The Running Institute Mile at Saline High School, just south of Ann Arbor, Mich., on Aug. 4 was unlike any other race. (I wrote at length about it here.) In the aftermath, the fans descended from the bleachers to the infield to speak with the racers. Two high school runners came up to me. They congratulated me on my race, shook my hand, and then hesitantly asked if they could ask me a question. “For sure,” I responded, even though I wasn’t sure what they would ask or whether I would have an answer.
They leaned in slightly as if to tell me a secret—I remember thinking this question was going to be something bizarre—then one of them almost whispered, “Do you drink pop?”
It is a common nutrition question for runners. When I was in high school, I remember hearing any carbonated, delicious drink was off limits. No soda pop during season was common for my teammates and me. After my interaction with the two runners (I told them I do drink pop now—albeit sparingly—even though I didn’t drink pop in high school), I found that soda is still spoken of in hushed tones in the high school running community.
In last week’s edition of The Furnace, Leslie Bonci, the director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, advised eating the foods that make you feel good on a run. So she recommended eating and drinking an hour before your run to fuel your body and then eating within 15 minutes of finishing so that you replenish the nutrients your body used up.
So how does soda fit into those guidelines? Says Bonci: “It’s related to the time of performance and how much of it somebody has.” Because of the carbonation, drinking soda pop before or right after a run is going to hurt your performance and recovery.
A carbonated drink stays in your stomach for longer than a non-carbonated beverage, Bonci explains. “So the problem is, if you’re going to put fluid in your body before you run, the goal of that liquid is not to reside in your stomach while you run, it’s to leave your stomach to be able to hydrate your muscles,” she says. Soda pop doesn’t do this. On the other side, if you have a soda pop as a recovery drink, it won’t rehydrate your muscles as quickly as other liquids, like water, a sports drink, or chocolate milk, will. In fact, it can linger in your stomach, making you too full to recharge on more nutrient-packed foods and beverages.
But as for drinking a soda a day, several hours after a run, is that going to be detrimental? Bonci says no. A sweet treat in a can isn’t a problem, because “most runners are expending a lot of calories,” she says. The extra 140 calories in a single 12-ounce can of Coke isn’t going to make or break your season. Just avoid it around the time of physical activity.
Recenty, Joshua Katz, a Ph.D student in the Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University, published a set of maps that show how Americans in different regions pronounce certain words. (The data was collected by Bert Vaux of Cambridge University.) One map showed what Americans say when asked, “What is your generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage?” The results were fascinating:
Whether you call it soda, pop, coke or a soft drink doesn’t matter. What matters is that you can drink it in moderation if you want, but you should keep away before and after runs.
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