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.
Happy New Year and best wishes for an awesomely fit 2012.
What is all this fuss about
I just picked up my two boys, plus French exchange boy, Max, from Elektrik 3, Olly Barkley’s new rubgy academy. They had a truly awesome day!
Olly Barkley, England star and centre and fly-half for Bath, with the help of some of the biggest names in rugby, has launched an amazing rugby academy for children at Colston’s School in Bristol. Four really good training sessions with proper rugby stars – in my boys case, Matt Banahan and Luke Narraway – interim sessions such as nutrition “What do rugby players eat”, how to prepare for and recover after games and what it’s like to be a
Since the weather has become so autumnal, or dare I say, WINTERY, the Go Faster Food household has become a bit of a soup kitchen.
Home-made
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
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
BEST (Bristol English Channel Swim Team)
I’ve been given the great privilege of helping out on the foodie front for BEST (Bristol English Channel Swim Team), a totally inspirational group of 11-12 year olds who are training to be the youngest ever relay team to cross the English Channel.
Anyone feeling disillusioned with the youth of today should take a look at the BEST website. These kids are phenomenal! 11 year-old Lewis decided that he would like more than anything to swim the English Channel and the idea blossomed from here – his parents took him seriously and established a superb professional team to take this initial idea to a whole new level. This team includes
Marathon des Sables
I’ve just found a really interesting blog out there in the running blogoshere – Rich Merry’s account of the Marathon des Sables and the training involved – take a look at his blog.
Click here for an inspirational video on the Marathon des Sables -
So what is in Andy Murray’s drinks bottle?
It’s really hotting up out there and any physical activity takes on a new level of commitment when it’s hot outside. I have found it really hard to motivate myself to run in this week’s heat, partly because of the temperature and partly because I am expending so much energy with the various launches of Go Faster Food that I have been lacking in any spare! Tonight, however, I have no excuse. the boys will be playing cricket for a couple of hours and I will find somewhere shady to run.
Watching Andy Murray play last night was an inspiration. The match started at about 6 pm and didn’t actually finish until 3 hours and 56 mins later. There were points in the match where both he and/or Wawrinka looked absolutely exhausted and I did notice that they were given a little snack to eat at about 9.30…quite rightly. No matter how fit either of them are, you cannot play for such a long time without something to top the glycogen levels and replace minerals that you will have lost through sweat. Andy will have had a cleverly formulated mix, probably with the right combination of glucose, sodium, potassium and other minerals to help sustain his energy and concentration levels. I just hope that he managed to get in some recovery food and drink so that he can endure the next match tomorrow.
For us mortals who do not have a sports nutritionist to care for our daily diet and our hydration strategies, take a look at my article on hydration for some good tips – Running in the heat.
STOCKHOLM MARATHON
Mark and I had a most wonderful kid-free weekend in sunny Stockholm, marred only by the fact that we ran the Stockholm marathon in the blazing heat on the Saturday, when other more sensible people were picnicking in the parks or swimming on the Stockholm archipelago!
No, it was good, really, and the support was tremendous, much better than expected…
Unlike most marathons which start early in the morning, the Stockholm marathon kicks off at
Kate Percy | Create Your Badge
