Question:

I’ve been having leg cramps in the middle of the night.  What is something to take/drink after my rides that can help me with post-recovery?  I’m limited because I’m diabetic and really have to watch the sugar/carb intake.

Kelli’s Answer:

Thanks so much for your question!  There’s a few aspects of nutrition that can help relieve or prevent cramping.  Try:

1)       Hydration: Make sure you are hydrated the day you ride and continuously.  I recommend 64-90 oz. water per day for most males (~64 for females) + 24-32 oz. per hour of training (during or immediately afterwards).

2)      Sodium and potassium: During any training that’s >90 minutes and moderate to high intensity, try to get in 400-700 mg sodium and 100-300 mg potassium per hour of training.  You can try NUUN caps, Camelbak Elixir, or other low-calorie, low-carb electrolyte drink options (these are very low in sugar and total carbs).  Or, if you’d rather use electrolyte supplements, take a look at S Caps! and Hammer Endurolytes.

3)      After the ride: Make sure to recover well with fuel after riding, and include electrolytes.  Aim for 400-500 mg calcium, ~100-400 mg magnesium, and 300-500 mg potassium.  8 oz. plain yogurt + 2 Tbsp chopped nuts + cinnamon + stevia will provide a low carb, high protein snack with ~500 mg calcium, 70 mg magnesium, and 680 mg potassium.  Or, use my Perfect Recovery Smoothie and get 219 mg sodium, 813 mg potassium, 421 mg calcium, 108 mg magnesium.  Replace the honey with Stevia to cut the carbs down to ~30 grams carbs.   Many athletes are also turning to coconut water which provides fluid, 200+ mg sodium, and 600+ mg potassium per cup (but, you’ll likely still need to add calcium/magnesium).

4)     If you still have night-time cramps after taking care of #1-#3, or you’d rather use supplements from the beginning, take a Calcium/Magnesium (500 mg calcium/250 mg magnesium) and 100-300 mg Potassium supplement before bed after training.

Night cramps, as opposed to on-the-bike cramps, generally point to electrolytes and fluids.  However, if you don’t find relief, look into your form on the bike, and your bike-fit, to make sure it’s not a positioning or mechanical issue.

I hope this helps!

Give your body what it needs for great energy and health every day and during training with the right Foods, Drinks and Supplements.  If you would like my help with it, I offer comprehensive plans as Instant Downloads and as Custom Clients starting at just $20.  And, as a FuelRightBlog reader, get a further discount with coupon code:  password-frblog  username-reader.  I’d love to work with you!

Fuel Your Adventure.  Nourish Your Body.

Avocado chocolate pudding?  Before you click the “dislike” button in your mind, hear me out.  In the world of foodie blogs, there’s recently been a lot of chatter, pinning, and reposting of Chocolate Pudding recipes made with avocados.  And yes, it’s delicious.  It’s whole-food, velvety smooth, super-chocolaty, relatively low sugar, and very easy to make.  But how does that help you as an athlete?  By adding protein to it, it just happens to make a perfect recover snack.

This week, we can have our chocolate and eat it too.

Recipe of the week:  Dark Chocolate Avocado RECOVERY Pudding

(adapted from http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/03/raw-chocolate-pudding.html)

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, peeled and scooped
¼ cup organic honey
3 Tbsp organic coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup raw cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 cups fat-free Greek-style yogurt

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients except yogurt in a blender or food processor until thoroughly mixed and smooth.  Stir in yogurt until mixed.  Chill at least 30 minutes.  Enjoy as a recovery snack with a large glass of water.  Makes 4 servings.

Comments:

What makes a perfect recovery?  In a nutshell, I believe optimal recovery components include adequate calories, efficient energy sources like carbohydrates and medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), protein, electrolytes, antioxidants, and healthy bacteria.  Preferably, from whole-food sources that provide quick AND long-lasting nutrition.  Here’s why:

Adequate calories and efficient energy sources:  Your body continues to burn calories at a higher-than-normal rate long after you’ve completed your workout.  If you don’t give it calories from efficient fuel sources like carbs and MCTs, you 1) will begin to breakdown and burn muscle, and 2) won’t replenish glycogen stores properly.

When you give your body carbs after your workout, it will first replenish glycogen stores.  In fact, the enzymes responsible for replenishing these carbs stored in muscles continue to work overtime immediately after training.  Then, the additional calories from healthy fats like the MCTs found in organic coconut oil (fast-acting) and mono-unsaturated fats in avocados (slow-acting) will continue to provide your body with energy so that it doesn’t have to break down muscle.

Protein: After working and straining your muscles during training, your body can use some extra protein to repair muscles, increase glycogen storage by increasing insulin output, and spare muscles from breakdown.

Electrolytes: After sweating away fluid, sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes, it’s important to replenish them so that the body regains balance.  With this recovery mousse, you’ll get good amounts of sodium (123 mg), potassium (356 mg), calcium (110 mg), and magnesium (20 mg).

Antioxidants and Healthy Bacteria: When you train, your body goes through many more chemical reactions than it does in a sedentary state.  In aerobic endurance training, you take in and use a lot of oxygen.  All this oxygen and extra chemical reactions leads to a lot of extra “charged” molecules in the body, or free radicals.  While the exercise is great for our heart and bodies, the free radicals, in the absence of anti-oxidants, can cause harm to our cells.  To fight them, immediately flood your body with antioxidants from foods like honey, cocoa, fruits, and vegetables.  As a bonus, healthy bacteria from yogurts and fermented foods increase the amount of antioxidants your body absorbs, even in the short term.

Caution! A word on recovery and weight loss: If your primary goal is to lose weight, don’t add in extra calories with an independent recovery snack.  Rather, “time” your subsequent meal or snack to act as your recovery after you train.  One serving of this chocolate mousse actually makes a balanced, healthy meal, or a half-serving will work as a snack.

For more information on the health benefits of each of the ingredients in this week’s healthy fuel recipe, see avocados, organic coconut oil, cocoa, and plain yogurt.

Make a healthy recovery snack a consistent habit; you will feel good, have steady energy, and be ready to go hard again tomorrow.  Fail to recover well after hard workouts and you may drag through the rest of the day feeling fatigued and famished, only to go out and have heavy legs on the trail tomorrow.

Give your body what it needs for great energy and health every day and during training with the right Foods, Drinks and Supplements.  If you would like my help with it, I offer comprehensive plans as Instant Downloads and as Custom Clients starting at just $20.  And, as a FuelRightBlog reader, get a further discount with coupon code:  password-frblog  username-reader.  I’d love to work with you!

Fuel Your Adventure.  Nourish Your Body.

I’m often asked about Nutella.  For Daily Nutrition, and for Training Nutrition.  Does it have a place?

Kelli’s Answer:

For TRAINING NUTRITION, it can have a place. As a high-carb food with mainly natural ingredients, you can use it with pre-training nutrition, during-training nutrition (during long training sessions), or within a post-training recovery snack. For example, a recovery snack of 8 oz. plain yogurt + 1 Tbsp Nutella + 1 Tbsp organic coconut oil (300 calories, 10 grams protein, 23 grams of carbs, and Medium Chain Triglycerides from coconut oil) isn’t a bad way to go, as long as you can control your portion of Nutella. For recovery, one goal in eating carbs is to replenish glycogen stores, and another is to give your energy-burning body a fuel source that’s not muscle. Recovery can be a good opportunity to eat a small portion of high-sugar foods that you don’t normally eat, but love.

For DAILY NUTRITION, not so much.  And, I really hate to do it as it happens to be something that tastes really good. Anyone who’s ever tried Nutella can tell-ya that it’s super yummy.

The problem?

Really, it’s not so much a hazelnut spread as a sugar spread. In fact, sugar is it’s #1 ingredient. Followed by palm oil. Then hazelnuts, cocoa, and skim milk (of course, it’s these ingredients that are advertised most on the packaging).

Protein? Just 3 grams (compared to 6-8 grams in peanut butter). Sugars? A whopping 21 grams (equivalent of more than 4 tsp per serving). What really gets me, is the recommedation on the label to eat it with a glass of skim milk, a glass of orange juice, and a slice of whole wheat bread for a balanced breakfast – since when is 80+ grams of carbs (mostly sugar) with 14 grams of protein balanced?

I will point out that it is free of hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup – so, it could be worse. But instead, choose a natural nut butter, or even Peanut Butter & Company’s Dark Chocolate Dreams (12 grams carbs and 6 grams protein) for daily nutrition.

Take-home message:

When it comes to Nutella, use small portions of it as training fuel and you can keep it. Eat it by the spoonfuls for Daily Nutrition, and it’s a high-sugar, inflammatory, fat-storage-inducing, energy drag in my book.

Give your body what it needs for great energy and health every day and during training with the right Foods, Drinks and Supplements. If you would like my help with it, I offer comprehensive plans as Instant Downloads and as Custom Clients starting at just $20. And, as a FuelRightBlog reader, get a further discount with coupon code: password-frblog username-reader. I’d love to work with you!

Ancient Greeks used parsley to adorn their champions.  This week, we’re gonna eat it.  Parsley is much more than a decoration or a trophy, it’s a Super Food that can fight and reduce risk of cancer, neutralize free radicals that damage cells, give you a healthy smile, and promote heart health.  In this week’s delicious Fuel Right recipe, parsley really sings.

Recipe of the week: Roasted Salmon with Parsley Walnut Relish

(adapted from www.foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons diced roasted red pepper (or fresh red pepper, diced)
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 2-to-3-pound piece wild salmon (about 1 1/2 inches thick)

Instructions:

Make the relish: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 7 to 10 minutes. If using fresh red pepper, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and cook alongside walnuts.  Let cool, then finely chop and transfer to a bowl. Add the cayenne, lemon juice, honey, roasted red pepper, walnut oil, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons parsley. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste and toss to combine. (The relish can be made up to 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate.)

Make the salmon: Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons parsley, the chives, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste in a bowl. Rub the herb mixture all over the salmon. Lay skin-side down in a baking dish and roast until just cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes, then transfer to a platter and top with the walnut-pepper relish.

Serves 6; Calories: 446; Total Fat 27 Grams; Saturated Fat: 4 Grams; Protein: 46 Grams; Total Carbohydrates: 3 Grams; Sugar: 1 Grams; Fiber 1 Grams; Cholesterol: 125 Milligrams; Sodium: 207 Milligrams

Comments:

Even though it provides just 2 small calories, a serving of parsley has a lot of nutrients to offer.  In fact, it contains a few extraordinary nutritive components that aren’t found in many foods.  This week, you can optimize your health by adding parsley.  It’ll give you:

Volatile oils:  Parsley contains volatile oils, specifically myristicin, that inhibit tumor formation in animal studies, especially tumor formation in the lungs.  What’s more, its volatile oils can neutralize carcinogens that get into the body, such those found in cigarette smoke.  They can increase the production of our super-antioxidant friend glutathione, and thereby reduce damage to cells.  As athletes, we need our bodies to be toxin free as possible!

Antioxidants: First, Luteolin is a special flavonoid found in parsley.  When combined with free radicals, it functions as an antioxidant to prevent damage to cells.  Then, it contains vitamin C.  Vitamin C is the body’s primary water-soluble antioxidant and it functions to decrease the free radicals that contribute to plague formation in arteries, cancer, diabetes, and asthma.  Generally, it boosts the immune system.  Thirdly, parsley’s vitamin A works as a fat-soluble antioxidant.  It works with vitamin C to reduce risk of disease and damaging free radicals.

Folic Acid: Folic acid is an important B vitamin that plays many roles in the body.  For heart health, it contributes to the conversion of homocysteine into a harmless molecule in the body.  Why is this important?  High levels of homocysteine can directly damage blood vessels, and are associated with a significantly increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Healthy Teeth:  Eugenol is an essential oil found in parsley, and can be used as an anti-septic agent for teeth and gums.  Oral health has huge implication on overall health, so keep it clean and flash your fellow cyclists a big smile.

Strong Bones:  Parsley is chock-full of vitamin K, a fat-soluble vitamin important in blood clotting and bone health.

Shopping tip:

If you’ve ever been stumped in the produce section, wondering whether you should buy curly parsley or Italian parsley, here are some tips.  Italian is flat, more fragrant, and less bitter.  It’s generally preferred in cooking.  The curly parsley is sometimes used as a bitter herb in dishes that require a balance for sweet flavors.

When you choose parsley this week, you certainly won’t be alone.  It’s the most widely used herb in the world…and for good reason.  Great flavor, strong bones and teeth, heart health, and free radical destruction.  Serve your body well, and it will serve you well with many more years on your bike, rock, skintrack or trail!

Give your body what it needs everyday and during training with the right Foods, Drinks and Supplements.  If you would like my help with it, I offer comprehensive plans as Instant Downloads and as Custom Clients starting at just $20.  And, as a FuelRightBlog reader, get a further discount with coupon code:  password-frblog  username-reader.  I’d love to work with you!