athlete – Wholicious Living

If you’re not eating this super food daily, you’d better start. Blueberries may be small, but they’re certainly not lacking when it comes to being loaded with nutrients and antioxidants. Antioxidants help to reduce inflammation and oxidative damage to cells resulting from free radicals produced during periods of strenuous activity or stress. Whether you’re an athlete or not, we all have stress in our lives so eating foods to help combat that is important. Blueberries have been shown to increase memory, reduce the risk of heart attack, prevent cancer and also promote healthy blood pressure. Researchers believe the high concentrations of anthocyanin, a very powerful antioxidant that gives blueberries their color, is responsible for the protective benefits.

Continue reading “The Most Super Super Foods: Part 5 of a 10 Part Series” →

Power up for anything with this super seed! While Chia seeds have gained popularity over the last decade, they are far from new. The Aztecs and Mayans used these seeds dating back to 3500 B.C. The word chia means “strength” and was thought to be more valuable than gold. It was also the inherent dietary staple of a tribe of super-runners in the Copper Canyons of Mexico known as the Tarahu chiaseed mara Indians, which you may know about from the book “Born to Run”.

What exactly is a chia seed? It’s a small black or white seed (no significant nutritional difference between the two) that’s not much bigger than a poppy seed. While it may be small, it certainly packs a punch when it comes to its nutritional content. It is one of the most concentrated sources of omega-3. In fact, one serving (2T), has five times the amount of omega-3 than a 1/4 c serving of walnuts. It contains as much calcium as a 1/2 c of milk, has 2 times the amount of iron and magnesium than one cup of spinach, has as much potassium as 1/3 of a banana and more than twice the fiber of a cup of oatmeal. It’s also loaded with protein, antioxidants and tons of other vitamins and minerals. I include them in all pre and post workout recovery drinks.

It’s super powers for any athlete include:

Continue reading “The 10 Most Super Superfoods: Part 3 of a 10 Part Series” →