"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.”

- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

Friday, February 12, 2010

Bananas: Not Just For Energy

I was reading my daily email from Runnersworld.com today and one of the articles was titled "Outrun The Common Cold." Turns out there's data to support the theory that the body's immune system is boosted after 30-75 minutes of moderate activity. Since most of my runs in my short 8-month running career have been in this range, I took a quick self-inventory to remember when I was last sick. Maybe my wife will correct me, but I can't remember the last time I was sick (pause...going to find some wood). Maybe last winter? I don't really know.

You can read the article HERE but it goes on to talk about defensive strategies to avoid getting sick, particularly after longer workouts. The first suggestion in preventing a dip in immunity is none other than "carbohydrate-rich beverages before, during and after your run."

Hmm...a carb-rich beverage. Like a big banana-based fruit smoothie before my run? Bananas and water during my longer runs? Another big banana-based smoothie when I finish? Yes, yes and yes. I don't want to sound preachy, but I think smoothies are definitely the way to go. Calories? Check. Carbs? Check. Good taste and easy digestion? Check and check. Recovery benefits? Check (You might also check out THIS POST at foodnsport.com for a great discussion about the benefits of fruit in your recovery period. Part 2 of the discussion is HERE. I want to address these discussions in another post, but I think they're appropriate to bring up here as well).

There's a lot out chatter out there that makes trying to be "healthy" seem more complicated than it needs to be. Garbage in, garbage out. Pretty simple. And while one man's garbage may be another's treasure, I'm sticking with my golden-ripe bananas.

1 comment:

wife said...

"Garbage in, garbage out" is the whole philosophy behind Natural Hygiene, and the precise reason why 80/10/10 produces elite athletes. A clean machine is a strong machine.