Sports Drink Updates from ACSM

Nancy Clark RD CSSD — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:28:22 GMT

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is the world’s largest sports medicine and exercise science organization. At ACSM's 2009 Annual Meeting, over 5,000 exercise scientists, sports dietitians, physicians and health professionals gathered to share their research. Here are a few of the nutrition highlights related to fluids. More highlights are available at http://www.acsm.org (click on “news releases”).

• Just rinsing your mouth with a sports drink may help you run faster! After an overnight fast (13-15 hours without food) and before and during a one hour time trial, 10 trained runners rinsed their mouth for five seconds with a sports drink or a placebo, and then spit it out. With the sports drink mouth rinse, they were able to run 365 meters longer in the time trial.

• An effective sports drink needs to be rapidly absorbed. Adding sodium (40-165 mg) to the beverage does not significantly slow absorption.

• Athletes who exercise in the heat might wonder if they can “hyper-hydrate.” Yes; more fluid is retained when a sports drink has a higher sodium content. Drinking a sports drink with double and triple the standard amount of sodium contributed to retaining 25% and 35% more water (12 and 17 ounces; 340 and 480 ml) than the standard sports drink.

• About 25% of athletic trainers use pickle juice to treat muscle cramps. Some report 1 to 2 ounces of pickle juice relieves cramps within 35 seconds. The mechanism is illusive because rapid relief must mean that pickle juice empties from the stomach very quickly. Yet, research indicates pickle juice empties very slowly from the stomach.

Marathon training: fueling for long runs

Nancy Clark RD CSSD — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:58:53 GMT

Nancy, I am training for my first marathon and am starting to get to the point where I am out on my runs for over an hour. I am trying to figure out what products I should be consuming to keep up my energy levels and keep me hydrated at the same time.

Answer: First off, congrats on your hard work and dedication to your training program.

I am glad you asked about how to fuel during long runs, because fueling is an important part of your training program. You need to train your intestinal tract, as well as your heart, lungs and muscles. Too many marathons are needlessly lost in the porta-potties…

You can experiment with standard foods (gummy candy, twizzlers, dried pineapple, rice crispy treats, fig newtons, pretzels) or “products” like gels, bloks, or sports beans. There is nothing magic about the engineered foods, other than convenience and portability.

Before the long run, you want to eat a small meal that will settle well during the long run (oatmeal, bagel, pasta). That food will keep you energized for about 60 to 90 minutes. Then, you want to target about 200 to 300 calories per hour (depending on your body size). While some (or all) of those calories can come from a sports drink, you can also drink plain water and get carbs with the suggestions listed above.

You might want to go to the website of your event and see what food/fluids they will offer on the course. By training with them, you'll know what ones work for your body.

Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

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

Sports Drink Updates from ACSM

Marathon training: fueling for long runs