Monday, January 30, 2012

Homemade Pedialyte

This time of year there's plenty of germs and viruses to go around.  And they do. 

So many moms depend on things like Pedialyte to keep their children hydrated when fighting fevers, flus and other common illnesses.  If you're like me, you read the ingredient lables before you buy.  The first 5 ingredients are the most important.  And it's best to buy things with only 5 ingredients or less.  Not necessary, but best. 

photo credit
 The first 5 ingredients of Pedialyte {vanilla nutripal drink} are:  water, sugar {ugh!}, milk protein concentrate, soy oil, and whey protein concentrate.  After those there's a whole gamete of ingredients.  Not to mention ingredient # 12 is artificial flavors and then there's a bunch of things no one can pronounce or understand. And you know another rule of healthy eating is, "If you can't say it, you shouldn't eat it".

Other flavors have other ingredients...but you get the idea. 

If your child is sick, his body is naturally working overtime to kill the germs and repair the problem.  Adding artificial ingredients to his already overworked system will only serve to make his body work harder trying to digest things that are not supposed to be there. 

Here's a recipe for all natural Pedialyte:
  • 2 Quarts Water
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 7 Teaspoons  Raw Honey (not to be given to children under a year old)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1 Cup fresh-squeezed or bottled orange juice.  You can probably use any flavor you happen to have on hand.  Just be sure it's all natural with no added sugars of any kind. My kids like lemons.
And don't forget, you can freeze this recipe to make Popsicles and mix things up a bit.  Sometimes a child will eat a Popsicle even if they don't feel like eating or drinking. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are so glad to have you here at Hidden Treasures.  We'd love to have you connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.  Or you can choose to have our post delivered directly to your E-mail or RSS feed.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read our posts!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post is linked up with:
The Better Mom
Barn Hop #47 
Far Above Rubies

7 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this! I'm trying so hard to replace many of the food products that contain anything artificial in them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is great! Thanks! I have another home made pedialyte recipe but it contains sugar (I'm with you: noooo!). I'm happy to see that there are other moms out there who are looking for ways to save money and stay healthy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. My daughter is one and I"m nervous about the honey. Can I use Grade B Maple syrup?

    ReplyDelete
  4. You do need to be careful not to give honey to children that are younger than 2. Mapel syrup may be an option. For more information on the differences between honey and maple syrup you can go here... http://www.livestrong.com/article/412144-nutrition-of-pure-maple-syrup-vs-honey/

    I would be sure to give her the honey, though, as soon as she's old enough since it really is so good for her. :)

    Thank you for asking!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You can't give babies raw honey. I use lemon stevia in place of it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, you shouldn't give honey to children under a year of age. I should have included that in the post. I've made the necessary changes! Thank you!

      Delete