Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sports Nutrition for Runners


Here is the latest nutrition information for runners from the American College of Sports Medicine website: http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=28 as reported by Nancy Clark.
  • About 25% of athletic trainers are now using pickle juice to treat muscle cramps. Some report 1 to 2 ounces of pickle juice relieves cramps withing 35 seconds.
  • It takes ten minutes for the water you drink to end up as sweat-- so keep drinking to stay hydrated, even near the end of a run.
  • Carbohydrate should be the fundamental source of recovery fuel. Chocolate milk is a great source of carbohydrate with a little protein. Cyclists did an exhaustive bike ride and recovered with chocolate milk or a commercial recovery drink and the next day did a time trial. The commercial drink offered no additional benefits and was much more costly.


  • Exhausted cyclists offered a choice of recovery drinks that they all Chocolate Milk the best post run recovery drinkenjoyed and tolerated well chose chocolate and vanilla milks more than water, sports drink or a watery chocolate drink.

  • Salty snacks and chicken noodle soup consumed after a run encouraged runners to drink more and become hydrated quicker after the run.

  • Fatigue is related not only to glycogen depletion and dehydration, but also to body temperature rising higher than 104 degrees-- another reason to keep cool while running in hot weather.
  • Eating an energy bar 15 minutes before exercise is as effective as eating it an hour before. (This one surprised us, still think we'd rather race short distance races like 5k's on an empty stomach!)
Nancy Clark's Nutrition Guide for Runners
Does running make you smart or do smart people like to run?
In recent studies movement and physical activity in third graders has been linked with higher scores on tests involving problem solving. Among college students, those who have a GPA of at least 3.5 are more likely to be physically active than students who study less and get lower grades.

Nancy Clark, RD is always a great source of up to date nutrition information for runners . Nancy has written some excellent books for runners and her website is: http://www.nancyclarkrd.com/about/index.html she also appears in New England Runner magazine. http://www.nerunner.com


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