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

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

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

Do I need to worry about replacing electrolytes?