Hello everyone.
So a few weeks ago, I was reading this book called "Born To Run", and in this book the author claims that the Tarahumara, an indigenous people of northern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability, eat something called "chia fresca" before and even while running super-marathons. Chia fresca is basically some chia seeds stirred up in fresh water mixed with lemon and/or lime juice and whatever else you want to add into it. Very appealing to me because I always seem to get ridiculously hungry after focusing on work for hours on end, and while eating a big ass meal is always nice for sake of reducing hunger on those occasions, I always either
a) never want to cook food, or
b) don't want to spend a bunch of time and money acquiring food, just to get the itis and end up destroying my work ethic for the remainder of the time I'm awake.
Generally I go with option B, because I am that lazy when it comes to cooking. Now, compare either of those options to just throwing some seeds in a cup of water, and chugging, and you have a strong case for chia fresca.
"Seems easy enough to make" says I, the lazy man cook!
"But WAIT" says I, the somewhat motivated athlete!
Chia seeds don't have very much protein in them. A lot of healthy fat and carbs, but unfortunately not much in the way of protein. This is a bit of a let down for me because I need my proteinz! So chia seeds could never be a complete meal replacement for me.
I had to find a substitute for chia seeds. I was determined to find something (besides manufactured protein powder) that I could buy in bulk, throw in a cup of water and chug, and still get all the nutrients I would need for the day. An added bonus would be tasting good.
My goal is to come up with an easy and quick-to-make (and quick to eat), healthy, organic drink capable of replacing a full meal (by my standards), and of course lacking the side effect of giving me itis.
So ... what do I think might fit the bill?
Obviously hemp seed. More on that later.
Tonight I made chia fresca. I put about 3 oz. of chia seeds in a cup of cold water mixed with lemon juice from a fresh organic lemon and stirred it up for a few minutes, then drank it. I had been practically starving before drinking it, and was in my 'do-work' mode. About an hour after drinking it, I did not feel any signs of the onset of itis and my hunger was entirely gone. It was just the kind of result I was looking for. As an aside, chia fresca would make for a great pre-workout drink if it only had a little bit more protein...
Anyway, the chia fresca mix smelled great and tasted just like lemon water. The chia seeds had absolutely no taste to them. The only difference between that mix and a cup of lemon water is that the concoction had a sort of gel-like texture to it in spots (not in a jello way, just you could tell some of the chia seeds had clumped together and binded with the water somewhat), and of course you could feel the seeds in your mouth. The seeds are extremely tiny - think poppy-seed sized - so it's not a problem. Not bad at all. Not only is it not bad, it's pretty fucking refreshing! I think it would be really good if I had put ice in it, and if I had used something like mango juice instead of water as the liquid medium.
I'll be using this chia fresca concoction as a "control" for when I test out different "hemp seed fresca" mixes.
I will try to delay eating my meals tomorrow so that I can test out a "hemp seed fresca" mix under very similar conditions.
I will post the results afterwards.
So a few weeks ago, I was reading this book called "Born To Run", and in this book the author claims that the Tarahumara, an indigenous people of northern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability, eat something called "chia fresca" before and even while running super-marathons. Chia fresca is basically some chia seeds stirred up in fresh water mixed with lemon and/or lime juice and whatever else you want to add into it. Very appealing to me because I always seem to get ridiculously hungry after focusing on work for hours on end, and while eating a big ass meal is always nice for sake of reducing hunger on those occasions, I always either
a) never want to cook food, or
b) don't want to spend a bunch of time and money acquiring food, just to get the itis and end up destroying my work ethic for the remainder of the time I'm awake.
Generally I go with option B, because I am that lazy when it comes to cooking. Now, compare either of those options to just throwing some seeds in a cup of water, and chugging, and you have a strong case for chia fresca.
"Seems easy enough to make" says I, the lazy man cook!
"But WAIT" says I, the somewhat motivated athlete!
Chia seeds don't have very much protein in them. A lot of healthy fat and carbs, but unfortunately not much in the way of protein. This is a bit of a let down for me because I need my proteinz! So chia seeds could never be a complete meal replacement for me.
I had to find a substitute for chia seeds. I was determined to find something (besides manufactured protein powder) that I could buy in bulk, throw in a cup of water and chug, and still get all the nutrients I would need for the day. An added bonus would be tasting good.
My goal is to come up with an easy and quick-to-make (and quick to eat), healthy, organic drink capable of replacing a full meal (by my standards), and of course lacking the side effect of giving me itis.
So ... what do I think might fit the bill?
Obviously hemp seed. More on that later.
Tonight I made chia fresca. I put about 3 oz. of chia seeds in a cup of cold water mixed with lemon juice from a fresh organic lemon and stirred it up for a few minutes, then drank it. I had been practically starving before drinking it, and was in my 'do-work' mode. About an hour after drinking it, I did not feel any signs of the onset of itis and my hunger was entirely gone. It was just the kind of result I was looking for. As an aside, chia fresca would make for a great pre-workout drink if it only had a little bit more protein...
Anyway, the chia fresca mix smelled great and tasted just like lemon water. The chia seeds had absolutely no taste to them. The only difference between that mix and a cup of lemon water is that the concoction had a sort of gel-like texture to it in spots (not in a jello way, just you could tell some of the chia seeds had clumped together and binded with the water somewhat), and of course you could feel the seeds in your mouth. The seeds are extremely tiny - think poppy-seed sized - so it's not a problem. Not bad at all. Not only is it not bad, it's pretty fucking refreshing! I think it would be really good if I had put ice in it, and if I had used something like mango juice instead of water as the liquid medium.
I'll be using this chia fresca concoction as a "control" for when I test out different "hemp seed fresca" mixes.
I will try to delay eating my meals tomorrow so that I can test out a "hemp seed fresca" mix under very similar conditions.
I will post the results afterwards.
. Did not feel good man..
