5 Power Foods for Active People

| Sunday May 30, 20104 comments
Active? Try these 5 foods to fuel your body for powerful and productive workouts.

(1) Homemade, low-fat muffins make a great pre-workout snack. Coffee shops muffins can be high in fat, slowing you down (grease stained paper bags anyone?)

(2) Beets are a rich source of antioxidants and a recent study suggested that beet juice may boost performance.

(3) Red peppers are tasty on a salad and contain more vitamin C than an orange. This helps your body to absorb iron from your leafy greens, important for female runners.

(4) Potatoes have gotten a bad rap since the low-carb craze, but rich in potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C, they’re also a great post-workout side dish.

(5) Greek yogurt contains almost 3x the protein than your usual yogurt and provides 25% of daily calcium needs- important for cyclists and swimmers who tend to have lower bone density due to the low impact nature of their sport.

What's your favourite Power Food?

by Kate Comeau, Registered Dietitian
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4 Comments

on June 06, 2010  satojoko  2,556 said:

I almost died from a parasitic infection while I was living and working
in Indonesia. I had to return to Canada for medical treatment for a
time because the doctors in Indonesia are dopes with degrees. They
wound up killing my father in law. After I was released from the
hospital in Canada, I bought a juicer. At this point I was about 45
pounds underweight and looked like a walking corpse. I started juicing.
My daily mix was beets, kale, carrots and apples. Every morning,
religiously. This saved my life. My hemoglobin was down to around 8 at
that point, if I remember correctly, and my white blood cell count was
dangerously low. Drinking this juice every day, first thing in the
morning on an empty stomach, caused me to regain my appetite and for my
red and white blood cell count to rise. Shortly after I regained my appetite, which was no easy feat as I had no interest in food at all at that point, I also
started making smoothies with Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, agave nectar,
flax seeds and whey isolate protein powder. My doctor told me that if I didn't get massive amounts of
protein into my body, I would eventually die, that's how serious the
situation was. That Greek yogurt combined with the protein powder was absolutely a life saver. I'm still
alive now, and know for a fact, these foods DO work.

on June 04, 2010  Ali de Bold  STAFF said:

Beet juice = what kind of performance? ;)

on June 04, 2010  Katerina  153 said:

I make and eat homemade muffins all the time, they are great snacks and great for a sweet craving too. You can make them so healthy but still tasty enough to fool people. The best thing I have discovered is whole wheat pastry flour.

on June 03, 2010  Hot Cuppa  922 said:

(Oops, sorry, my answer's a little long, as usual....)

I recently discovered Argan Oil and it is definitely my "Power Food" for so many health reasons!! Plus, this stuff doubles as a hair and face moisturizer!! (It is tradition in Morocco for women to use it directly on hair and skin moisturizer).

I make sure to buy good quality, which is still a fraction of the price of the "cosmetic" stuff. If you're looking for a recommendation, the kind I buy is Alili Morocco Argan Oil. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/gQxQb

It's got a yummy nutty taste, great on salads. A little goes a long way, so a bottle lasts a long time.

I'm not a doctor, so I found a quote about some of the health benefits FYI: "The oil is highly nutritious and 80% of its fatty acids are unsaturated, which is even higher than olive oil. It is rich in Vitamin E and contains a high percentage of linoleic fatty acid, an essential component for good health and one of only two fatty acids that can't be synthesised by the human body. On the health front it is fantastic in helping in the treatment of heart disease, high cholesterol, rheumatic and joint conditions. In its untoasted form the Moroccans use it externally for acne and reducing wrinkles and it is often applied to the hair and nails to strengthen them...."

Maybe this elevates Argan to the status of a "SuperPower" Food?! (ha!!).


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