The TCS New York City Marathon and Two Delicious Smoothies

The New York City Marathon has finally been ticked off my to-do list. My love affair with this particular race started when I first moved to the city for graduate school. At the time, I was only running sporadically – anyone who has ever entered into a graduate program for history can attest to the fact that there isn’t much time left for anything else. However, I began stalking the race. I read about it, watched it, cheered for it, I dreamed about it while sleeping, and daydreamed about it - particularly on my countless runs through Central Park. So when the opportunity finally presented itself for me to partake in the greatest marathon in the world, I jumped at the chance.

Unfortunately, 2014 was a tough year for me. It started with a surgery on the back of my knee to remove a bone spur. While preparing for a half ironman, I started having intense pain in my hip. As it turns out, I had a small tear in the cartilage of my left hip. By the time my hip was ready for running, there was only 7 weeks until the New York Marathon.

Despite everything, including record strength winds, I was feeling good when I finally toed the line on race day. The cannon went off. I felt the boom deep down in my stomach and I finally started to realize what I was undertaking.    

For anyone who has ever run in New York, the marathon is a special experience. For me, it was particularly emotional as this city is my home. The thousands of spectators cheering were amazing (it was great hearing countless people scream “Go Vegan!” as I ran by – my little form of activism!) The race went well, although looking back, I should have run the first half a little more conservatively. Either way, I’m proud of the accomplishment and grateful for my body. I am now taking an extended break from endurance training during which I will focus on new and exciting happenings in my life. I also want to thank everyone. The love and support I received was overwhelming.

During my training, I developed two different smoothies, both of which are not only nutrient dense, but also delicious. While I used these to help fuel my workouts and to recover from my long runs, they also make a great start to any morning, and I've also made the the Chocolate Cinn-a-bun smoothie for dessert on occasion as well!

 

The Long Run Red Beet Smoothie:

1 medium beet (raw or roasted)

1 handful raw pecans (1/6 cup) (for a nut free version, add more oats)

½ cup spinach

1 ripe pear

¼ cup old fashioned oats

1 tbsp flax seed

1 medjool dates

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tsp cacao powder

½ tsp maca powder

1 cup plant-milk or water

1 handful of ice

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Top with shredded coconut and cacao nibs

Chocolate Cinn-a-bun Smoothie:

1 large frozen banana

¼ cup old fashioned oats

1 tbsp almond butter or 1 handful raw almonds

2 medjool dates

2 tbsp cacao powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp maca powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Blend all ingredients until smooth. 

I hope you all have a very happy and plant-based Thanksgiving. 

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

A Powerful antioxidant, Cinnamon

Just a short post about a spice that is probably sitting in all of your cabinets right now. Cinnamon is a culinary spice that is derived from the fragrant inner bark of a group of small evergreen trees called Cinnamomums. It is the second most popular spice used in the United States, right behind black pepper.

There are two major types of cinnamon found in the US. They are Ceylon cinnamon and Cassia cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is typically from Sri Lanka, and is also referred to as "true cinnamon.” While Ceylon is the predominate source of cinnamon sold in the UK, it is not the predominant spice typically sold as cinnamon in the United States. More common is Cassia cinnamon, which is typically from Burma but also grown in China and Vietnam and is sometimes called Chinese cinnamon. Cassia is darker in color and often has a stronger more pungent taste.

According to a major study done measuring antioxidants of various foods, cloves were found to be the most potent supply, by weight, but cinnamon wasn’t far behind. As such, cinnamon is an excellent food to be included into your normal diet. Evidence suggests that cinnamon has “anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, cardiovascular, cholesterol-lowering, and immunomdulatory effects.” 

That said, the distinction between Ceylon and Cassia makes a bigger difference than one would imagine. Cassia cinnamon is the main source of coumarin found in most people’s diet. Courmarin is a naturally occurring toxin which has the potential to damage the liver when taken in high doses.

Recent studies have revealed that regularly consuming Cassia cinnamon powder could be problematic, resulting in potentially harmful levels of coumarin intake. For example, Dr. Joel Furhrman, reports that one study estimated that small children eating oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon a few times a week would exceed the established safe upper limit of exposure.

Cinnamon also is high in oxalates. Oxalates have been linked to cause oxalate kidney stones which sounds rather uncomfortable to me. However, less than 10% of the oxalates found in cinnamon are absorbed, so even taking large doses of cinnamon on a daily basis shouldn’t be a problem in this regard.

Since Ceylon cinnamon has been tested as having near-zero levels of courmarin, it’s worth the time and money for American consumers to find a good source of Ceylon cinnamon. FRONTIER Natural Products Co-Op is my preferred choice as I can get it easily from Whole Foods or any other natural/organic grocer. Because of it's many health benefits, Ceylon Cinnamon is an excellent, easy and delicious way to boost one's antioxidant intake.  

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

More Reading:

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods—2007. November 2007. 

M. Tang, D.E. Larson-Meyer, & M. Liebman. Effect of cinnamon and turmeric on urinary oxalate excretion, plasma lipids, and plasma glucose in healthy subjects. Am J Clin Nutr, 87(5):1262-1267, 2008. 

Gruenwald J, Freder J, Armbruester N. Cinnamon and health. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010 Oct;50(9):822-34.

Fuhrman, Joel. “Choosing the Right Cinnamon,” http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/choosing_the_right_cinnamon.aspx