Three Foods to Take with you into 2008

Jennifer Hutchinson has some food suggestions for your diet next year

What do pumpkin, sweet potato and cranberries have in common? Other than being some of the more common foods you encounter during the holiday season, they all are nutritional powerhouses that should be included on the menus of any health conscious athlete year-round.

This month's focus is to review some of the health benefits of each of these foods and convince you (with a couple of recipes) why these foods need to be a part of your training diet in 2008.

Pumpkin
Holiday gathering would be missing something if a pumpkin dish were not present. The pumpkin has a strong presence in the US during the holiday months. But outside of the ornamental Jack o Lanterns you see in October and the creamy pumpkin pies at holiday meals, you don’t see too many folks adding pumpkin to their daily diets. That’s a shame, because pumpkin packs a wallop in carotenoids, a potent antioxidant which can help neutralize the damage that training-induced free radicals can have on the body. Pumpkin is also a descent source for iron and zinc, not bad for something that doesn’t look too appetizing.

Not many people cook fresh pumpkin but, if you do, know that the orange colored “meat” or flesh is where most of the nutrients mentioned above are concentrated. Cooked pumpkin is a lowfat food providing less than 50 calories per cup.

If you are ambitious enough to cook a pumpkin, don’t overlook the health benefits of its seeds. Scoop them out, clean them up and roast them. OK, it might be easier to just buy roasted pumpkin seeds. These little seeds, also known as pepitas, are a great source of protein (seven gm per ounce) and are chock-full of vitamins (A & E) and minerals such as magnesium, iron, zinc and copper not to mention essential fatty acids. At 150 calories per one oz serving they can make a great year round snack.

If you don’t want to cook a pumpkin, canned pumpkin allows you to enjoy this superfood year round.

Try adding a few spoonfuls of pumpkin to:
· Your smoothie.
· Your lowfat vanilla yogurt- add some lowfat granola for taste and crunch.
· Your oatmeal- then sprinkle in some cinnamon, walnuts and honey and enjoy.
· Your pancake batter- see my recipe below.
· Make pumpkin soup or pumpkin bread, two very different yet tasty ways to enjoy the healthy benefits of pumpkin.

OK, so you are not a pumpkin fan then try…

Sweet Potato
This high-carbohydrate, carotenoids-rich vegetable is in season right now but can be found year-round in many markets. Commonly referred to as a yam (which it is not), the sweet potato is an oblong root vegetable with a yellow to orange flesh and various skin colors with the most common being white, yellow or orange/brown. When cooked, the sweet potato has a moist and sometimes creamy texture along with a subtly sweet taste. In spite of its name, sweet potatoes are not high in natural sugar, which is good news for individuals needed to stabilize their blood sugar. The sweet potato is full of vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene) and delivers a dose of vitamin C, too. This antioxidant rich food can help fight free radicals produced during your Ironman training so it should be a mainstay in any athlete’s diet.

Cooking fresh sweet potatoes may be the easiest bet, although you may find canned or frozen sweet potato chunks at some markets. You can use mashed sweet potato in place of pumpkin in some of the suggestions above or you can try:
· Baked sweet potato french fries instead of regular fries
· Baked sweet potato topped with cinnamon, cottage cheese or honey


Cranberries
Peak season for these fresh, tart little red berries is now. The good news is that cranberries freeze very well and can be used year round.

Cranberries have one of the highest antioxidant scores (ORAC values), that which can rival the blueberry. One reason why cranberries are not used as often as blueberries is that they are tart and are often an acquired taste. Fresh cranberries are low in calories (only 50 calories per cup) are great sources of Vitamins C and A and can can be cooked with a sweetener to make a homemade cranberry sauce that can be served with poultry and pork or even spread on top of pancakes or waffles. Fresh cranberries also make a welcome addition to breads and muffins.

You can also find cranberries dried, canned (cranberry sauce) or as a juice cocktail. All will expose you to the health benefits of cranberry but at the expense of exposure to simple sugar. Added sugar, however, may come in handy during some of the more physically demanding aspects of your training, so don’t rule these berries out. A glass of cranberry juice or dried cranberries mixed in your favorite trail mix, added to cereal or even as a sweet post-workout treat (see recipe below) can provide simple sugars for muscle refueling as well as nutrients to heal fatigued muscles. Just know that with added sugar come added calories!

Sticky Whole Grain Cranberry Treats
This recipe is adapted from a Oct. 2007 recipe that appeared in Southern Living magazine:

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. No Trans Fat margarine (or could use butter)
1 10.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows
8 cup whole grain low sugar cereal (ex: Kashi Go Lean, Bran/Oat Flakes)
Note: you can use 2 different whole grain cereals
1.5 cups dried cranberries (save .5 cups to sprinkle on top)

Directions:
Over low heat, melt margarine in a large saucepan. Add marshmallows and stir continuously until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

Stir in cereal and cranberries mixing until well coated. Use a vegetable based cooking spray to coat a 13 x 9 inch pan. Press mixture into the pan. Let cool for 20 min then cut into 24 bars.

Each bar is ~130 calories, 2 gm fat, 2.5 gram protein and 26 gm carbohydrate.

Other nutrient dense additions:
Add 1 cup chopped walnuts when mixing in cereal
Sprinkle and press down ½ cup of dark chocolate chips onto the mix.
Note: Nutritional information will vary depending on type of cereal used and any additions.


Jen’s Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Oat Bran Pancakes
These are very tasty after a chilly long run or ride. Try topping with warm maple syrup or honey…yum!!!!!

Ingredients:
1 cup raw oat bran
1 cup egg whites or egg substitute
1 cup mashed or canned pumpkin or sweet potato
2 scoops unflavored or vanilla protein powder (Soy or Whey)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)


Directions:
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Batter will be thick so you may need to add a small amount of milk or soymilk to “loosen” it up. Consistency should be slightly thicker than traditional pancake batter. Use a ½ cup measuring cup to scoop the batter and cook in a skillet using a fat-free cooking spray.

Cook all of the pancakes at one time and refrigerate. Pancakes store well in zip lock bags and reheat very well in the microwave. The recipe above makes six “good size” pancakes.

Each pancake provides ~ 80 calories, 10 grams carbohydrate (no added sugar) and 10 grams protein.

Optional ingredients:
· Stevia sweetener- to taste if you want them a little sweeter.
· Chopped dried fruit such as raisins, dates or prunes (adds fiber)
· Chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts (a source of “good “ fats)
· Fresh, frozen or dried cranberries/ blueberries (antioxidant boost)
· Substitute a substitute puree banana or applesauce for pumpkin/sweet potato for variety
· Wheat germ or flaxseed (adds Vitamin E or omega fatty acids)

2008 is going to be here in less than two weeks. Maybe you can include a couple of these healthy superfoods in your resolution to eat better, I know I will.

Wishing all of the Ironman.com readers a very Happy Holiday and Joyous New Year!!!!!

Jennifer Hutchison, RD, CSSD is Board Certified as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a USA Triathlon Certified Level 3 Elite Coach and nine-time Ironman finisher having twice qualified for and completed the Ford Ironman World Championship as well as competing in the Ford Ironman 70.3 World Championship . As a Registered Dietitian, Jennifer uses her academic training, certifications and “real world” experience to help train and fuel Ironman/ Ironman 70.3 athletes worldwide. You can direct comments, questions or suggestions for further articles to Jennifer via email to eSportsRD@aol.com

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