Runners, cyclists, swimmers, walkers, tennis players, any athlete really, can often be seen munching on a banana as a favourite source of energy. Bananas are packed with potassium and other nutrients, and what’s more, they are tasty, not too sweet, and an excellent convenience food as they come all ready wrapped in an easy-peel wrapper.
According to recent research conducted at Appalachian State University’s Human Performance Lab into the benefits of eating bananas over a carbohydrate sports drink during intense cycling, bananas proved not only to be as effective as the sports drink, but also to have additional advantages. The study, which was carried out over a 75 km intense cycle ride, with cyclists either consuming a half a banana or a carbohydrate sports drink every 15 minutes, showed that those who consumed the bananas were provided with antioxidants not found in the sports drink, as well as a greater nutritional boost, including fibre, potassium and Vitamin B6. The bananas were also found to contain a healthier blend of sugars.
For more info on this, see ScienceDaily.com. There are no details, however, about the number of cyclists or the make-up of the sports drink, and it is interesting to see that the research was funded by Dole Foods, the world’s largest fruit and veg company!
Who knows whether this is biased or not, but, in fact, who cares, we love bananas at Go Faster Food! We combine bananas with skimmed milk, chocolate and egg white to make the ultimate sports recovery shake, see Chocolate Banana Shakes and we make the most deliciously moist Banana bread.
Whilst playing around with butternut squash recipes I fell upon the idea of grating it up and making a cake, just like you might do with carrot or courgette. It works! In fact, it works really, really well and what’s even more surprising, my daughter, who will normally extract any trace of butternut squash from her meal, absolutely adores it!
I think butternut squash is a fabulous vegetable and an excellent addition to any training diet. Bell-like in shape, it has a beautifully smooth, creamy-coloured skin which protects its dense, rich golden-yellow flesh. Its texture is deliciously soft; its taste sweet, buttery, nutty. It
What a week it has been! Book sales are really hotting up this week mainly due to a fab write-up by Catalina Stogden in the Telegraph and the local media coverage of
On 3rd September Kasabian Bassist, Chris Edwards and his brother Jay start their gruelling MONSTER Lejog cycle challenge from Lands End to John O’Groats in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Lucky me, they’re stopping over at my place in Bristol for a Go Faster Food Supper! So on 6th September, after a little photo shoot with the local
I really didn’t like rice pudding until I started running. It was too sweet, too creamy and just too much like nursery food for my liking. How things have changed…I can’t get enough of the stuff now! Rice Pudding is FANTASTIC recovery food!!!!! After a big bike ride, swim or long run out in the cold, it not only warms you up but it has a great combination of fast-acting high G.I. carbohydrate (short-grain pudding rice) to replenish your depleted glycogen stores, plus protein and calcium from the milk to help towards muscle repair.
Rice pudding is particularly good as it takes minutes to prepare before you leave the house – pop it into the oven at a low temperature and its ready two to three hours later on your return! All you have to do it take it out of the oven and eat it up. Yum Yum.
Take a look at Go Faster Food for some more rice pudding ideas, but here’s a basic version you can just leave in the oven while you are out for your long training session:
- 100g short-grain pudding rice
- 1.2 litre semi-skimmed milk (you can use skimmed, full fat, soya milk, rice milk, whatever you prefer)
- 3 tbsp demerara sugar (less if using sweetened soya or rice milk)
- good grating of nutmeg
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- Preheat the oven – fan oven 130
A lovely lady called Annabel Lee at a new start-up sports nutrition venture called Orbana very kindly sent me some samples of their new energy drink to try out. Many of my followers will know that I am not one to get enthused by commercial sports nutrition products, all of which seem to claim that their product will be your answer to improved performance/recovery because of its unique blend of carbohydrate, minerals, protein etc etc. I find that most of these drinks and gels wither play havoc with my stomach or make me gag. They also tend to leave a sweet and sickly artificial taste in your mouth. I am much happier with the home made variety
IRONSTRUCK
I’ve just put up a new link on Go Faster Food for the most amazing site -
There are hundreds of hydrating foods that can really help your hydration strategy.
Fruit, for instance, has a very high water content. Watermelon is sweet,
Hydration, Hydration, Hydration!
Do you ever feel so exhausted that you have to stop running? Do you sometimes feel dizzy or disorientated during a long workout? Have you ever been overcome by cramp after cycling for 60km?
These are all signs of dehydration rearing its ugly head. Exercise makes us sweat; it is our body
Apple Power Pancakes with Spiced Apple Syrup
I’ve been overdoing it a bit on the running front, what with the Bristol 1/2 followed immediately by the Monster Duathlon, so Mark has enforced a week’s rest on me – probably a good idea as I now feel full of beans and raring to go for my run later today.
