to a comprehensive systematic review of 109 randomized controlled trials published in Nutrients, people have been using fresh and prepared ginger root for centuries to treat all kinds of issues, including nausea, appetite loss, dizziness, and muscle soreness.

Salt

Salt helps to regulate the concentration of our bodily fluids, which constantly hang in a delicate balance.

It helps our cells absorb all the vital nutrients they need and is also required for healthy muscle and nerve activity.

You could try cannabis salt here if you want! 

Sugar

Sugar promotes an increase in insulin levels.

Consuming a large amount can cause a sudden spike in insulin levels, which will help you promote post-exercise recovery in your muscles.

You could use cannabis sugar or infused honey if you want.

Ground Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne contains a range of flavonoids and carotenoids – antioxidants that scavenge free radicals to protect against cellular damage.

Coconut Water

Coconut water is Mother Nature’s ultimate hydration drink.

Like Gatorade and other popular sports drinks, coconut water contains high levels of electrolytes such as potassium and magnesium.

Runners also use coconut water as a recovery drink and a natural replenishment of electrolytes after a hard run or workout.

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How to Determine The Dosing

Want to get a more accurate guesstimate of the potency of your cannabis infusions and extractions? Try our popular edibles calculator!

Not sure what your perfect dose is? Learn more here.

My Edibles Made Easy Online Cooking Course will teach you how to easily make cannabis edibles and topical recipes at home. This step-by-step video course will teach you how to infuse, extract, and create edibles with many different product types - all from the comfort of your own home.

Learn more and enroll today →