Coffee-Date recovery muffins

This little number was created for my hard in training ironman boyfriend who had a big training day today. The fatigued body and mind demands that several strategies are put in place.

“Endurance training depletes not only muscle and liver fuel stores; but also places stress on antioxidant, electrolyte and pH buffering systems, the nervous system, hormonal system, and obviously also muscle fibres and soft tissues such as tendons and ligaments will be severely stressed.

People often forget that long training runs will negatively impact the gastrointestinal system and the immune system is placed under significant stress.

Recovery takes time, nutrition, and active processes such as warm Epsom salt baths, gentle stretching and for some the use of elevation or compression practices. From what I read the verdict is now less clear on the benefits of ice baths so I do not recommend them.

Aromatherapy oils such as Vibrant Blue oils lymph and inflammation and Young Living oils Pan-Away are also superb to aid recovery; we use these in the clinic in combination with PEMF treatments.

Today’s nutrition recovery thus included protein, healthy fats and some additional carbohydrates before a warm Epsom salts bath. Hydration is also important and I covered this along with several other nutrition goals in the beef rib and vegetable stew that we demolished tonight with garlicky polenta on the side (lots for him less for me as my run was only 1.20 hr and his 3 hours plus).

Recovery will occur over several hours following a long training run so be sure to eat every few hours. Foods with anti-inflammatory effect and an abundance of minerals and antioxidants will be especially beneficial. The stew we ate also contained some healthy fats and glycosaminoglycans to support gastro and soft tissue health. NO JUNK or alcohol if you are serious about your recovery.

Tools:

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Here is another quick and experimental bread that I knocked together and wow it worked a treat! Be sure to bake only to the point of just done to keep this moist and enjoy with real butter, nut butter, pesto, cheese, or hummus.

This bread is super for hard training recovery and far better for the body than processed gluten-free varieties.

“My goal when I bake breads is to add in more goodness,
and remove the ingredients that I don’t tend to need.
The inclusion of healthier more nutrient dense flours,
and the addition of grated vegetables raises the nutritional
density of the bread.
I don’t add milk, butter, oils or sugar as they simply aren’t needed.”

There are many substitutions that can be made in this bread recipe; for example:

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The bread is a healthier tweak on bread. It is still a carbohydrate dominant food source but the carbs are slow releasing in nature and provide nutrition; the bread also contains omega 3 from flax, protein and healthy fats from the duck egg and a nice dose of beta carotene from carrots. Psyllium adds fibre as well as texture hence supporting the gastrointestinal system while also blunting the absorptions of sugars.

If you haven’t eaten caraway seeds before they add lovely flavour to bread (and also home-made red onion marmalade). Caraway seeds although in small quantity in this bread do still add nutrition in the form of healthy fats, antioxidants and also digestion soothing essential oils. When it comes to food every bit of goodness adds to your health.

Ingredients:

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By Andrea Cullen
24th June 2014

So here goes take two of my gluten-free bread creations. This is a lighter version than my previous bread the Yummy seeded gluten-free bread. It worked, it rocks and it is healthy.

I didn’t add any protein powder this time, for no real reason other than I am running short so feel free to fire in 1 scoop of vegan protein powder (e.g. Garden of life raw protein, Warrior protein, brown rice protein, etc.) to the mix as it will work.

This bread has no added fats or sugar, contains an abundance of healthy and natural fats, minerals, and fibre. Don’t be tempted to omit the salt as it will totally change the flavour. I expected the bread to fall apart given there was no egg or protein powder but it has held together well, sliced well and also frozen well.

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