Blog Posts From Active Expert: Nancy Clark RD CSSD Tagged With sodium

Is coconut water the perfect sports drink?

guest — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:48:40 GMT

The ads suggest coconut water is the perfect sports drink. What do ya' think?

Coconut water is marketed as being “100% pure” and “all natural.” Almost true. It has only two ingredients: coconut water (the watery liquid inside a green coconut) -- but also quite a bit of vitamin C that has been added to the drink. Not "all natural."

Coconut water is naturally rich in potassium (good) but has a high price tag (about $3 for a 17-ounce carton; bad).

Here’s how it compares (in portions commonly consumed by thirsty athletes) to Gatorade and orange juice:

Fluid	Serving size	Calories	Sodium	Potassium	Vitamin C
Coconut Water (2 ingredients)	17-oz carton	90	60	1030	350% DV (Fortified)
Gatorade (12 ingredients)	20-ounce bottle	125	275	75	0%
Orange Juice (1 ingredient)	16 ounces	220	0	900	100%

Because serious athletes have a higher need for sodium than potassium during sweaty exercise (and you will simply flush the excess vitamin C down the toilet), I’d suggest you choose a higher-sodium sports drink during endurance workouts and spend your money on orange juice and other natural foods afterwards. That is, unless you happen to prefer the taste and digestibility of coconut water, which research suggests is not always the case (1)

For more info on what to drink, check out the Fluids chapter in my Sports Nutrition Guidebook.

1) Kalman, D, S Feldman, DKrieger, R Bloomer. Comparison of coconut water and a carbohydrate-electrolytesport drink on measures of hydration and physical performance inexercise-trained men. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2012; 9:1

How to get fully hydrated for long runs

guest — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:57:01 GMT

Nancy, I am training for a marathon. I know I should drink on my long runs but where I run, no water is available. Is there any way I can super-hydrate so I don't have to drink on the long runs?

No, you cannot super-hydrate. Your body is like a sponge and can absorb just so much fluid at one time. Then, it starts to seep. You can start your long runs fully hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids the day before. Drink enough so your urine is pale colored and you have to urinate at least every two to four hours.

On the day of the long run, drink plenty of fluids (water, juice, even coffee or tea are OK) up to 1.5 to 2 hours before the start of the run. Then stop drinking, so you’ll have plenty of time to eliminate the excess and hopefully avoid the need for an unwanted pit stop. Within 15 minutes before you start the long run, drink again to get water into your system.

To enhance fluid retention on the day of the long run, eat something salty with your pre-run breakfast. This will help keep water in your body.

--Add some salt to your oatmeal.

--Enjoy some chicken noodle soup.

--Eat a bagel with peanut butter.

--Have salted rice or potato.

These foods offer far more sodium than you will get from any sports drink. (Compare labels and you’ll discover 8 ounces of Gatorade has only 110 mg sodium, whereas a Thomas’s bagel has 400 to 500 milligrams sodium.)

I also suggest you hide bottles of sports drinks or water along the running route. Part of training is to train your intestinal tract. For you to go from drinking nothing during training to consuming fluid every 20 minutes during the marathon might be asking for transit trouble. Be wise and practice drinking during the long runs. You'll not only run better but will also recover better.

Salty snacks to enjoy during long bike rides, runs or endurance events

guest — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:11:09 GMT

When you’ll be exercising in the heat for more than three or fours hours, you should pay attention to your sodium intake. You might be losing 400 to 1,500 milligrams of sodium per hour (depending on how much you sweat and the sodium-content of your sweat). If you are, let's say, biking for 5 to 8 hours, these losses can take a toll.

Although most sweaty athletes believe sports drinks are an exceptional source of sodium, sports drinks are actually low in sodium compared to many to many other foods.

Here are some portable snack ideas that can better boost your sodium intake. These salty suggestions will likely be a welcome flavor-change if you have been downing sweet gels, sports candies and sugary sports drinks for several hours.

Few of these options offer stellar nutrition, so limit them to during endurance events when your goal is to survive (as opposed to optimize your health!

Salty sports snacks that you can easily carry in a bike shirt pocket or backpack:

Portable snack	Amount	Sodium (mg)	Calories
Gatorade	8 oz	110	50
Triscuits	1 oz (5 crackers)	180	120
Pretzel Nibblers, Snyder’s	1 oz (16)	200	120
Ritz Bits	1-oz packet	230	140
Clif Mojo Sweet & Salty Trail Mix Bar	1 bar	230	200
Wheat Thins	1 oz (14 crackers)	200	120
Hard Pretzel, Snyder’s	1 (1 oz)	240	100
Pretzel-Thin Twists, Snyder’s	1 oz (11 twists)	330	110
V8 Juice	Small (5.5 oz) can	330	30
Red Oval Stoned What Thins	1 oz (4 crackers)	420	120
Pretzel sticks, Bachman	1-oz packet	520	100
Beef jerky, Jack Link’s	1 oz	590	80
Boiled potato + ¼ tsp salt	1 medium	600	150
Pretzel Rod, Rold Gold	1 rod (1 oz)	610	110
Lunchable, Cracker Stacker Ham + American	1 packet	1070	410
Chicken Bouillon cube, Herb-Ox	1 cube	1100	5

Information from food labels, May 2011

For additional information on replacing sweat losses; Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook

Do I need to worry about replacing electrolytes?

guest — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 11:57:06 GMT

Generally not. When you exercise, you lose some electrolytes via sweat, but you are unlikely to deplete your body’s stores under ordinary circumstances. For example, you can easily replace the 200-600 milligrams of potassium you might lose in an hour of hard training by eating a medium to large banana (450-600 mg potassium). You can also easily replace the 800-1,400 mg sodium lost in two pounds of sweat by enjoying some spaghetti with tomato sauce or some chocolate milk with a bagel and peanut butter. Athletes who do need to worry about replacing electrolytes include those who will be sweating hard for more than three or four hours.

Keep in mind, most health organizations recommend we reduce our sodium intake, given the average American diet contains more than enough sodium! A high sodium intake leads to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke...

Sodium in Popular Recovery Foods

Food Sodium (mg)

Pizza, 1/2 of 12 in., DiGiorno cheese 2,490

Chicken noodle soup, 1 can Campbell's 2,350

Ramen noodles, Maruchan, 1 packet 1,580

Spaghetti sauce, 1 cup Ragu 1,160

Salt, 1 small packet 590

Pretzels, 1 oz (30 g) Rold Gold thins 560

Bagel, 1 Thomas' New York style (3.7 oz) 540

American cheese, 1 slice Kraft 250

Cheerios, 1 cup multigrain 200

Fruit yogurt, 6 oz (180 ml) 60-120

Bread, 1 slice Pepperidge Farm hearty slice 190

Saltine crackers, 5 (0.5 oz) 180

Potato chips, 20 Lay's 180

Gatorade, 8 oz (240 ml) 110

Endurolytes (electrolytes), 1 capsule 100

Powerade, 8 oz (240 ml) 70

Beer, 12 oz (355 ml) can 15

Coke, 12 oz (355 ml) can 10

Orange juice, 8 oz (240 ml) 5

Potential loss in a 2 hr workout 1,000-2,000

For more information about sodium, potassium and electrolytes, see:

Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook

Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions

Food Guide for New Runners: Getting It Right From the Start

Exercising in the heat

guest — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:47:17 GMT

June 10, 2008

We’ve had a streak of hot weather here in Boston, and most endurance athletes aren’t use to it yet. Be sure to not only drink enough fluids during exercise but also add a little sodium to your pre-exercise stint in the heat if you plan to be outside for a while. The sodium helps retain the fluids in your body (as oposed to have them go in one end and out the other) and can help delay dehydration and enhance your endurance. While on a daily basis you want to monitor your sodium intake, a little extra before hot weather exercise can be a wise choice.

Some possible choices are chicken noodle soup (or any canned brothy soup), V-8 juice, salted pretzels, pickles, ham and cheese sandwich with mustard – or any salted/salty food, before you go. This will be a change in eating patterns for health-conscious endurance athletes who cook their oatmeal without salt, rarely eat canned or processed foods, and have no salt shaker on the table.

You might lose 800 to 1,000 mg sodium per pound of sweat. (Weigh yourself pre and post exercise to figure our how many pounds of sweat you lose in an hour.) While you need not get obsessed about replacing sodium milligram for milligram, reading food labels can give you a frame of reference regarding how much you replace via foods. For example--

A quart of Gatorade offers 440 mg sodium

A can of chicken noodle soup offers 2,350 mg

Eight ounces of rrange juice has only 5 mg

Generally, if you crave salt, you should eat salt. The chapter on Repalcing Sweat Losses in my Sports Nutrition Guidebook offers more information. (See www.nancyclarkrd.com)

Enjoy that pretzel!

Nancy