Optimal Immune System Support

It's been 10yrs now since I dipped a toe into the "Smoothie" craze, and it turned out not to be a craze with me at all, but a fundamental way of getting excellent nutrition to reduce inflammation and optimize my immune system. To that end I am posting my smoothie recipe, which has evolved a bit over the last 5 yrs.

The basic recipe, which has been stable for the last 10 yrs is...

1. Spinach stuffed down into the bottom of the blender & packed tight
2. Florida's Natural OJ with calcium & vitamin D, poured till just over the top of the spinach
3. Dried cranberries sprinkled over that - about 1/2 a cup of Mariani's
4. Wyman's wild blueberries to the top of the blender jar, 2-3 cups
5. Bananas, 1-2 for sweetness, creaminess, and potassium

Wild blueberries are smaller, so a greater % of their weight is skin, which is were everything good in blueberries (and almost all fruit) resides. Any wild blueberry brand will do, but Wyman's is pretty universally available here in California. Bananas are pretty much a sugar cube, but also stabilize the Ph of the mix and add a nice creamy mouth feel. After blending you should see tiny bubbles rise to the surface. This is the calcium in the spinach or kale reacting to the vitamin C and other acids in the fruits. Without this acid the human body cannot absorb the minerals in leafy greens (or from any other source for that matter). Use whatever brands you prefer, I just wanted to be specific about what I use.

There is one variation on this basic recipe I have used for years. When strawberries are in season, and the price drops below $1 a pound, I love to add strawberries & kale, the kale in place of part or all of the spinach. Strawberries & Kale go together like PB & J, and provide a nice change in the vitamin profile. Everything else stays the same.

I made an addition to the basic recipe 5 yrs ago when I ran low on OJ and had some POM on hand. I added a cup of POM in place of OJ, and that change definitely and firmly put my smoothie in front of any amount of Ibuprofen for controlling swelling, and the aches & pains I felt the day after a ride. I have also tried POM stand-alone, and it didn't help much, so it is in combination with the antioxidants and anti-inflammatories of everything else that it works well (EVERYTHING in this smoothie is a very powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory except the banana).

About a two months ago I decided to try adding Elderberry to my smoothies after trying the gummies and noting yet another reduction in swelling, aches & pains after riding. Typically on days I ride I take a gummie an hour before and immediately after rides, but I'm also adding 30-50mg of liquid Elderberry extract per serving to my smoothies now, and that has again improved the mix, so add to the basic recipe...

1. Pomegranate juice. I prefer Bolthouse's brand, but POM is excellent as well
2. Elderberry juice extract, 50mg per smoothie serving

 AFAICT, everything that is an anti-inflammatory is also an antioxidant, and immune system booster, as inflammation is a root cause of immune system impairment and cancer. Linus Pauling won his 1st Nobel Prize for work in this area, and later put vitamin C on the map by speculating it could help boost the immune system in humans.

Just to be clear, an antioxidant prevents oxidative damage to tissues, like the large skeletal muscles that power cycling, which is the nasty side-effect of metabolizing carbohydrate (blood glucose) in the Krebs cycle by oxidizing it. If you're making watts, you're making free radicals, which are the product of oxidative damage to tissues. Thus, antioxidants should be used while on the bike. To this end I now add Emergen-C to my Gatorade when I ride. Berry Blast Powerbars used to include many of the same vitamins, so this just makes an "Enriched" ride fuel now that it's impoverished. If you can afford it, you can also mix Acai juice 50/50 with Gatorade. I Googled "does oxidative stress cause cancer?" and got this...

"Oxidative stress is likely to be involved in age-related development of cancer. The reactive species produced in oxidative stress can cause direct damage to the DNA and are therefore mutagenic, and it may also suppress apoptosis and promote proliferation, invasiveness and metastasis."

Anti-inflammatories prevent inflammation primarily after a ride, and also help heal joints and tendons in conjunction with calcium, magnesium and zinc, which leafy greens contain in abundance, even if they weren't readily available in supplements. It's very convenient that berries, apples, chocolate, turmeric, etc (see chart below) meet both requirements, so only the timing of consumption changes, and morphs roles seamlessly from during to after riding. It's worth noting that most of the compounds in my smoothie, have also been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.

"Indeed, cancer initiation and progression has been linked to oxidative stress by increasing DNA mutations or inducing DNA damage, genome instability, and cell proliferation [11]."

In the last 15 yrs the health benefits of berries has been studied extensively, and the compounds in their skins almost all have health benefits to humans. The USDA published the potency of these until it was abused by sellers of all kinds of supplements and they decided to stop publishing it. Fortunately, I kept a copy I can share.

Honorable mention to two other juices, Acai and tart Black Cherry. I prefer to drink Acai by itself, but the cherry juice is pretty bitter, so that goes in my smoothie from time to time.

My initial recovery food just after a ride is mashed potato, freeze-dried Idahoan brand of late, as it's quick & easy, but a large russet potato washed and microwaved is also excellent, cooking while you shower off, and until recently my preferred post-ride meal. Potato has lots of vitamin C, and is the richest natural source of potassium, but it's also near 100 on the Mendosa Glycemic Index, so it has the fast carbs needed to prevent catabolic muscle destruction by inducing an insulin spike. I use lots of Kerry Gold grass-fed butter too, which is full of Omega-3 fatty acid - also an anti-inflammatory - along with a glass of organic grass-fed milk. All animals, whether milk cows or salmon fish, get their Omega-3 fatty acids from plants - either grass or plankton.

After 30-45 minutes I've had enough time to digest the post-ride carbs, so time to drink my smoothie, usually two 20oz servings in the first few hours.

I decided to write this post after seeing a few stories about boosting your immune system to ward off the COVID19 virus. I think you're going to be hearing a LOT more about Elderberry.

PS: If you're here to bone up on managing COVID19 exposure, you should know that common anti-bacterial soap is also anti-viral. Although Benzalkonium chloride has not been tested against COVID19 specifically, most viruses are pretty fragile outside of a warm body, so a good bet it will also kill COVID19.

"Benzalkonium chlorides (BACs) are chemicals with widespread applications due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties against bacteria, fungi, and viruses."

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Quick Nutrition on Hot Days

Microwaved Pepper Chicken Breast

Here's a quick, nutritious meal you can make on a hot day without heating up the whole house. It's packed with easy to digest protein, antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium, slow carbs, smells wonderful cooking, and tastes great. Don't be surprised if you find yourself doing a "re-do" as you may start craving a 2nd helping.

The grapefruit juice tastes great, adds acid to help digest minerals, adds vitamin C, and starts the digestion of the meat for you, so it hits hungry legs FAST!

Ingredients:

• Half a red onion, diced
• One fresh red or yellow bell pepper (or frozen mix is great)
• One chicken breast marinaded in Ruby Red Grapefruit juice for 1-10 days
• 2 tablespoons of Ruby Red grapefruit juice
• 1/3 rd cup of Craisins (cranberry 'raisins') or organic dried cranberries
• Olive or Canola oil (critical for generating heat in microwave)
• Salt

Pour 1 tablespoon oil in bottom of Pyrex dish. Lay chicken breast smooth side down in the bottom of the dish. Add 2-3 tablespoons of fresh Ruby Red Grapefruit juice. Smother with mixed onions, bell peppers, and Craisins.  Sprinkle with salt. (If the rough side is down the chicken breast will trap steam and explode your dinner all over the inside of the microwave. Don't ask....)

Microwave loosely covered dish 12-15 minutes. My baked potato setting works great on my microwave. Cook until reduced enough that the onions or peppers start to caramelize a little. Chicken breasts are usually 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound, so about 40-65 grams of protein. Great with milk, and dark chocolate for dessert.

PS:
If you hate chopping onions, there's a 'new' way that's safer and without tears. Cut the onion in half top to bottom. Using the root to hold the onion together, slice off the top and then cut down through the onion in a fan pattern without cutting all the way back to root.

Finally, slice the onion from the top down towards the root in 1/4 inch slices. The rings of the onion will create the phantom 3rd cut to create perfect diced onions. They also keep longer sliced this way, if you decide to pre-slice an onion or 2 and store in the fridge in some Tupperware.

What to Eat on a Rainy Day

It's been raining for about a week here now, and the air smells so fresh I've been walking in the rain just to drink it in. Pile on the clothes, and throw the windows open, it's too clean & fresh to shut out. It seems to be affecting my appetite too, as I have been craving salads. It doesn't hurt that the salads have turned out to be excellent for building liver glycogen either, but mostly, its just the clean taste I've been craving. This was dinner last night.

Safeway organic baby greens, organic spinach, craisins, wheat germ, Bumble Bee very low sodium tuna, balsamic vinegar, and LiteHouse balsamic vinegar salad dressing with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese on top. I used the Peri organic yellow onions instead of the usual shallots, and they didn't disappoint. A little balsamic vinegar helps soften the spinach. What an explosion of taste.