Forums >Health and Nutrition>Fruit powders for pre and post smoothies?
Hi all,
Do any of you use powdered "superfruits" in your pre or post workout smoothies? A lot of the superfruits have significant nutrients (vitamins, antioxidants, etc.). I took a trial run on certain powders (balboa, acerola cherry, lucuma, etc.) and found that I was less sore after running and had more energy, but I want to make sure its not a temporary boost before buying more. If you use the powders, what kinds and how frequently? Pre or post run? Thanks for any tips.
Prolly nothing too helpful but I drink scratch after running and i usually drink a quart . I'm not sure if it actually does anything for me. I'm rarely sore after running but, I'm not running big miles either, 10 miles is my max distance.
I Just eat the fruit, not just the exotic super fruits you mentioned, but any fruit I can get your hands on or is readily available, a banana, apple or a plum. They make excellent smoothies too if you have access to a blender and have 5 min time
All systems Go!
+1
Our Blendtec has been getting a real workout this year since I started running again in earnest. Fresh fruit, frozen fruit, kefir, flax seed -- what ever I though in there it blends it. As a post-workout drink it sure makes a difference in recovery and readiness for the next day's workout. The days I travel and don't have my smoothie, I can tell somethings missing in the tank.
BTW, does anyone else make their own kefir? My wife's been making it for years. A 2 gallon batch gets me through a couple of week's worth of smoothies. Pretty easy to do -- even this cave man could do it.
+1 Our Blendtec has been getting a real workout this year since I started running again in earnest. Fresh fruit, frozen fruit, kefir, flax seed -- what ever I though in there it blends it. As a post-workout drink it sure makes a difference in recovery and readiness for the next day's workout. The days I travel and don't have my smoothie, I can tell somethings missing in the tank. BTW, does anyone else make their own kefir? My wife's been making it for years. A 2 gallon batch gets me through a couple of week's worth of smoothies. Pretty easy to do -- even this cave man could do it.
Recipe? :-)
STEP 1: Heat up 2 gallons of milk (usually 1g whole milk and 1g 2%) over very low heat, stirring frequently until small bubbles start to form. We use a thick bottom pressure cooker pot that dissipates the gas flame well and prevents the milk at the bottom of the pot from burning. Be sure to use a pot that has a lid, you'll need to cover it later. The milk should be warm so milk cultures thrive, but not hot enough that kills them. If you can't keep your finger in the warm milk, then it's too hot. Be sure to stir the milk frequently to prevent milk at the bottom from burning, especially if you have a thin bottom pot. The slow heating process takes about 20 - 30 minutes.
STEP 2: Once the milk is warm, in a medium size mixing bowl, add one cup of greek yogurt and one cup of the warm milk you've been heating up. We use one individual size container of Oikes plain (unflavored) yogurt. Wisk these items together and then stir them into the pot of warm milk. Stir in well.
STEP 3: Now take the pot off the stove, cover it with the lid and place it somewhere in your house that is warm. This time of year when we have the forced air furnace running, we put the pot over a floor vent and cover the pot with an old blanket to keep the heat in. You want to create a nice warm (but not hot) environment for the cultures to multiply. We usually make our kefir at night and put the pot on the floor vent before going to bed. The next morning we have kefir. In the summer, we make our kefir in the morning and put the pot outside in the sun.
STEP 4: If everything went well, you should have a pot of thick kefir about he same consistency as the greek yogurt. You might have some separation of solids and whey. That's OK, it's all good. Put the kefir in containers and refrigerate until you need them.
To super-charge the kefir with even a greater variety of cultures we add a packet of GoLive probiotic bacterial (flavorless) to STEP 2 in addition to the Oikes and the warm milk. I think we get them at Whole Foods. This additive is optional to the recipe.
My wife drinks kefir all by itself. It tastes like thick buttermilk. I like it in my smoothies. This is what we do. You can start with just 1 gallon of milk or even just a half gallon if you like. We like to make our batches about every other weekend. It keeps well in the fridge for weeks.
Hope that helps. Good health to you and yours.
I just put kefir „mushrooms” (which I got from a friend when hers grew) in fresh milk (I get milk directly from the farmer in my village) . I don't heat it up, I do nothing but put kefir muchrooms in the milk and let it stand on the kitchen counter for 1-2 days. Maybe stir once, if I don't forget to do so. I pour the kefir through a sieve, put the mushrooms in a glass container or directly in the next portion of milk.
Jancika, fresh raw milk is the best! This rural WI boy misses it so. Getting the milk before its pasteurized is awesome; however, I'm not so fortunate as you anymore here in Chicagoland. Once milk get's pasteurized, I need to re-introduce cultures and warmth to create a good growing environment.
STEP 1: Heat up 2 gallons of milk (usually 1g whole milk and 1g 2%) over very low heat, stirring frequently until small bubbles start to form. We use a thick bottom pressure cooker pot that dissipates the gas flame well and prevents the milk at the bottom of the pot from burning. Be sure to use a pot that has a lid, you'll need to cover it later. The milk should be warm so milk cultures thrive, but not hot enough that kills them. If you can't keep your finger in the warm milk, then it's too hot. Be sure to stir the milk frequently to prevent milk at the bottom from burning, especially if you have a thin bottom pot. The slow heating process takes about 20 - 30 minutes. STEP 2: Once the milk is warm, in a medium size mixing bowl, add one cup of greek yogurt and one cup of the warm milk you've been heating up. We use one individual size container of Oikes plain (unflavored) yogurt. Wisk these items together and then stir them into the pot of warm milk. Stir in well. STEP 3: Now take the pot off the stove, cover it with the lid and place it somewhere in your house that is warm. This time of year when we have the forced air furnace running, we put the pot over a floor vent and cover the pot with an old blanket to keep the heat in. You want to create a nice warm (but not hot) environment for the cultures to multiply. We usually make our kefir at night and put the pot on the floor vent before going to bed. The next morning we have kefir. In the summer, we make our kefir in the morning and put the pot outside in the sun. STEP 4: If everything went well, you should have a pot of thick kefir about he same consistency as the greek yogurt. You might have some separation of solids and whey. That's OK, it's all good. Put the kefir in containers and refrigerate until you need them. To super-charge the kefir with even a greater variety of cultures we add a packet of GoLive probiotic bacterial (flavorless) to STEP 2 in addition to the Oikes and the warm milk. I think we get them at Whole Foods. This additive is optional to the recipe. My wife drinks kefir all by itself. It tastes like thick buttermilk. I like it in my smoothies. This is what we do. You can start with just 1 gallon of milk or even just a half gallon if you like. We like to make our batches about every other weekend. It keeps well in the fridge for weeks. Hope that helps. Good health to you and yours.
Thanks. Although this doesn't sound caveman easy. :-)
not bad for mile 25
I buy kefir in the store and drink maybe 2 ounces per day. A 256 ounce batch would be a bit much for me.
I do think it's good to promote happy gut flora.
To me, caveman easy is something with 3 or fewer ingredients in one pan/pot -- kinda like mac n cheese with chunks of spam thrown in. Even I can't screw that up.
My kind of caveman.
Just want to add my vote for kefir. I love it and drink it all the time, but have never made my own. It sounds so easy I might pick up the "kefir grains" (what they call it around here) from the grocery store next time I go.
as for super fruits, I can't really comment as I just eat regular fruit, but do like to make smoothies after running. Kefir, fruit, almond butter...yum.
spamtastik