Need a good natural post-workout recovery drink? Skip those artificially colored energy drinks and pasteurized, highly-processed, refined juices in bottles and tetra packs. Instead, prepare your own fresh, all-natural, and truly nourishing high-octane sports drink! They are easy to make, loaded with nutrition, and will keep you from binging after a long and tiring workout.

All you need is a large sports bottle and an insulated lunch box to carry along your smoothies or juices. Don’t forget to put an ice pack inside your insulated lunchbox to help keep your freshly made drink cold for hours.

Here are some amazing vegan recipes to get you started.

We also highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  — with over 20,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based, and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy! 

1. The Cocolina — A Coconut Spirulina Energy Drink

Coconut water is Potassium-rich and nature’s best isotonic drink. Spirulina is a protein-rich alga that contains 8 essential and 10 non-essential amino acids, potassium, energy-giving B vitamins such as B1, B2, and B6, and magnesium, a mineral essential for energy.

Ingredients: Coconut water and ½ teaspoon spirulina powder

Directions: Pour coconut water into a sports bottle and mix in the spirulina powder. Tightly secure bottle cap and shake well. If you cannot stand the taste of spirulina, just take 500mg tablets and down them with coconut water in between training or workouts. This can also be consumed as a pre-workout drink.

2. Orange Flax Smoothie

Oranges are good sources of potassium, magnesium, B1, B2, B3, B6, and folate. Flax oil (or hemp seed oil) will slow down the release of fruit sugar into the bloodstream, giving you a steady supply of energy for a few hours.

Ingredients: 5 peeled, sweet, seedless oranges and 3 tablespoons of cold-pressed flax oil or hempseed oil.

Directions: Add a little cold water (about half a cup) and blend. Drink slowly. Great as a pre-workout drink.

3. Refreshing Apple Cider Drink

Apple cider vinegar contains significant amounts of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, B1, B2, and B6.

Ingredients: 2 teaspoons raw, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar; 16 ounces cold water; 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup/raw agave syrup/raw coconut nectar (for diabetics: 2 teaspoons yacon syrup/2 teaspoons coconut sugar or raw coconut nectar/4 drops stevia)

Directions: Transfer all ingredients to a sports bottle and shake well.

4. Green Banana Smoothie

Bananas are the best source of potassium, an important mineral that beats fatigue and enables the body’s enzymes to control energy production. They are also high in vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6, which all help convert food into energy; phosphorus, which helps reduce tiredness and increase physical endurance, and magnesium, a crucial nutrient for muscles and nerves. Romaine lettuce is high in thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and potassium.

Ingredients: 4 large sweet and ripe bananas; A bag of mild-tasting salad greens or one head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped; 3 cups of cold water

Directions: Pour 2 cups of cold water into the blender. Add 1 cup of ice and salad greens or chopped romaine lettuce and process for 30 seconds to a minute. Put the 4 peeled bananas and blend until smooth. This is a great post-workout drink.

5. Banana Wheat Grass Smoothie

Wheatgrass is an abundant source of protein, potassium, magnesium, and B complex.

Ingredients: 3 large sweet bananas; 2 cups cold water; 1 tablespoon wheatgrass powder

Directions: Process all ingredients in the blender until smooth. Pour into a large sports bottle!

Looking for healthy plant foods to fuel your workout with? Read the articles below:

• Healthy Foods to Fuel Your Workout
• The Low-down on Natural Ways to Fuel Your Workout
• Eat Like An Athlete: 8 Amazing Plant-Powered Foods
• Protein in a Plant-based Diet: A Vegan Bodybuilder’s Perspective
• Slaying the Protein Dragon: Plant-based Protein and the Endurance Athlete
• Distance Running on Plant-based Fuel

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home!

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
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• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!