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.
Butter Butter Soup; this tasty and wholesome combination of butternut squash, butterbeans and ginger makes a very comforting, sustaining and healthy training lunch. I have to admit that, as is the case with many good culinary discoveries, this soup combination evolved as a result of a mistake. I had put too much stock in my butternut squash soup and luckily struck upon the idea of using a tin of butterbeans to make it less runny.
When you’re training hard it’s important to be vigilant about keeping up your intake of vitamins and minerals as levels can become depleted with intensive workout, just as you need to ensure your glycogen levels are topped up by eating plenty of carbohydrate. The ingredients in this soup all work hard together to provide
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
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
I’m struggling to keep my eyes open after completing our 48 hour non-stop 200 mile relay Rampant Run from Paignton Zoo to Twickenham… and still reeling from the fact that I’ve met and run with so many totally amazing people over those two days.. I don’t want to name drop too much, but I’ve just got to, sorry…
Prince Harry (wow 
), rugby legends Martin Johnson, Phil Vickery, Phil de Glanville, the inspirational Amazon explorer, Ed Stafford, globally renowned magician Chris Korn from the BBC magicians programme, ex Commando Royal Marines double amputee Vince Manley and triple amputee Mark Omrod to name but a few….
And of course, 16 normal (???) runners, all with a common goal – to raise money, to see the rugby and to have a good time! The Rampant Run was an amazing feat of teamwork of all ages (my teenage son James included) and running experience. The brainchild of inspirational distance runner, Charlotte Thompson, Kay Johnson, wife of England Manager, Martin Johnson, and Monique Coulton, the Rampant Run is set to raise
Just a quick post about the most delicious, healthy and, most importantly, FAST, 10-minute supper we had tonight. An excellent training meal, cod is an really good, tasty and low fat source of protein. I served it with potatoes in their skins, crushed with a little olive oil and fresh spinach with a little nutmeg and
I do love receiving surprise packages but my joy often turns to disappointment when I find the package contains some techy bike gear my husband has ordered or a present for one of the kids rather than something actually for me. But no, this time it really was for me – a package from Prodirectrunning : a
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
Pappardelle with Prosciutto, Flat-Leaf Parsley, Sweet Red Peppers and Brie de Meaux
Just a quickie post to jot down a delicious pasta dish I’ve just made for lunch after a joyful 13 miler this morning (I actually sprinted the last mile home, let’s hope the training stays so positive). This pasta took moments to make (and eat), was really fresh-tasting and incredibly healthy, with a good balanced of vitamins and slow-burning carbohydrates, plus a little protein. Brie de Meaux is quite high in saturated fat, so you might want to go easy on this. On the other hand, a little goes a long way and it really does add to the dish.
Serves 2 hungry people or 4 smaller portions:
- 250 g fresh pappardelle ( I used fresh lasagne sheets which I cut into thick strips)
- 80g pack of prosciutto cut into thin strips – even better if you can buy some cut freshly at the deli, but I used the pre-packed stuff
- 25g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- a couple of sweet red pointed peppers, or one large standard red pepper, sliced finely
- about 150g good quality brie, like brie de Meaux, sliced into
