Barefoot Healthy Hippie

5 ways beans are good for Runners and everyone else:

One cup of beans gives you 30 to 40 grams, equaling 10% of your daily value of complex carbohydrates. These are slow release carbs that help you fuel your running.

One cup of beans has as much protein as two cups of milk. Beans, together with grains, contain all the essential amino acids you need. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, so these foods help maintain the health of muscles.

One cup of beans will supply 10 to 17 grams of fiber, which is half of what you need daily. In other words, they help keep you regular. If you have a sensitive GI system, add beans slowly to your diet so you can adjust, and don't eat them just before a run- only if you have sensitive bowels. Quick tip: If beans initially cause you discomfort, try just a little at a time, your body will adjust unless you have an allergy or other medical concern related to them. In my experience beans are only a gassy food when you aren't eating healthy. If you eat beans as part of a healthy diet, you will have little to no discomfort.

Eating beans four times a week lowers your risk for heart disease by 22%, that's amazing! They are a good source of soluble fiber as well as folate. Folate is a B vitamin that removes a damaging compound called homocysteine. The following comes from the American Heart Association about homocysteine.

"Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood. Too much of it is related to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease (fatty deposits in peripheral arteries).

Evidence suggests that homocysteine may promote atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in blood vessels) by damaging the inner lining of arteries and promoting blood clots."

And finally, beans contain phyto-nutrients that fight cancer. Eating beans four times a week lowers the risk of colon cancer. Your risk of colon cancer is lowered when you eat anything with enough fiber four times a week. So eat bran cereal, whole grains and beans, get in that fiber!

Now that I've got you excited about beans (I hope!) head over to my good friend Juli's blog to learn many many ways to eat them. Juli's Blog

Canned versus dried?

Canned:

Costs less than 50 cents per serving.

It's convenient, already cooked and soft.

May contain up to 800mg sodium per serving, which is about 30% of your daily value. If you have to watch your salt intake, canned may not be the best choice for you.

They are still packed with nutrients.

You can't control the firmness, but they still taste good.

You can't control the water they were cooked and packed in. There is a chance your beans were fortified with fluoride and any number of minerals that existed in the water. This can be detrimental to health and flavor. It's not life and death, but if you choose to not use fluoride, stay away from the canned beans (and canned anything unless you can it yourself with fluoride free water).


Dry


Costs about 20 cents per serving.

Must be soaked/boiled for hours. The older your beans, the more soaking required. I've soaked and cooked them in a crock pot for more than 24 hours before, so it takes planning.

They are sodium free except for what you add.

There is slightly more fiber, iron, folate and calcium since they are less processed.

You have more control over their taste, you get to decide what to add to your beans, and how firm you want them.

You know exactly what is in them, you cook it with your own water and own seasonings. No secret fluoride or minerals.




Most of the information in this article came from Runner's World Magazine.

I recently got back from a vacation where I didn't have the opportunity to easily eat as I wanted to so I decided to do the cleanse again as a way to start over. It's been just a month since my last cleanse.

This time was just as easy as the last. I had more energy and I even felt better than before. So if you have done a cleanse and it was too horrible to repeat remember, you've cleansed a lot of toxins and it won't hurt as bad the next time if you do them even just a few times a year.

One important thing to remember: Get good fats in somehow. Each day take a tablespoon of olive oil or eat part of an avocado. If you neglect to do this there is a very real chance you will get gallstones when you come off the cleanse. The liver and gallbladder need to be lubricated.

On day two of the cleanse I had yet to eat any avocado and one of my kidneys was hurting so I immediately ate some and within the hour my kidney was fine. The fats are important, especially if you are cleansing longer than three days.

What to do when you come off the cleanse

Eat a diet high in fiber. You will majorly regret it if you don't.

Continue with the morning ritual of drinking prune or plum juice if you can stomach it, followed by apple juice and then distilled water. Just for the first break the fast part of the day. That will gently get your body working.

Eat fruits and vegetables as much as you can for the first few days. Find good vegetarian recipes if you don't want to snack on the raw veggies. Of course, raw fruits and veggies are the best.

Gently ease back onto other foods. Put off eating meat as long as you can, it's hard to digest and your body needs some time to adjust.

Of course, making adjustments to your overall diet is recommended at this time. Cut out red meats and dairy if you have problems with constipation or cholesterol. In our family we have decided to make those items special use ones, for special occasions or restaurants.

Don't jump into change too fast. If you try the "all or nothing" way, there is a good chance you won't make it. It's too hard. Start with what's easy and go from there.

I just finished my first real cleanse today. I did the Dr. Christopher's Three Day Cleanse, which you can find here.

It's basically just drinking specific juices and steam distilled water for three days and if you are starving you can eat the fruit of the juice you are drinking. They recommend organic apple juice because apples have more beneficial properties that other fruits.

You start each day with 16 oz. of prune juice, followed by apple juice and water. You alternate between apple juice and water all day and the next day you start with the prune juice again. It's the same for all three days. For a more complete description go to the link above.

I had an easy time doing it so I don't think my results are typical. I had a lot of faith in the process so if I felt uncomfortable I just went with it and I think my positive attitude went a long way. Here is how it worked for me.

Day 1: I wasn't hungry at all. I thought I would be starving so I stocked up on apples to eat and I didn't touch one. I would recommend staying at home for the first day, I ran to the bathroom a lot eliminating toxins.

Day 2: Still didn't get hungry. I had to go to the bathroom a lot still, but not as much. I didn't experience any cramping or pain. I got light headed by the end of the day and went to bed early, about 9pm.

Day 3: Didn't get hungry until the end of the day and I snacked on fresh fruit. I was light headed and stayed indoor to be out of the heat most of the day. I laid around a lot. I didn't have any cramps or anything, I'm feeling lighter and better. I noticed that since I've had only fruit sugars for three days that actual fruit tastes sweeter to me than before. I had more cravings than ever before for things like pizza and cheese. I have heard that you crave what you are detoxing so that makes sense. You can store toxins for years and years so it's possible to crave something you haven't eaten since you were a kid even.

Day 4: Today I am incorporating foods back into my diet. I started out with grapes for breakfast and salad for lunch. Only eat fruits and vegetables for the day to get your stomach ready to digest foods again. I noticed that I don't need as much food, but I am also feeling nervous about how my body is going to handle food after only digesting liquids. I got a small cramp or two while eating but it passed without a problem.

Dr. Christopher's next step is to follow a mucusless diet which means to not eat any foods that cause your body to make mucus. It's a hard diet to follow and I don't know if I can do it long term but I'm going to give it a few days and see how it feels. In the very least I want to make 75% of my eating mucusless and continue to do the three day fast a few times a year.

The beauty of this cleanse is it's for everyone. People who cleanse every month to newbies to the cleansing world (like me!).

I want to make a note here: Some people can experience a huge degree of discomfort while detoxing. I don't know why I had it so easy. I don't think I have less toxins than other people. Maybe mine are deep seated and will come out the next time I cleanse or later this week. Whatever happens I'll let you know. If you do this cleanse and you have a lot of pain, that's ok, it's to be expected. I encourage you to keep trying and trust the process. Pain means there is a problem, pain itself is not the problem. Once you fix the problem the pain will leave.