Never Stop!!! LIVESTRONG

An amazing ad. I watch this time and time again...
Happy New Year!!!

Recharge n Recover

You have just finished a weight training session or a run in strenuous conditions or a hectic trek then you know you are going to be sore somewhere or the other the next day. Or you are just into fitness and want to make sure you are healing up after your exercise routines. Or you just have some muscle damage like tears or pulls or spasms that are bothering you. Then, here are some things, mostly natural, that can heal those muscles and help you bounce back faster...

Green Tea, I am a big fan of this, contains ingredients like antioxidants and other things (catechins) that help reduce muscle damage and aid recovery. If you, like me, really drink tea (green or black without milk) often, then go for it unsweetened or use artificial sweetener to avoid the excess sugar calories. Now another amazing ingredient you can add to green tea is Ginger. Ginger is known to help inflammations and is very therapeutic. So grab that Ginger stick and chop it into your next cuppa...
Another item known to aid recovery is Chocolate Milk. Yummmmm! Choc milk has carbohydrates and proteins (apart from calcium and vitamin D) that can really help you after exercises. Again try to watch the sugar and if possible use milk with reduced fat. Now with milk another great traditional muscle soothing item that can be had is Turmeric. Turmeric has a host of medicinal benefits but one of them is helping reduce inflammation. I haven't read anywhere what is the amount of turmeric that should be taken but what I do is add about a small spoon of turmeric to about 1/3rd of a glass of milk and gulp it down in one shot because everyone knows it tastes pretty bad, but hey its really good for you and you can follow it up with choc milk ;-)
Couple of last few items, Walnuts and Almonds. We all know that nuts are high in fat content and high in calories, but as it turns out the fat in Walnuts are plant based Omega-3 which help in decreasing inflammation and increase your HDL (the good cholesterol). Almonds are also good for you, it contains vitamin E, an antioxidant. The fat in both these nuts are in fact good for our heart and help in keeping our arteries clean. It is really good for people into fitness, exercise or running. Just note that cashews are still are not in the good books but walnuts and almonds are. They have been found to help muscles recover and keep you really healthy. So, go nuts!!!

42

No, no, I am not giving the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. It is just that I finished another full marathon and a marathon is 42 kilometers...

The Bangalore Midnight Marathon was held last weekend. This event was supposed to happen in December 2008 but got postponed and then at the very last minute they rescheduled it and probably that is why the participation was very low. The half marathon still had decent participation but the full marathon participation was extremely low, probably less than 100 people ran the full marathon.

Anyway, I had been preparing for the half marathon and targeting 1 hour 45 minutes but a week before the run decided to do the full thing. Did a 16k run the weekend before in 1 hour 23 minutes and felt that the 4 hour mark for the full was definitely attainable.

During the race, [as expected] since I had prepared for the half marathon, the first half went off quite well. I was at the halfway mark at about 1 hour 50 minutes and the 4 hour target was still in sight. But then the decline set in. And it set in at a much faster rate than expected. I was able to get to 31-32 kilometers only by about 3 hours, about 10 minutes behind schedule. The last 10K saw further decline and I finished the whole thing by only about 4 hours 18 minutes...

The race organization was definitely flawed. We were running loops of about a 10km route and the water stations in the second section were just too less and later in the run whatever few water stations were there they also had wrapped up and disappeared. Luckily friends who had earlier finished the half marathon helped out and provided electrolyte water and some energy bars.

Since the participation was less and the professionals hadn't showed up, I finished 5th in the men's section and 6th overall. The first two spots went to professionals, an Ethiopian and an Indian. The fifth overall spot and first in the women's section went to my friend who finished in 4 hours 16 minutes...

So the race was good for me, I was really sore after the run, had to pop an Advil but overall I was quite satisfied. There was a nagging suspicion that the route had not been measured accurately and later we confirmed from a friend who had run with a GPS watch that the organizers did actually blunder with the measurement and in fact the total distance covered was 43.2kms. One kilometer more than the official distance, so based on that I probably would have finished the full distance in about 4 hours 9 or 10 minutes. That puts me below 4:10 so that gives a little more satisfaction...

Satisfied but not sated. Missed the 4:00 mark...

I plan to run more races this year than last year. Probably shorter distances for now, a 10k and a half marathon before taking a shot at the 4 hour mark once more towards the end of the year...

Potatoes, Aaloo, Bataata, Aalugadde, Urlakarn...

Potatoes are nutritionally amazing, for everybody and especially for runners. They have close to ZERO fat!!! But according to a doc "...sadly more than 50 percent of those [potatoes] are fried--turning them into a nutritional disaster, which helps account for their bad rap."
In India I would say 100% of the potato preparations are nutritional disasters...
Anyway read on for more awesome facts about Potatoes...

"The potato is a nutritional powerhouse, in addition to being an excellent source of carbohydrate, a potato contains 45 percent of the daily requirement for vitamin C, and more potassium than a banana. If you eat it with the skin on, it's a terrific source of dietary fiber. A fresh potato contains no fat or cholesterol, and has only 100 calories."

"Potassium in potatoes keeps your muscles firing properly, warding off cramps during a tough workout or race. Potassium is a key ingredient in sports drinks. Few foods contain significant amounts of potassium, which is why your coach keeps urging you to eat potassium-rich bananas. One medium-size potato, however, boasts more potassium than a banana."

Baked, mashed, or boiled, potatoes actually provide more energy-delivering complex carbohydrates than a cup of pasta. All varieties--russet, red, yellow, purple, and sweet--contain impressive quantities of vitamins and minerals. Plus, they're easy to digest and prepare. "People often assume that because potatoes are white, they're a nutritionally empty food," says Tara Gidus, R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "But the opposite is true."

Potatoes rank high on the glycemic index--higher than pasta--which means their carbs get into the bloodstream fast. Postrun, potatoes replenish carbs quickly, and topped with protein, help repair muscle fibers. Plus, the vitamin A in sweet potatoes aids new cell growth and repairs postworkout microtears in muscle, helping you recover and refuel for your next run.

[Potatoes] A perfect runners' food--just steer clear of the fries.

These kind of outcomes I like ;-)

Alcohol 'quickly' cuts heart risk

Those who drank only wine showed the most benefit...But cardiac experts warned alcohol was not a panacea for good heart health.

Those who stuck to wine had the biggest reduction in cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks, compared with non-drinkers, heavy drinkers or those who drank other types of alcohol.
The study also found some improvement in HDL or "good" cholesterol in those who took up drinking.

Non-drinkers should not take up alcohol to protect their heart
More

Q: What Alcohols Should You Drink?

A: Beer And Red Wine

Acute consumption of red wine or beer improves endothelial function and decreases vWF levels, suggesting that the type of beverage may differently affect endothelial function and thrombosis/fibrinolysis system in healthy adults.

More

Eat your broccoli!

Potent substance in broccoli appears to be sulforaphane

That's the advice from UCLA researchers who have found that a chemical in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may hold a key to restoring the body's immunity, which declines as we age.

The study findings show that sulforaphane, a chemical in broccoli, switches on a set of antioxidant genes and enzymes in specific immune cells, which then combat the injurious effects of molecules known as free radicals that can damage cells and lead to disease.

More

Tea, hold the milk please...

It seems tea loses all its wholesome benefits as soon as you add milk to it.

Tea has a protective effect on the cardiovascular system. Black tea significantly improves the ability of the arteries to relax and expand thus accommodate increased blood flow. Tea exerts antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and artery dilating effects, which give protection against cardiovascular diseases.

All this is wiped out when milk is added. This is mainly due to some protein in milk that prevents the ingredients in tea to have the much desired biological effect.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are chemicals that reduce the rate of oxidation. Oxidation is what happens in our bodies (in our cells) all the time, its called aging :)

Researchers have found a high correlation between oxidative damage and the occurrence of disease.

Research suggests that consumption of antioxidant-rich foods reduces damage to cells and biochemicals from free radicals. This may slow down, prevent, or even reverse certain diseases that result from cellular damage, and perhaps even slow down the natural aging process. This is the basis for the free-radical theory of aging.

Some studies suggest that by destroying free radicals and reducing cellular damage, antioxidants in the diet can have positive health effects, such as preventing macular degeneration (studied in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study); maintaining the immune system; potentially preventing neurodegeneration due to oxidative stress; preventing DNA damage; and lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.

So its important to keep a good amount of antioxidants in our diets, especially when:

• You probably eat outside a lot and are not able to incorporated enough of the right and fresh things in your diet.
• You exercise a lot. Whenever you do endurance exercise like running long distance or weight training you are increasing the cell damage in your body.

Just by paying attention to what you eat and adding a few really simple things in your diet, antioxidant intake can be increased. It will help keep diseases away, improve your general health condition including your skin. Read on...

Physical exercise
During exercise, oxygen consumption can temporarily increase by a factor of more than 10. This leads to a temporary large increase in the production of oxygen free radicals, resulting in increased cell damage contributing to muscular fatigue during and after exercise. The body uses antioxidants to reduce the amount of such damage. The inflammatory response that occurs after strenuous exercise is also associated with increased occurrence of free radicals, especially during the 24 hours after an exercise session. In this phase too, antioxidants in the body reduce the damage.

Here are some good food sources of the four most studied antioxidants.
Vitamin C -- Important sources include citrus fruits, green peppers, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, strawberries, raw cabbage and potatoes.
Vitamin E -- Important sources include wheat germ, nuts, seeds, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, vegetable oil and fish-liver oil.
Beta-carotene -- Carrots, squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, kale, collards, cantaloupe, peaches and apricots are particularly rich sources of beta-carotene.
Selenium -- Good food sources include fish, shellfish, red meat, grains, eggs, chicken and garlic.

Green Tea: Health benefits:

• Preventing the degradation of cell membranes by neutralizing the spread of free radicals (which occurs during the process of oxidation).
• Increases fat oxidation (helps the body use fat as an energy source) and raises metabolism.
• Lowering LDL cholesterol (in high doses in lab tests)

The benefits from green tea are pretty amazing, read it again...

Most of the data here is collected from the wikipedia page on Antioxidants.