Training & Nutrition - Interesting Story: Read if you drink pop

Hey folks,
My good friend and I are summer enthusiasts and we spend every breathing minute of it outside in the sun (unless we're working :( ). We do a lot of biking, blading, soccer etc. At one point my friend was always complaining about how tired he was after each activity, he'd say that he didn't have any energy left and would feel like he wanted to go to sleep. He drank about 3-4 cans of pop (coke) a day (not overly drastic).

One day I took a few friends out biking on a trail, it wasn't a very long ride, maybe a few miles of intense ups and downs, but in the end they all came out panting, especially my buddy, I was as energetic as ever. Then we got drunk one night (haha), and he happened to be drinking rum and coke, later during the night he couldn't sleep at all, and the next day he decided that he wouldn't drink coke ever again. Thus far, he hasn't, but what's changed is that he has more energy than me, we'll go out for a 30-40 k bike and afterwards he'd want to go roller blading for another 10, while I'd be fairly tired. Basically as soon as he stopped drinking coke he's been feeling more energetic than ever, more energetic than me in fact. His muscles are performing better, and he has more energy throughout the day, he even looks "fresher".

I think it may have been the caffeine that was doing this (although it's actually supposed to increase muscular endurance -read articles about it), it may have been the sugar content giving him highs and lows, or maybe the lack of coke increased his water consumption, but I am simply amazed at the change which occurred so suddenly. Personally i never have soft drinks unless I'm having some fast food (which I rarely do), too much sugar and health risks. Anyways, I thought I'd share this with all you people, some of you may find it interesting. Happing Pedaling.
Ciao

So what does he drink instead?

He's been training secretly. See he gets drunk, trains, and then when he's off the Coke he drops you like yesterday's burrito.

Here is some food (err I mean drink) for thought..... if you actually crunch the numbers it is pretty shocking....

1 can of Coke = 39 grams of sugar
4 cans a day = 156 grams
about 32 teaspoons of sugar
or 1/3 a pound!!

That'll give anyone a pretty good sugar spike.

Even of you drink diet coke, all the chemicals are not that good for you.. Think about this, I am also a golfer and old trick to clean my copper clubs is to soak them in coke.. You drop the clubs in a bucket and add 2 liters of coke.. The next day you take them out they are cleaned to perfection, it literally peels off a coat of the copper without scrubbing them..

Just think what all those chemicals are doing to your body..

Yeah, the sugar content of Coke is probably the least of your worries. Here's the nutritional info for Coca-cola brand soft-drinks: Coca-Cola Company - SoftDrinkNutrition.pdf (http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/mail/goodanswer/soft_drink_nutrition.pdf)

At 4 Coca-cola Classics a day, 145-calories/ea = ~600 calories. In contrast, here's what I had on my last 65-mile Goob ride:

300 calories = (1) PB&J sandwich
750 calories = (2) 750ml bottles Cytomax
-----------------
1050 calories TOTAL

or about TWICE what your buddy was getting from his sodas. It's probably not even the sugar, since in your muscles, the glucose is indistinguishable in its source whether it came from a soda, a sports-drink or PB&J sandwich, fig-newtons, or gels.

I suspect your buddy's been training, since speed is more about muscle-efficiency, strength and aerobic conditioning than energy-source. The calories really only determine how far you can go, 60 or 200-miles, but doesn't really contribute much to speed. Or rather, the LACK of calories & sugar will cause you to go slow due to the dreaded bonk.

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Also the typical sugar-spike after a meal does not affect performance, only perceptions in the brain. The insulin-spike in response to increased blood-sugar just moves glucose from the blood into the muscle-cells, EXACTLY where you want it. Just that with low blood-sugar, the brian feels lethargic, but the muscles are primed and ready to go.

Additionally, it's not possible to get get a sugar-spike and drop while exercising. The limited digestion/absorption rate of 200-250cal/hr cannot keep up with the burn-rate while exercising. Even if you were to gulp down all four sodas while riding, they will only be absorbed at this low rate. Meanwhile, you're burning off 500 calories/hr while riding and your blood-sugar continually drops during the ride. That's why on long rides, you need to back off the pace so that your body can digested food contributes a larger percentage of the calories burnt. Burning off glucose at a 400 cal/hr pace will let you go much further than a 500 cal/hr pace.

This is assuming that your body reacts the same way with coke as copper does. That's a pretty big stretch. Even still, I only drink diet coke occasionally (never drink regular cokes), but I don't believe that it's really that bad for you.

^^^diet might be worse than the real thing, aspartame, splenda, saccharin are nasty chemicals to be ingesting

Many, many, many years ago, I was working in a donut shop and had packed on a bit of weight. I decided to make a little bit of an effort to lose a few pounds, and so I made ONE change. I stopped drinking sugared beverages.

I was still well hydrated ... I drank water and diet beverages in the same quantity as I had been drinking sugared beverages ... and I still ate the same quantity, and exercised the same amount as I had been.

And I lost 5 lbs in one week ... and kept it off. :)

Yep. No more sodas for me ever. Water.

Even of you drink diet coke, all the chemicals are not that good for you.. Think about this, I am also a golfer and old trick to clean my copper clubs is to soak them in coke.. You drop the clubs in a bucket and add 2 liters of coke.. The next day you take them out they are cleaned to perfection, it literally peels off a coat of the copper without scrubbing them..

Just think what all those chemicals are doing to your body..
I'm pretty sure it's just the citric acid that does the cleaning. Citric acid is good for you... bad for your teeth though.

^^^
I have a friend who cleans brass with ketchup, and it works great. So, if you're going to stop drinking coke because it cleans copper, you'd better start cutting out ketchup, too.

And for those who don't like Splenda because it has a Cl molecule, better cut out NaCl, too.

Personally I feel the fewer artificial chemicals you put in your body the less stress you put on your systemic health, but that's just me. I think it's kind of strange that the R&D departments at all these processed food factories seem to feel that you have to keep adding chemicals with longer and longer names that no one can pronounce in order to "improve" the product.
Things that are marketed to our children seem to be the worst offenders. I guess they figure it will take longer for adverse effects to show up in more vigorous systems or something.

I'm pretty sure it's just the citric acid that does the cleaning. Citric acid is good for you... bad for your teeth though.It's the phosphoric acid that's probably the culprit. Much, much more corrosive and reactive than citric acid.

It's the phosphoric acid that's probably the culprit. Much, much more corrosive and reactive than citric acid.
Oh! I didn't realise there was phosphoric acid in fizzy drinks. Doesn't really matter to me, 'cause I don't drink them.

Just last week there was a news story on the Internet about sodium benzoate in diet soft drinks. It reacts with vitamin C in the drink or in your body and forms benzene, which is a carcinogen. It also changes your DNA with the effect that your cells do not process oxygen properly. This results in less energy. Click here (http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/6/5/111647.shtml?promo_code=2A89-1) for the story.

Wow fantastic find, I will show this to my buddy. It makes alot of sense too, he was always complaining about lactic acid buildup (or in simpler terms, muscle aches).
Ciao

Brush it on? Leave on how long? Wash it off? I could use this kind of info.

Ooops. Messed up! Try it again.
[QUOTE=dagna]^^^
I have a friend who cleans brass with ketchup, and it works great. So, if you're going to stop drinking coke because it cleans copper, you'd better start cutting out ketchup, too.

Brush it on? Leave on how long? Wash it off? I could use this kind of info.

A few months ago, I had a panic attack. Doc asked me if I was using a lot of caffeine --- I did the count:

2 cups of coffee in AM (maybe 3)
1 soda at noon
1 soda in afternoon
soda or tea at supper
soda or tea or coffee in pm

Too much of this stuff makes you crazy.

I cut back drastically --- currently 1 cup of half-caf coffee in am, one caffeinated soda in afternoon. Anything else is decaf. The withdrawal was awful, worse than you would imagine caffeine would be.

Also, I do have more energy now, and I drink a lot more water...