This Pineapple Mango Switchel hits the spot, cools you down, balances electrolytes, and gives your taste buds a mini tropical vacation with bright pineapple and mango flavors! Like a natural Gatorade or Powerade, switchel is the perfect healthy drink for summer and post-workout! Learn the benefits of switchel plus how to use frozen fruit for switchel!

Switchel is a relatively new drink for me… but it’s definitely not new on the scene of traditional, nourishing drinks.

I tasted my first sip of Switchel during the summer of 2016 and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. It was slightly bubbly, slightly sour, sorta sweet, and faintly ginger-ish. Not unlike kombucha, actually.

But get my teenagers to drink it…?

Nope. Not even a chance.

My precious children run at the sight and my husband promptly leaves the room at the smell of raw apple cider vinegar. I love the stuff, but I am most certainly in the ACV minority in my house!

So, getting any of them to even try a drink with ACV was going to be a stretch. The benefits of switchel, however, were worth a try.

Since I won’t buy “electrolyte” drinks like PowerAde and Gatorade for my kids, we have to rely on other, less sugar-y sources of replenishment, especially during humid Minnesota summers.

Benefits Of Switchel

It prevents dehydration. Think of switchel as one of the first electrolyte sports drinks. Because that’s kinda what it was first used for. Though the source of switchel is debatable, the drink (reportedly first made with molasses, ACV, and ginger) was served to men and women working in hot fields to refresh them, cool them off, and help prevent dehydration. It’s also great to drink after a workout, working outdoors, or taking a sauna, or during illness to prevent dehydration.

Switchel is anti-inflammatory. Several of switchel’s ingredients possess anti-inflammatory properties: apple cider vinegar, ginger, bromelain in pineapple (though pineapple is not a traditional switchel ingredient), and lemon juice. Raw honey even has anti-inflammatory properties!

Switchel is pH-balancing. Because it contains apple cider vinegar, switchel acts as a tonic to your liver and lymphatic system, helping to balance your body’s pH.

Switchel is very low in sugar. One-third of a cup of raw honey (or maple syrup, if you prefer) to almost a half gallon of water is VERY diluted! Much less sugar and much less of an impact on the blood sugar than sports drinks and sodas.

You may be like my kids and find that Pineapple Mango Switchel (as written) isn’t sweet enough. That’s ok! After pouring your glass, add stevia to taste!

This Pineapple Mango Switchel hits the spot, cools you down, balances electrolytes, and gives your taste buds a mini tropical vacation with bright pineapple and mango flavors!

How To Use Frozen Fruit For Switchel

While switchel is a great way to take advantage of flavorful and fresh seasonal produce, we don’t always have access to fresh produce in season.

Frozen fruit solves this problem! Because produce is picked at the height of the season, frozen fruits and vegetables are just like getting the foods fresh when they’re in season! Even if they aren’t!

So, if you grow your own berries or happen to have access to fresh, local pineapples, by all means, use THOSE. If, however, you live in an area where not a lot of fresh fruit grows (like I do), frozen fruits are your friends!

I also use frozen fruit to flavor my kombucha for the same reasons.

Personally, I find that frozen fruits impart a more concentrated, fruity flavor to both kombucha and switchel… most likely because the fruits were picked and frozen at the height of the season, ensuring the best, most flavorful fruits!

• Use the same amount of frozen fruit as you would fresh.
• If the frozen fruit is in large chunks — like pineapple or mango or peaches, for example — you may find it helpful to cut the pieces in half or quarters before adding them to your switchel mix.
• Try frozen berries, cherries, pomegranate arils, peaches, and more!

Is Switchel Keto/Low-Carb/THM?

Nope, sorry.

Because of the use of a whole sweetener, switchel is not low-carb enough for keto or Trim Healthy Mama lifestyles.

Which may have you asking, “Can I just leave the sweetener out?”

Sure, you can… but you won’t technically have switchel. You’d have a vinegar- and fruit-infused water. Probably still yummy and similar tasting, but not as hydrating and replenishing as real switchel!

5 from 13 votes

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Pineapple Mango Switchel

This Pineapple Mango Switchel hits the spot, cools you down, balances electrolytes, and gives your taste buds a mini tropical vacation with bright pineapple and mango flavors! Pineapple Mango Switchel is the perfect healthy drink for summer and post-workout!

Ingredients

• 1/3cupraw apple cider vinegarwith the mother
• 1/3cupraw honey
• 1/2cupchopped mangofresh or frozen
• 1/2cupchopped pineapplefresh or frozen
• 1-inchknob of gingerpeeled and diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• water to fill a 1/2 gallon Mason jar

Instructions

1. Add all prepared ingredients to a half-gallon Mason jar or other pretty glass pitcher that you have.
2. Fill with water.
3. Stir to incorporate the honey.
4. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
5. Add stevia to taste, if more sweetness is desired.
6. Pineapple-Mango Switchel will keep up to 72 hours in the fridge.

More Hydrating, Refreshing Drinks You’ll Love…

• Stevia-Sweetened Wild Violet Lemonade
• How To Flavor Kombucha With Frozen Fruit
• Real Food Cranberry Lemon Spritzer
• Low-Carb Strawberry Italian Sodas
• Stevia-Sweetened Arnold Palmer
• Green Hippie Juice
• Ginger and Turmeric Kombucha
• Pineapple-Carrot-Turmeric Spritzer (aka The Best Period Drink EVER!)

Have you ever made switchel? Do you use fresh or frozen fruit? What are your favorite fruits to use in switchel?