Potatoes: A Great Food for Runners!

Running and pasta are like Bert & Ernie, Yin & Yang, Lavern & Shirley, Thelma & Louise. That's all well and fine. Pasta is a great source of carbs for fueling your runs, but did you know that thepotato is a nutritious source of  carbohydrates, even more than rice or pasta? Yep, this often shunned veggie has gotten a bad wrap in the whole anti-carb movement. Like many foods, it's how you prepare it that makes or breaks the nutritional value of the spud. Cover it with butter, melted cheese, and bacon bits and you've created "food porn." Bake it and top it with a dollop of Greek yogurt and voilà, nutritious yumminess! Sport nutritionist Nancy Clark supports the spud too.  She shares that this super veggie is a great source of Vitamin C (gives 1/2 of your daily needs) and provides the potassium you'd lose in three hours of sweaty exercise. It's cousin the sweet potato provides even more health benefits!  A standard potato (like you'd get with a restaurant meal) contains around 200 calories. That's about the same as most sports bars. The spud makes a great pre-and post-run snack as well as a part of a meal. Pre-baked spuds that are sliced and refrigerated make great snacks before or after a run.  In her book, NancyClark's Food Guide for Marathoners, she gives some great ideas for potato toppers such as low-fat salad dressing; low-fat sour cream, chopped onion, and low-fat shredded cheddar cheese; cottage cheese and garlic powder; milk mashed into the potato; plain yogurt (I like using the Greek yogurt. It's very similar to sour cream); flavored vinegars; soy sauce; steamed veggies like broccoli; chopped jalapeno peppers; lentils or lentil soup (I like topping it with veggie chili or black beans); applesauce.  Worried about the potato being high on the Glycemic Index? Valid concern, but did you know that when you pair the spud with certain foods, it actually lowers its GI? Adding healthy fats to your spud such as olive oil, sour cream or avocados, will lower the GI. Increasing the acidity by adding vinegar, citrus or salsa lowers the GI of the spud too. Eating the potato with the skin on increased the fiber slowing digestion and lowering the GI. Oddly enough, cooking the potato, then cooling it before you eat it, lowers the GI. So, give the spud a try!!

Here's the Story...of a Lovely Potato...

Let's face it. Pasta is the "Marsha" of the Brandy Bunch of training foods. It get's all the glam, all the attention, all the pre-race dinners. The potato on the other hand, is the "Jan" of the bunch. I can hear the ole spud now sitting in the burlap sack in the back of the pantry saying, "Pasta, Pasta, Pasta! All I ever hear is Pasta!" Well, before that spud runs off feeling unloved and gets replaced in all the reunion movies with a doughnut or a bagel or something, let's take a closer look at this "plain-Jan" misunderstood veggie.

This step-child of the veggie world often gets a bad rap. Many people seem to have the misunderstanding that potatoes aren't nutritious. I guess it's because they're not leafy or dark green, but actually potatoes are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Did you know that a regular baking potato contains 64% of your daily value of vitamin C and 53% of your daily value of vitamin B6, and a sweet potato has 700% of your daily value of vitamin A? Being prone to calf cramps, the thing I like most about potatoes is that they contain over 1,500mg of potassium. That's three times more than a banana! It's a bit of a myth that you have to eat the skin to get all the vitamins. The skin accounts for about 50% of the potato's fiber, but actually most of the nutrients are inside the spud.

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Potatoes are also a great source of complex carbohydrates. Pasta doesn't even have as much! No, they're not as romantic as pasta. And you don't normally have them by candlelight. And Lady and Tramp would have looked kind of funny sucking on opposite ends of a potato, but the fact is, potatoes make a great food for runners.

Now, I know what you're thinking, "Hey but aren't potatoes high on the Glycemic Index?" Yep, they do have a high GI, but for runners that's a good thing. It means they're easily and quickly digested and get into your system to be used as energy quickly. If you have trouble with potatoes spiking your blood sugar too quickly, you can remedy this by eating a little fat or protein along with your potato. Greek yogurt is high in protein and is very similar in consistency to sour cream. Adding a dollop to your spud will help prevent that spike and slow down the digestion helping to provide a steadier stream of energy. You'll get the same result if you add a little Smart Balance margarine which will provide some fat(the good kind--polyunsaturated and monounsaturated). Or try eating a potato with a little chicken or turkey.

After a run, you need to replenish your spent carbs really quickly and that's the perfect time to ingest fast-acting carbs. Potatoes are perfect for this. Add a little protein and you have the perfect post-run recovery snack.

Now beware. Your sedentary friends will be quick to tell you (as they munch on their Mickey D's fries) that potatoes are bad, that they spike your blood sugar, and will turn to fat on you quickly. The sad thing, is that for them, that thinking is exactly right. If you're not active and you're not using those carbs as pre-run fueling or post-run re-fueling, it may very will have all of those negative effects. But I for one am elated, that I can mix-up a little homemade potato salad (using lowfat mayo) and wolf-it down after a run.

So Marsha...I mean Pasta, move aside! Potato Jan is moving into her own!

Why Are Carbs So Good?

One big reason carbs are so good is that it's the only fuel that the brain can use. That's actually one of the reasons why you hit the wall around mile 20 in a marathon. When your brain realizes that you're just about about out of glycogen (the form in which carbs are stored in the body for fuel) the brain can actually send messages to begin fatiguing your muscles in an attempt to slow you down. It's basically a self-preservation mechanism kicking in because the brain needs some of that fuel too in order to function.

Carbs are stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is the most efficient fuel your body burns for energy. Carbs are also loaded with B vitamins, chromium, fiber, iron, magnesium, and phytochemicals (which come from plant nutrients) all of which are important to good health and can even help prevent many cancers.

Pick your carbs wisely. Most of your carb intake should be from complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs are usually from unprocessed, unrefined, whole grains. So instead of white rice, eat brown rice. Instead of white bread each whole grain bread, etc. They take longer for your body to digest and because of this complex carbs will stay with you and provide energy for the long haul. Most of the early part of the carb-loading phase before the race will consist of eating complex carbs.

Simple carbohydrates are food products that are made of processed and/or refined grains. Because they have been processed and refined, they are digested very quickly and provide quick energy. Sugary soft drinks, white rice, sugar, candy, and fruit are examples of simple carbs. Don't avoid simple carbs completely, however. For example fruits are simple carbs, but they are nutrient dense foods that provide many different vitamins as well as fiber. Simple carbs, because they are processed so quickly, do raise the blood sugar levels really quickly. That's why when you eat a candy bar you feel a quick boost of energy, but then soon after crash. Simple carbs tend to have a high GI (a rating using the Glycemic Index) and complex carbohydrates tend to have a lower GI. Foods considered high are 70+ on the GI scale, 56-69 are considered medium, and under 55 are considered low. [Click here] to find out more about the Glycemic Index.

As a runner, eating foods with a lower GI will provide you a better source of energy for the long haul. But simple carbs do have their place. Eating simple carbs shortly before a race can provide quick energy that will be used and if you have stock up prior to the race on complex carbs, you shouldn't feel that crash. Also during the race, using gels and sports drinks (which usually contain a combination of simple and complex carbs) and be used quickly by the body and provide that needed energy later on in the race when your glycogen stores begin to get depleted.

Note: If you are diabetic or have other health concerns, consult with your doctor before making any dietary changes.