Sugar..Good or Bad for a Runner

One of my favorite things in the whole world is a big soda pop after a long day out working in the yard, or to drink with a burger and fries.  However there is one problem with this picture.... pop has a TON of sugar in it.  A 12 oz can of Dr. Pepper has 39 Grams of sugar in it. Wow... So here comes the big question that I have asked my self all through my running career.  Is sugar good or bad for a runner?

I have done quite a bit of research on this topic and find the evidence staggering towards the health effects of added sugar on the body.  In a study I found on CNN Health, they found that a group of people who consumed 46 teaspoons of added sugar a day ( 10 tsp in an average 12 oz can of coke ) both lowered their good cholesterol and raised their triglycerides. Wow, that's a double hit.  But due to my stubbornness and the love of the fizzy sugar charged pop, I cant seem to not want pop any more.
I would like to compare this to the music that we listen to in our lives.  Music off the bat doesn't seem like it could have that much of an effect on us, just like we don't thing soda pop has an effect on us.  However it damages our ability to hear the gentle promptings of the spirit. In Mosiah 3:19  we learn that the natural man is an enemy to God... Satan doesn't want us to listen to the spirit, so we have loud, angry, sexual, distracting music around us.  Lets take a better look at what we listen to in life and ask our self's if we can feel the spirit when we listen.  I promise that a greater sensitivity will come into your life and you will enjoy the companionship of the spirit more often.