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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Indian Summer

The weather was really nice here last week, in the 60s and even low 70s (down here in the valley anyway) so I sucked it up and put in some ride time, logging over 120 miles in a week, not my best week by far, but my best week since moving down to SoCal in 2015, so a lot of time looking at this view.

Apple Valley Airport. A favorite hydration stop

I was stopped for a short break, against a sun-drenched wall out of the cool breeze when this guy happened by on a trike. I saw him 6-7 blocks away, and was surprised at how visible he was, both front & back. Love the little bits of serendipity when out riding. We waved and shouted a greeting and he was gone.

 My, how time flies! I can't believe I've been here (almost) 5 yrs already! Apple Valley, Victorville & even Hesperia have come a long way in making this area more cyclist-friendly. The big, signature piece in that was putting in 3 nice river-front segments called the Mojave River Walk (there is a 4th in North Victorville, but it isn't connected) They've also put in a short segment of bike trail up to the VVC campus, but it's pretty steep.

Victorville has also installed small repair stations (they were badly vandalized in Sacramento, so watching this with interest here) and near VVC, a small park & picnic ground with drinking fountains - two of them. This one right along the river walk Surprising how often this critical piece of infrastructure is overlooked, especially here in the high DESERT, so check this fountain out!

Elkay drinking fountain with bottle-filler

I've never seen a bottle-filler in a drinking fountain, and am glad it's in full sun, which is what sterilizes ALL public drinking fountains, because the nozzle is shaded by the top of the fountain, but the bottle medallion is reflective, and the water was clean, city water. There's also a doggie fountain about 6" off the ground, which we also appreciate. It's hot and dry here, so simply taking a drink is not enough to keep you hydrated, you need to carry water on you, so this makes perfect sense. Sacramento, are you listening?

The newest of the 3 segments of the Mojave River Walk skirts the Mojave River Narrows, where the Mojave meanders through a low, flat swampy area and comes up through springs to make nice, little lakes like this one. 

Mojave Narrows Park

I've also been working on my nutrition a bit, and am happy to report that the Elderberry gummies are as effective an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory as the USDA claimed they were (they stopped publishing anti-oxidant values because it was abused for commercial purposes, but I have a screen print of the table somewhere). Much more effective than ibuprofen, heart-friendly, gut friendly and a big boost to your immune system.

My bike is creaking again. It's the headset. The crown race I'm pretty sure. I bought a new one, but haven't installed it yet. I think the Cane Creek 110, guaranteed for 110 yrs, is defective in that the crown race isn't rigid enough, but I will need to inspect it carefully when I tear it down. The blue paint is worn off on 1 side for about 60 degrees around. I assume that is the side facing the down-tube, but I won't be sure until I get it apart.

Very cold last night, down to 17 degrees here in the valley, and only in the 40s today, with 70s the next 3 days, so debating staying home and fixing the creak.

I haven't ordered it, but I'm going to add another IRBM mirror to the right handlebar end. Too many times I'm at an intersection unclipped and can't see behind me, which is bad now that there's a lot of construction going on and cars are having to squeeze by. Tic, toc.

Ciao!