Protein is essential for
maintaining basic bodily functions and for repairing your body after workouts.
Many runners do not focus enough on their protein intake since unlike
bodybuilders (they believe that) their goal is not to build muscles. Their primary focus is on
carbohydrates and this approach backfires since the repair and healing powers
of protein is absent in their diet. Protein and muscles are essential for sustaining and
improving running performance (and also to stop yourself from looking like a chicken noodle).
Richard Kreider, Ph.D., one of
the ISSN study's authors and head of the Exercise and Nutrition Laboratory at
Baylor University says that, "after an intense bout of exercise, your
immune system is weakened for about four to five hours". "Protein
stimulates white blood cells, which helps shield against upper-respiratory
problems." Military research studies show that Marines who ingested high
amounts of protein had fewer medical visits than those with lower protein
intake.
As per Runner’s World, “the
USDA's Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram
(or 0.36 grams per pound) of body weight. But that's not enough for athletes,
according to the ISSN, which says endurance athletes like runners need 1.0 to
1.6 grams per kilogram a day (or .45 to .72 grams per pound). That translates
into 75 to 120 grams of protein daily for a 165-pound runner.”
Protein shakes are an easy way to
maintain your protein intake. Unfortunately, the prices of good quality protein
powder supplements are obnoxious to say the least. A 5kg supply will cost
almost Rs. 10,000/. Moreover, even after having the protein shake, you’ll still
need to consume regular food since the shake will not provide enough calories
and other nutrients and it will leave you hungry.
 |
| All powders are expensive |
For the last few years my
breakfast has been 3-4 boiled eggs and a glass of milk. A few months ago I had
reached my boiling point since the "bite an egg and then take a sip of the
sugarless milk" approach had become too insipid and also because it takes about 10
minutes to finish this meal and I don’t have that kind of time before leaving
for work. So a quick and simple (and disgusting for some!) recipe which I use after
my running session in order to serve the dual purpose of getting in my protein intake plus
quick breakfast is The Egg Banana Milkshake.
Ingredients:
1.
3 Boiled Eggs
2.
About 400 ml skimmed milk
3.
2 Bananas
Put the above in a blender and
make a shake. It tastes almost like a banana milk shake but with a hint of salt
because of the eggs. It’s not tasteful like a banana milk shake for obvious
reasons. It’s more like your wife’s cooking- even if you don’t like it, you
know it’s good for you to just shovel it all down without complaining.
Do not add raw eggs due to the
viruses present in uncooked eggs and moreover cooked (boiled) protein is more
bio-available to our bodies than raw.
Protein content is as follows:
18-20 gms of protein from the
boiled eggs (3.5 gms in the egg white and 3 gms in the yolk)
12 gms of protein from the
skimmed milk.
2 gms from the bananas
So total about 32 gms of protein.
About two glasses of shake will
be produced from the aforesaid ingredients and the calorie content will be
about 650 calories- so it serves a dual purpose as breakfast plus protein shake.
Try this concoction. You won’t
need to snack in between breakfast and lunch, plus the eggs will supply a whole lot
of other nutrients. Don’t worry about the cholesterol from the eggs since they
contain some much needed good fats.
P.S.- This shake is also a good cure for hangovers, since eggs contain large amounts of cysteine. Cysteine is a substance that breaks down the hangover-causing toxin acetaldehyde in the liver's depleted glutathione. Therefore, eggs, plus potassium from bananas, and hydration plus vitamins from milk can together potentially help mop up the left-over toxins.
