Ok...deep breath....
It all starting with this book:
A wonderful, can't put in down, read about a tribe of ultra athletes in Mexico's Copper Canyon.
These guys and gals run hundreds of miles in sandals and swear by a drink called iskiate to keep them hydrated and fueled.
A quote from the book; gentleman speaking with one of the Tarahumara (tribesman):
"I peered inside. The cup was full of gooey slime that looked like rice pudding without the rice, lots of black-flecked bubbles I was pretty sure were frog eggs in midhatch..... Great I said....what is it." "Iskiate."(he said) ......"Months later, I'd learn that iskiate is otherwise known as chia fresca -"chilly chia." It's brewed by dissolving chia seeds in water with a little sugar and a squirt of lime. In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone. As tiny as those seed are they're packed with omega 3's, omega 6's, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants. If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn't do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after months on the chia diet you could probably swim home."
You a believer yet?!? And yes...they are the seeds of the ever popular...
Cha Cha Cha
Dang, if you had only known you should have been eating your Chia pet rather than growing it.
You want to know more about their benefits...just Google it...I mean Bing it (my husband works for Microsoft now) and you'll find tons of info...just make sure it is from reputable sources.
J and I thought...what the heck lets give it a try so before a 17miler the other weekend I downed my iskiate drink and then pronounced "I am going to run like a Tarahumara!" Sure enough...I felt amazing....sure it was probably placebo affect... but whatever, I'm sold.
One among many benefits to running: Chia seeds are water loving. The seed can soak up ten times its weight in water. When inside your body, the seeds help you stay hydrated longer, and retain electrolytes in your bodily fluids.
If I didn't believe in it during that run, two weekends later I had an 18miler. It was a frigid morning....I mean so cold my water bottles on my fuel belt froze. Without water I was unable to hydrate or take my gus (needed something to wash them down). I should have bonked out at 13 but kept on trucking. I am positive it had to have been the iskiate I drank before I took off!
This is the brand J and I buy at HyVee (a little pricey so stoke up when it goes on sale) or check online prices. We now have a chia drink every day.
Chia seeds dry and Chia seeds wet
We like to change it up and sometimes mix them in our fresh squeezed orange/grapefruit juice.
Let me know if you give it a try and what you think!
Until next time...
look good, feel good, do good
I read about these awhile ago. I like to mix them in yogurt or oatmeal. They are great!
ReplyDeleteLauren