April 12, 2009 It doesn’t add up to consume energy drinks if you run A few years ago I wrote an article comparing the amount of soda an average person drank and the number of miles that person would need to run to burn those calories off. Basically, the information came from an article in “Nutrition Action” and it mentioned that the average person consumed about 50 gallons of soda a year. This amounted to 6,400 ounces of soda, or 533.33 sodas a year per person. At 154 calories for every soda, the average person drank 82,133.33 calories a year, and needed to run 760.49 miles at the rate of 13.5 calories per minute for a 150-pound runner at an eight-minute pace. If the person walked at a 15-minute-per-mile pace, the distance came to 912.59 miles to burn off the soda calories. In the April issue of the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter I read a couple of statements that were of interest. One mention was that, for the first time, more Americans are obese than overweight (34% obese to 33% overweight) and the severely-obese category doubled up to 6% of the population. The second statement that was of interest had the title of the paragraph that stated, “Watch out for liquid calories.” This article mentioned that the average American adult drinks 28 ounces (3.5 cups) of sugary drinks a year. “Sugary drinks” included soda, sports drinks, fruit drinks, punches, and sweetened tea beverages. Taking some of the same calculations I used in that first article, I wanted to see if the numbers were better or worse. I was a little concerned when the number of obese was increasing so fast. If you take those 28 ounces times 365 days in a year, it comes out to 10,220 ounces for a year, or roughly just under 80 gallons of sugary drinks a year that the average American adult consumes. Dividing the total ounces by a 12-ounce soda can, it comes out to drinking 851.67 sodas a day. That is definitely a larger number than the 50 gallons reported a few years ago. It is true that this report included more sugary drinks than just soda; but calories are calories when it comes to liquid drinks. With 128 ounces per gallon, and a typical soft drink is 12 ounces, it comes down to 2.33 sugar drinks a day, or about 354.2 calories a day. This all calculates to 129,283 calories (354.2 X 365 days) a year that we drink. I did another calculation on the number of sodas a year by 154 calories, and this number comes out to 131,157 calories (851.67 sodas X 154 calories) a year. Whether the 129,283 or the 131,157 calories is the best number to use, it still comes out to be a lot of exercise or running to burn up those added pounds that can accumulate on a person over a year’s time. How will all of those big numbers affect a runner? If we use the same 13.5 calories per mile for a 150-pound runner at an 8-minute pace, the numbers add up. The number comes out to 9,576.5 minutes needed to run off those calories. At that 8-minute pace, it means the runner has to run 1,197 miles. A few years ago the runner needed 760 miles; and now the same person needs 1,197 miles, or an extra 437 miles per year. It sort of encourages the runner to start focusing on adding a few more 10Ks and half marathons to the race schedule, and not run so many 5K races if you are going to have to burn up extra calories. In that same column from a few years ago, I said that the Readers Digest mentioned that people eat 91,250 more calories than they did in 1990. It seems the trend is continuing into 2010, and the calories are greater than ever. These averages are for the entire adult population; but for an average, you need a high and a low number to get an average. How many runners do not drink any sodas, and maybe only a few sugar drinks to be below the average consumption? That puts some of the other people at the high score of the average. I guess these are the people that are adding to the obesity increase numbers. After looking at these numbers it starts to make water look even better all the time. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. His column on running and fitness appears each Sunday in the Sports section of the San Marcos Daily Record. • Recent “Running With Moe” Columns • Home • About the Club • Current News • Club Runs • Places To Run • TX Running Clubs • Running Links • Useful Stuff Upcoming Races • Race Results • Country Roads 10K & Kids Run • ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon • “Running With Moe” Contact Us!