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It’s no secret that the entire health and fitness industry is filled with drinks that are designed to help you get the most out of your workout. Unsurprisingly, that’s no different for running. Whether it be a protein shake, an isotonic drink or even good old fashioned mineral water, there are hundreds of products out there that claim to do everything from building your muscles, to replenishing your electrolytes. This begs the question, what is the best thing to drink after a run?
When completing a run, one of the first things you should consider doing is replacing the fluids that you lost during your workout. In shorter runs, water is usually sufficient. For longer runs, it may be worth considering a drink that can also replenish your electrolytes and carbohydrates.
This all sounds well and good, but there are so many different kinds of drinks that could meet these criteria. To narrow down the search, I carried out an experiment.
The Experiment
To figure out what was the best drink to consume following a run I did the following:
- First, I selected 6 drinks with the intention of consuming one after each run.
- The drinks I chose were based on research and recommendations from experts and included chocolate milk, cherry juice, coconut water, beer, a sports drink and green tea.
- To put these drinks to the test, I ran a 5k five days in a row.
- Immediately following each workout, I drank a serving of one of the drinks and took a note of the drink’s contents of carbohydrates, antioxidants, protein, minerals and electrolytes.
- I also noted down the taste and effectiveness of the drink as well as gave it an overall rating.
Quick disclaimer. I’m no scientist and this test is here to give you guys an overview of all the different kinds of drinks out there. What works for me may not always work for you. The best way to get an idea of how well a drink helps you to recover may be to try the experiment for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Out of all the drinks tested, chocolate milk seemed to make the most sense.
- When looking for a drink high in electrolytes, I’d recommend either cherry juice or a sports drink.
- Natural drinks such as green tea and fruit juice are great sources of antioxidants.
- There is no single drink that can bring us all the benefits available in order to get the most out of a run. To cater for this, I’d recommend mixing things up and having different beverages on different occasions.
Top Ingredients For Best Drinks After Running
To get a good idea of what drink we should be looking to sip on following a run, we first need to ask ourselves what things we should be looking for to help us recover better and faster following a run.
Carbohydrate-
The main source of energy that your body uses through running is glycogen. Glycogen comes from carbohydrates and can be found in many different forms.
Some of the more preferred forms of carbohydrates for runners include:
- Maltodextrin – which is made from wheat and starch. It’s often colourless and also offers a valuable source of what’s known as complex carbohydrates. For this reason, it’s often used as an alternative to basic sugar.
- Fructose- tastes very sweet and is naturally found in fruits. The main benefit of fructose sugars is that they can get into the body quickly and easily to supply you with the energy needed following a big run.
Protein
Put simply, protein contains the building blocks that we need to build on and repair our muscles. There is a lot of debate as to whether or not athletes should consider drinking protein immediately after exercising. Some research says that we should consume protein within 20 minutes of a workout whilst other research says that it doesn’t matter when we drink protein as long as we get it in. One thing we know for sure is that it probably won’t hurt to include some protein in our drink at the end of a run. Protein can be found naturally in a lot of drinks and it is also added artificially to anything from protein powder to water.
Antioxidants
Anti Oxidants are awesome. There’s no question about that. According to experts, antioxidants potentially can help protect your body from several different kinds of diseases. However, when it comes to running, it’s still a heavily debated topic as to whether or not antioxidants can help your overall performance. The general idea is that antioxidants could help reduce what’s known as oxidative stress which runners get from long endurance exercises like marathons.
Minerals & Electrolytes
When we sweat during a run, our body loses some of our minerals and electrolytes. Examples include calcium and potassium. Without the necessary electrolytes and minerals, our body begins to lose functions which can result in things like blood clotting and muscle contractions.
For this reason, it’s important to make sure that we’re replenishing our electrolyte and mineral stores both before and after we run. In addition to natural foods and ready-made sports drinks, there are also tablets on the market that can be added to things like water to make sure you aren’t missing out on these vital ingredients.
Never Forget Water
Although there are a lot of options for runners when it comes to finding the best drink to recover from a run, the best option is often water, especially for shorter runs. When it comes to water and running there are some important things to consider. You can check out why it’s important to run with water here. You can also find out more about the best way to carry water when running by checking out this article.
6 Drinks Tested For Effectiveness Of Post Run Recovery
Cherry Juice
More specifically Tart Cherry Juice, a number of studies have been done around the ways that this fruit juice can benefit runners making it one of the first points of call for many runners after a big run.
| Factor | Result |
| Taste / Effectivness | I’ve never enjoyed the taste of cherry juice. That’s 100% a personal thing though and there will certainly be those who like it. I found it quite sweet and overwhelming following the workout. That being said, I also felt very refreshed and revitalized after drinking the cherry juice. |
| Carbohydrates | Around 37 grams of carbohydrates per cup of cherry juice. This is pretty good and I definitely felt an increase in energy following drinking this. |
| Antioxidants | Probably the biggest selling point of this drink. Cherry juice is filled with antioxidants that are said to help fight inflammation, support sleep and reduce muscle pain. |
| Protein | Typically around 0.8 grams of protein per cup of cherry juice. Not great if you’re looking for something to support muscle growth. |
| Electrolytes | Fruit Juice in general is also believed to be a great source of electrolytes, which is ideal for supporting recovery following a big run. |
| Overall rating | 6/10- Although I’ve never been a fan of the taste of cherry juice, I found that the benefits that come with drinking this after a run are definitely worthwhile. It seems difficult to find another drink that can contribute so much to both your health and post-workout recovery. |
Coconut Water
Not to be confused with coconut milk, coconut water is the liquid that comes directly from the inside of the coconut. It has some pretty interesting properties that make it an ideal beverage for runners.
| Factor | Result |
| Taste / Effectiveness | The consistency of the coconut water meant that it was really to drink straight after the run. |
| Carbohydrates | According to VeryWellFit, a typical cup (236.588ml) of coconut water has around 10.4 grams of carbohydrates. Whilst this is better than nothing, I’d have preferred a drink with a few more carbs. |
| Antioxidants | Numerous studies have been done looking into the health benefits of coconut water. Amazingly, there is some evidence of antioxidants in coconut water that could help to reduce insulin. |
| Protein | A cup of coconut water has around 0.5 grams of protein, which is pretty poor. |
| Electrolytes | Studies suggest that coconut water is high in electrolytes including magnesium and potassium. |
| Overall rating | 4/10- It’s excellent that coconut water has some antioxidants and electrolytes. Unfortunately, without the protein and carbohydrates. I didn’t feel as if I was getting the most out of this source of post-workout fuel. |
Chocolate Milk
It’s a pleasant surprise, right? Apparently, chocolate milk is a great drink post-run for several reasons. The good thing about choosing chocolate milk as your post-run power source is that it’s available without the need for any preparation and can be drunk straight from the bottle when purchased from a store.
| Factor | Result |
| Taste / Effectiveness | The chocolate milk tasted amazing at the end of the run. I think the fact that I was thirsty made it even better and in addition to feeling hydrated, I also felt very upbeat. |
| Carbohydrates | A serving of chocolate milk contained around 20.5 grams of carbohydrates. This is a fantastic help towards supporting your glycogen stores after a workout. |
| Antioxidants | Dark chocolate itself could have some great antioxidants, but it’s debatable that these benefits would be present in chocolate milk. |
| Protein | Dairy milk itself is naturally full of protein and its chocolate alternative is no different. A serving of the chocolate milk I tried had around 7 grams of protein. |
| Minerals / Electrolytes | Filled with potassium, calcium, magnesium and sodium – all electrolytes that are crucial for keeping the body running. |
| Overall rating | 8/10 – The chocolate milk tasted amazing and left me feeling great. I had plenty of energy following the run and it felt good knowing that something so delicious was doing me a lot of good. The only downside was that the consistency of the milk was quite thick and it was hard to settle in my stomach following the workout. |
Beer
A strange one but still something widely regarded as a go-to drink following a run. My guess is that this choice comes down to earning yourself a treat after a big workout. If beer is your way of winding down after a hard run, who’s to say it’s not a good choice following something like a marathon?
| Factor | Result |
| Taste / Effectiveness | Personally, I love the taste of beer. However, it is an acquired taste and many runners might opt for a different alcoholic beverage like wine. |
| Carbohydrates | The cans have around 19 grams of carbohydrates. Unfortunately, these weren’t sugar carbohydrates, so it’s unlikely they would be able to replace the glycogen lost during the workout very quickly. |
| Antioxidants | There is some evidence that beer might contain some antioxidants but if you’re looking to get this kind of thing from alcohol, red wine is likely to be a much better option. |
| Protein | No protein in this particular beer, from what I’ve seen when researching other beers, it appears to be the same case across the board. |
| Minerals / Electrolytes | Unfortunately, beer has little to no electrolytes. Apparently, this means beer is hypotonic. |
| Overall rating | 1/10- If I could give it a zero, I would. I really like drinking beer, but when it comes to benefits for a post-run beverage there are practically none besides the fact that it tastes pretty good. |
Tea
As I’m from Britain, there’s pretty much a cup of tea for every occasion. Running is no different and it seems that I’m not the only one who thinks so. From looking at what other runners have done, it seems that green or black tea is the best way to go. For this experiment, I went with green tea.
| Factor | Result |
| Taste / Effectiveness | I don’t mind the taste of green tea. However, it is an acquired taste. The issue for me following this workout was that the tea was warm which contributed negativley to my overall temperature. One thing I will say about drinking tea following the run is that I definitely felt refreshed. |
| Carbohydrates | There is almost no carbs in green tea. The absolute maximum is supposedly 1 gram per cup. This is probably why green tea is often used as a tool for weight loss. Then again, this isn’t helpful when we are trying to replenish our glycogen stores after a big run. |
| Antioxidants | Probably the main reason why runners recommend drinking tea after a run is because of the antioxidants it contains. Research shows that green tea contains anti-inflammatory antioxidants that could help reduce the inflammation that’s bought on through exercise. |
| Protein | There are around 0.8 grams of protein in green tea. This is so small that, for a runner, this is as good as no protein at all. |
| Minerals / Electrolytes | There is some talk that green tea can reduce the electrolytes in your body because it causes you to urinate more frequently. However, other studies have proven that drinking tea may not have an impact on the electrolytes we need after all. Drinking tea is unlikely to harm your level of electrolytes but it’s best to remain cautious. |
| Overall rating | 5/10 – There is something to be said for the antioxidants that come with tea. On a side note, I’d say the fact that it doesn’t have many calories is also pretty good. Unfortunately, the lack of carbohydrate and protein, combined with the fact that a hot beverage after a workout isn’t great means that I wouldn’t put green tea at the top of my list. |
Sports Drink
They do pretty much what they say on the bottle. Sports drinks are specially designed to give runners everything that they need before, during and after a workout. Whether it be a Gatorade, a Lucozade or a Powerade, we can rest assured that lots of steps have been taken to make sure that these drinks help us get the most out of our workouts.
The sports drink that I selected for this experiment was a Lucozade Sport (orange flavour).
| Factor | Result |
| Taste / Effectiveness | The sweeteners and sugars definitely make the drink taste good. I usually feel slightly tired after a big run but I definitely noticed the energy boost from this drink. |
| Carbohydrates | A serving (750 ml) of Lucozade sport has approximately 48.8 grams of carbohydrate and 27 grams of sugar carbohydrate, meaning you can expect a pretty big boost of energy from one of these drinks. |
| Antioxidants | At the time of writing this, no data was suggesting that there are any antioxidants in Lucozade Sport drinks that would help support runners following a workout. |
| Protein | There is no reported protein in Lucozade Sport, meaning that it won’t do much to support muscle growth or repair following a workout. |
| Minerals / Electrolytes | As an isotonic sports drink, Lucozade contains electrolytes that are designed to help keep you hydrated and recover with ease following a workout. |
| Overall rating | 7/10 – There’s no denying that the electrolytes, carbohydrates and taste do a lot for this sport drink. It’s just a shame that we can’t get the protein that the body needs from these kinds of energy drinks. |
