Race preparation isn’t just about what you do out on the road or in the gym, to train well you need to eat well. Finding foods that give you a tasty, simple injection of nutrients to support your training is just as important as finding the right form for your back squats. One food you might want to add to your Paleo or Whole30 shopping list is baobab superfruit powder.
What is baobab powder?
Baobab fruit powder is made from the hard-shelled fruit of the African baobab tree – known as ‘The Tree of Life’. That’s the tree that looks like it’s growing upside down with it’s roots reaching into the sky. Ideally you’d get your hands on some of the fresh fruit pulp but while that’s pretty tough to get hold of, the powder is a great way to get this nutrient-packed fruit into your diet.
What are the health benefits of the baobab powder?
The baobab has been used medicinally in Africa for centuries. It’s an extraordinarily good source of some really important nutrients to support any running or training programme. For a kick off 100g of the baobab pulp has been found to contain up to 500 milligrams of vitamin C, that’s almost ten times the amount you’d find in your average orange.
Foods high in vitamin C not only help provide immune systems support but studies have also found they can increase fat burn during workouts and have a positive impact on glycemic response, by helping to keep the fat-storing insulin response under control. The leaner you are the faster you’ll run.
But it’s not just vitamin C, baobab powder is also a good source of essential minerals including calcium, potassium, thiamin and vitamin B6.
What can you use it for
The Aduna baobab superfruit powder is as fine as cacao and it’s not too sweet. The taste isn’t overly strong, think citrus powder. So it’s stupidly simple to add it to things like Nutribullet smoothies, power ball mixes, yoghurt and muesli.
Best baobab recipe for runners
And here’s a handy recipe from nutrition expert Eve Kalinik for tasty Baobab Bites – little squares of nutrient-rich fuel for pre, during or post-workout.
