Foods runners should eat

Are you a runner? Running is one of the most vigorous and beneficial activities for your body. It requires a lot of vitamins and minerals to get your body powered up for the challenge as well as to recover. Many foods can assist your running efforts so, if you want to run and stay healthy, here are Hopewood’s top picks for your grocery list:

Sweet potato
Providing essential Vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, sweet potato gives your body the antioxidants it needs to recover from vigorous exercise. Additionally, sweet potatoes are full of Vitamin C, potassium, iron, manganese and copper. All these minerals are essential for healthy muscle function and have a big impact on runner performance.

Oranges
After a hard workout, enjoy a whole orange or freshly squeezed orange juice. Full of Vitamin C, oranges help alleviate muscle soreness. Studies have shown that if athletes consume more Vitamin C for two weeks before challenging workouts or special events, they experience less muscle pain.

Almonds
An excellent source of Vitamin E, almonds should be a snack option for all runners! Studies have shown that eating nuts several times per week lowers circulating cholesterol levels, particularly the artery-clogging LDL type, decreasing your risk for heart disease. And the form of vitamin E found in nuts, called gamma-tocopherol (a form not typically found in supplements), may also help protect against cancer.

Whole-grain bread
Runners need at least three to six one-ounce servings of whole grains per day. Whole-grain bread is a great option. Not only do you benefit from essential fibre and protein, whole-grain bread can also assist in weight-loss. Whole-grain eaters also have a 38 percent lower risk of suffering from metabolic syndrome, which is characterised by belly fat, low levels of the good cholesterol, and high blood sugar levels.