Today’s Sports Medicine

Michael Anderson
October 20, 2009
Filed under Opinion/Editorial

Every athlete has their own advice to give with regard to nutrition before and after a sporting event, whether it be eating a banana, carb loading, or drinking massive amounts of water. This is especially evident for Brashier, where almost every student gives a different piece of advice. Relina Byrd, a Junior, said, “Eat lots of carbs, including whole wheat pasta, and a lot of vegetables.” Jacob Millet, another Junior, said “Don’t drink soda,” which is wonderful advice. According to Sophomore Ben Jennings, it’s good to “drink water, just not too much. Drink water and Gatorade during games.” To this, Jordan Greskamp, a Junior, added, “Stick to clear liquids, plus milk and tea. Don’t drink anything with high-fructose corn syrup.”

Let’s see what the coaches had to say. Athletic Director Bibb said, “A day or two before, eat complex carbs. an hour before, eat good carbs, like maybe a protein bar, to increase blood sugar. coffee is only good for low demand sports. Don’t drink coffee in high demand sports, because it can cause heart palpitations.” Sorry, Matt Logrippo, your advice only works sometimes. Eating a banana is very good advice, though, according to both Science Teacher Bill Smith and www.prevention.com, because they are full of potassium, which helps prevent muscle cramping. They also contain Vitamin B6 which helps to regulate blood glucose.

Now we get questionable. Freshman Riley Miller tells us we should “Drink a Monster.” This is the WORST advice you can ever give someone. Monster has twelve teaspoons of sugar, not to mention caffeine and guarana, both of which can cause heart damage and anxiety disorders over time after strenuous exercise.

Drinking water, however, is the best advice you can give someone. Drinking water while you exercise is good because without it, the muscles would dehydrate, causing severe cramping and tension. Within two or three hours of workout, you should drink two or three cups, depending on your size and how strenuous your exercise is.

For the information in this article, I would like to thank www.prevention.com, www.drugs.com/mtm/guarana.html, all students and staff at Braisher who participated in my survey, my mother, my common sense, Dr. Larry Berglind,  and my funkadelic waffle fries from Chic-Fil-A (you, my friends, have been inspirational).