I’m in Sicily right now. I don’t know why I picked to come here in July – it’s the hottest month and to be perfectly honest, it’s brutal. You know the kind of unforgiving sun that just burns through your skin like a laser?
Yet, I could not sit still so I ventured out on a hike up a local volcano. The Italian hiking guide said that to it’s a “moderate” hike and showed “2 hours” which I interpreted as a round trip. Turns out that in Italy, 2 hours mean time to reach the peak and by an extremely fit person. I’m moderately fit so it took me 2.5 hours to reach the peak and 1.5 hours to come down.
The biggest problem was: I didn’t bring enough water for a 4-hour hike. I ended up getting very dehydrated and developed a migraine. No matter how much water I drank, the headache did not ease off.
In the evening, I was meeting a new friend for a drink. I told the bartender that I won’t be drinking any alcohol and felt compelled to share my little misadventure. She replied: “Oh, no problem. I now make you a special typical Sicilian summer spritz with aqua frizzante, salt, and lemon. You wait.”
I’m passing on this simple recipe to you. What I love about it is:
- Sea salt – helps to replenish your electrolytes after vigorous exercise in summer
- Cream of tartar – a great natural source of potassium (part of all electrolyte drinks)
- Lemon juice – alkalizes the body
- Honey – full of beneficial enzymes if raw and local
It’s a great summer drink, but I also enjoy making it as a “mocktail” during Dry January. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
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- 1 quart sparkling water
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon raw local honey
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
- Ice
- Pour sparkling water to a pitcher.
- Add lemon juice, honey, salt, cream of tartar and stir until dissolved.
- Add the ice and serve right away.
Hi Magdalena ,
Sorry , but I’m unable to print the spritzer recipe . Could you please check the ‘print ‘ function .
Thanks ,
Guranda
Hi Guranda, after you click the print icon a new page pops up, which is the recipe. Right click on the out side of the recipe and the option for you to print will appear. It works for me:) ~ Jeanne HB Team
No it doesn’t work.
This is interesting. A year or two ago I read about a cure for migraines: salt (maybe 1-3 tsp.) in straight lemon juice (maybe 3 Tbsp.) I tried it for heat/dehydration-induced headaches and was surprised that it worked. It seems your spritzer is a close relative and would taste a lot better. Could you give us a little more detail on how the salt + lemon combo works to re-hydrate? I’ve also found salted cucumbers to be pretty effective–maybe it’s the gel water in the cucumbers.
Hi Mary, the salt and lemon juice contain minerals (electrolytes), which help hydrate the body. Cucumbers are great as well! ~ Jeanne HB Team
In various combinations and proportions, I use say, half and half sparkling water (like San Pellegrino) and coconut water (like Harmless Harvest), ginger juice (about 1 t per cup of water), full spectrum salt, lemon juice, lime juice, stevia or maple syrup.
Thank you for sharing your drink 🙂 ~HB Team
Did it help? How did you feel after drinking this tonic?
Have you had it since then?
Hi Wendy,
Yes, it did help her 🙂 She shared this with her team and we love it too. Now everyone can have the recipe. Are you going to try it? ~HB Team
Is a quart 4 cups? Thanks
Hi Gaynor, yes a quart is 4 cups:) ~ Jeanne HB Team
[…] Electrolyte drink – I’ve found that my mind gets sharper and I get a lot more energy when I drink this mixture of salt, lemon juice and cream of tartar (a great source of potassium). Recipe for the Lemon Spritzer here. […]
Can the sparkling water be replaced with a plain water? What type would you recommend (mineral, spring, distilled etc)?
[…] dehydrated on a volcano hike – that uses salt, lemon and sparkling water – see the Rehydrating Lemon Spritzer, the traditional way of keeping hydrated in […]
[…] Electrolyte Drink – I’ve found that my mind gets sharper and I get a lot more energy when I drink this mixture of salt, lemon juice and cream of tartar (a great source of potassium). Recipe for the Lemon Spritzer I make here. […]
Hi Alexis, you could try clearing your cache and internet history to see if that helps. It worked ok from my end, so if not you could always try taking a screenshot and printing that to have available. I hope this helps! ~HB Support.
Where can you buy cream of tartar?
Hi Michaela,
You can purchase this in the spice section of the grocery store. Take care, Jennifer