Bananas are abundant in potassium. Researchers from the Appalachian State University’s Human Performance Lab recently found that endurance cyclists performed just as well when they consumed bananas as they did when they drank a sports drink. A banana offers other, long-term benefits not available from a sugary sports drink: antioxidants, fiber and vitamin B.
Sports drinks are meant to help with endurance during your workout and are also intended to help with recovery. Recent research found that low-fat chocolate milk works better. According to a Mayo Clinic review of several high-quality studies, that’s because low fat milk has all three components required for proper sports recovery:
- Carbohydrates, in the form of lactose
- The electrolytes potassium and sodium
- Protein from casein and whey
If you bike or run an hour or more, you are not just losing fluids. You are also sweating out electrolytes like sodium and potassium. You could replace these electrolytes with a sports drink or you, better yet, with a glass of tomato juice. Tomato juice is filled with potassium and sodium. One eight-ounce glass delivers about six times the sodium and 15 times the potassium than you would get from a typical standard sports drink.
