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By Larry Barnum
 I like blue. It’s probably my favorite color. Just not to drink.
In the gym the other day, doing some cross training, I saw a large Coke machine that must have been in recovery, now filled instead with colorful, probably expensive, hydration options. A rainbow of sports drinks.
Few looked appealing, none natural. But that’s my bias. I refueled at the water fountain.
Photo Courtesy of Andy Ciordia
But it got me thinking. It’s a common question and problem for runners. What should you take to replace lost electrolytes, what proportion of carbs and protein help build muscle and restore muscle glycogen?
When should you drink the what should you drink stuff. Isn’t the workout hard enough on its own without having to try and figure out what should you drink when you’re too tired to think?
Certainly most know about replacing fluids and keeping hydrated. Sports drinks are a huge business with all the claims and way too many choices. How can you even wade through the water options? We’re here to help.
Recently, two every day beverages, once thought to be bad, may take the lead for sports drinks. First off, is our unofficial disclaimer. WRT is not making any health claims, nor getting any sponsorship, although we might consider it, we’re just looking at the research. So before proceeding, always check with your doctor, herbalists, dowser or barista.
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Then do what we do. After our labor intensive homemade vegetable juice, before our workout, we have our morning non-fat latte. That’s right, coffee. It’s good for you. Actually the caffeine may help burn more calories from fat and keep your glycogen levels higher longer. (See masters champ Marie-Louise Michelsohn's race day routine.)
Caffeine gives a boost, helping muscles release calcium, which allows the muscles then to contract with more force, and gives athletes more energy to run faster and longer.
Once a controlled substance by the International Olympic Committee as a performance enhancer, in 2004 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) dropped caffeine from its list of banned substances.
After a positive caffeine test at the 1999 World Indoor championships, U.S. sprinter and Olympic relay gold medalist Inger Miller was stripped of the bronze in the 60 meters. At the 2003 Pan American Games, Letitia Vriesde of Surinam lost her 800 meters gold. You can’t get those illegal levels no matter how many refills you have.
But most women would see a measurable performance increase from just one to two medium size cups of coffee. And that’s legal. Helps reduce the chances of liver cancer, possibly colon cancer. And while it’s shown dramatic improvement against Parkinson’s in men, women who do not use post-menopausal hormones also benefit.
Caffeine also helps in treating asthma and headaches. A single dose of some pain relievers, such as Anacin or Excedrin, contain up to 120 milligrams of caffeine. And caffeine appeared more effective than ibuprofen in curbing post-exercise pain.
A study published in March in Circulation evaluated data from more than 83,000 women over a period of more than two decades. It showed that women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 19 percent lower risk of stroke than those who drank almost no coffee.
So coffee’s good beforehand; power down an espresso. But what’s good afterwards? After the workout your body’s depleted and sweated out all sorts of stuff. (Ed. Note: insert here the clinical term for “stuff”). Fluids need to be replaced. Quickly. Turns out, you can refuel some of the people some of the time if you’ve got milk. It’s good for you.
Researches in the U.K. found that low fat and fat-free milk worked better than water, water with sodium, or the sports drinks they tested. Indiana researches found that low fat chocolate milk worked as well as or better than commercial fluid and carbohydrate replacement drinks.
Now if chocolate milk is good (see Nancy Clark’s article on the latest research) than what about a non-fat mocha latte? The research is not yet in on that. We’re taking anecdotal evidence and will follow the buzz on that. Let us know your own personal stories.
If you wanna get together before or after your run, maybe take a break with your friends and check out the local neighborhood coffee bar and see what’s brewing.
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