Ever wonder what really are the best foods out there for runners? Shockingly enough, the answer is not, “doesn’t matter what I eat because I run so much.” Also surprising: A bunch of people who know way more than me have confirmed that the way you eat actually does affect your running performance. Crazy, right?!

But it’s totally true. How you eat has a big impact on your running. This really shouldn’t be news to anyone out there. Unless you’re a member of a high school cross-country team and run 17 minute 5Ks on a diet of cafeteria pizza and candy bars. Then feel free to disregard this advice completely. At least for the next few years, before you lose your adolescent superpowers and become slow and old like the rest of us.

Anyway, even though the connection between healthy eating and running performance isn’t exactly groundbreaking, it deserves to be revisited. I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of “Best Foods for Runners” articles out there. The funny thing about those articles is they aren’t all the same! This is the 21st century after all, shouldn’t we have figured out by now what 10 foods are undeniably the best things runners can eat? Granted, the geniuses of our world probably (hopefully) have bigger fish to fry.

So I did the work for them. Well, sort of. I read all the “Best Foods for Runners” articles I could find. While reading said articles, I took a very scientific tally of what foods were mentioned the most. The result was a master list of the top 10 foods for runners. These 10 foods were the ones most mentioned in the articles I read. I took the liberty of combining a few categories together like “spinach” and “dark greens” or “cherries” and “mixed berries.” You get the idea.

Top 10 Foods for Runners

Nut butter (best choice: almond butter)
Eggs
Sweet potatoes
Dark leafy greens
Salmon
Whole grain pasta
Berries (best choice: cherries)
Yogurt
Bananas
Oats

Narrowing all the foods to this neat little list makes it super easy to fit at least one of these runner superfoods into your daily diet. Better yet, fit at least one of these superfoods into each of your meals. Luckily, none of these foods are obscure or difficult to eat/find. With little to no effort, these foods should be easy to incorporate into your diet.

However, in case you need a little inspiration, I got you covered! I’m planning on dedicating the next 10 weeks to each of these superfoods. Throughout the upcoming weeks, I’ll come up with plenty of recipes, along with listed the benefits for each Top 10 food. You can find links to the posts in the list above.

So if you’ve been trying to find an easy way to get the most out of your diet and runs, look no further than the Top 10 Foods for Runners.