Forget the expensive and nasty sports drinks available on the market today, get some natural liquid energy from this banana and date concoction! Inspired by Tim Shieff's recent FoodTube video.
Tim (aka Livewire) is a freerunner, and in terms of competitions won, he is the most successful in the world! Tim is also a vegan, and I highly recommend you watch his video, Why I Stopped Eating Meat (posted below recipe). I've also posted his version of the Datorade.
Post-Workout High Carb Smoothie-Tim Shieff
Ingredients
4-5 ripe bananas
8-10 dried dates (soaked in warm water to soften)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 litre water
1. Add all ingredients into the blender and press go!
TIPS
- Use more cinnamon and ginger if you please, or don't use at all.
Everything you're about to see is considered standard and acceptable by the factory farming industry.
I'll admit it, I didn't start eating a plant-based vegan diet for ethical reasons, we humans are selfish, and I'm no different. I'll do a post on why I went plant-based in the future. But for now, watch this video on the standard practices in the farming industry.
Polenta is golden-yellow cornmeal made from ground maize which only takes a few minutes to cream up to make an easy pizza base. This was my first attempt at making a base from polenta and it was remarkably simple. Whip up a quick tomato sauce, throw some veggies on top and 'wah-lah', a pizza is born!
Makes 1 large pizza
Ingredients
2 cups water (may vary depending on polenta used)
1 cup polenta
1 cup homemade tomato sauce*
2 cups fresh spinach
handful cherry tomatoes
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1/2 courgette, sliced
1/2 red chilli, finely diced
Any other of your favourite veggie toppings
*homemade tomato sauce recipe (makes around 4-5 cups worth)
500g carton tomato passata
2x 400g can chopped tomatoes, drained
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp agave nectar
- Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
- Decrease heat to low and simmer for further 5-10 minutes.
- Use 1 cup worth for the pizza and refrigerate/freeze the rest for a later date.
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Line a pizza tray with parchment paper.
2. Bring water to a boil. Add the polenta and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and there are no lumps (instructions may vary).
3. Pour polenta onto the parchment paper and flatten out with a rolling pin into desired crust. Pre bake the crust for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the crust, add tomato sauce and your toppings of choice. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.
5. Slice the pizza into healthy portions and enjoy! Serve with a big leafy salad.
TIPS
- You may need to heat up the tomato sauce to thicken it up a bit before using it on the pizza.
Proteins are nutrients made up of one or more chains of amino acids. These are essential to the structure, function and regulation of every cell in the human body.
Each protein chain contains 20 amino acids, 8 of which are called "essential amino acids" that can only be obtained through food. These are known as "complete proteins" and are found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, dairy, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds.
The World Health Organisation recommends that we get around 10% of our total calories from protein. They suggest following this formula to calculate your daily protein requirements:
(0.8 grams) x (your ideal body weight in kilo grams) = protein in grams
So, using this formula a 65kg guy like me should be getting 52 grams of protein per day.
TIM VAN ORDEN ON THE PROTEIN MYTH
So, you can only get high quality protein from animal products right? WRONG.
Animal Protein
Most people in the western world consume way too much animal protein. We've been lead to believe that this source of protein is the 'mecca' of good health and nutrition and we can't thrive without it. Animal protein is bad for your bones, creates inflammation, raises cholesterol levels and is extremely harsh on the liver and kidneys. Not to mention the high amounts of saturated fat is most meats which can lead to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The meat and dairy industries are big business, and through canny marketing we've been brainwashed to believe that consuming animal protein will keep your bones strong and muscles lean. Not the case. Animal protein is very acidic to the body. In order to neutralise the acidity in the bloodstream the body needs to balance out our pH, alkalise. The most effective alkalising agencies is the calcium stored in our bones! So by eating meat and dairy you dump acids into the bloodstream, therefore to alkalise this your body leaches essential calcium from your bones, which can lead to osteoporosis! "But you need to drink milk for calcium don't you?" Doesn't sound like it to me! In fact the countries that consume the most dairy products and eat the most meat - America, Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand actually have the highest bones fracture rates! The regions that consume the lowest amount - eastern Asia and Africa have 50-70% lower rates!
Plant Protein
Plant proteins are complete proteins, just like animal proteins.
"So why are plant proteins healthier?" Well, they have a much healthier composition and balance of the essential amino acids which protect us from inflammation and tumour growth. Also, plants contain fibre, phytonutrients and antioxidants, none of which are found in meat!
Where to get your PROTEIN!
By eating a whole food plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds you're more than covered. A medium banana is 5% protein and lemons as much as 15%! Leafy green vegetables such as kale or spinach boast as much as 50%! Quinoa is 18% protein.
All you have to do is consume enough calories of these wonderful foods and you're sorted. EASY PEASY!
I recently purchased Rip Esselstyn's latest book, My Beef With Meat. Son of Caldwell Esselstyn, Rip is a strong-strong beast! I turned straight to the recipe pages to see what I could cook up. I'm always drawn to the most simple recipes, they mainly include some kind of potato or rice and this one has both!
Rip, former professional triathlete and now Texan firefighter, managed to get his team of meat eating colleagues to go plant-strong! Everyone lost weight, lowered their cholesterol and improved their overall health.
I've modified the recipe a bit to suit my needs. Give it a try!
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large sweet potato (or 2-3 small ones)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup salsa (see my Hearty Stew for recipe)
1 cup fresh spinach
1 400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
200g can refried beans
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
8 wholewheat tortillas
1 chilli, diced (optional)
Guacamole to serve
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Quarter sweet potato and bake until soft, about 40 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the brown rice. Remove the potato from the oven and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash together the potato, rice, salsa and spinach.
3. Place the sweet potato mash in a saucepan and mix in the kidney beans and refried beans. Heat the mixture through over medium heat. Add onion, chilli and cumin, stir. Tip, add a splash of water to avoid sticking.
4. Place a tortilla on a non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and slather some of the mixture on top. Add extra diced chilli if you please. Place another tortilla on top and press down on top tortilla with a spatula. Cook for about 3 minutes, flip over and repeat.
5. Serve with a green salad and guacamole. Eat as many as you want! I went through about 3 of 'em.
Loren Cordain, Sally Fallon, William Davies, Barry Sears, Robert Atkins (diet 258 pounds from a heart attack, must have been the fruit!),
High carb plant-based:
Neal Barnard, Pam Popper, Joel Furman, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn & his son Rip.
Would you by a weight loss diet book from someone who looks like they could do with shedding a few pounds themselves, or one from someone fit and lean?
Obese model Susanne Eman is saying 'Supersize Me' for real - in her bid to become the fattest woman ever. She fuels her gains on a bacon and egg rich paleo primal diet.
The 52-stone bombshell aims to reach a whopping 115 stone, or 1,600lb, by guzzling at least 20,000 calories a day. Susanne, 32, from Arizona, USA, hopes to pass the half-way milestone of 57 stones by the end of the year.
