Within the last few weeks, I would bet my last that someone has asked you, “Do you watch Severance?” And if you said no or blinked back in confusion, I’m sure I’m not the first one to tell you that it’s incredible.

For the un-aquainted, , which first aired in 2022, is set in a futuristic era where a company called Lumon Industries has developed the biotechnology that allows its employees to ‘sever’ their brains into two personalities: your working self and your personal self. Severed people undergo a medical procedure that implants a device in their brain, which causes employees to forget everything about the outside world once they step foot into their work building. Likewise, once they leave, all the memories of what happened during the workday or gone. So in theory, there are “two” versions of yourself, one who works, and one who doesn’t.

After years of anticipation, season two episode one premiered on January 17. And in truth, it’s all I’ve been thinking about lately.

The brilliance of the show is that it touches on themes of work-life balance, workplace culture, political expression, and the meaning of memory and community. It makes you think about what life would be like if you had the option to be severed. You’d never have to feel the stress or exhaustion of work ever again, and focus solely on your personal life. On the other hand, you technically create this whole other “you” that knows nothing about yourself or the outside world—just the four walls of your cubicle. As I watch season two as a new episode is released week by week, I start to wonder how being severed would apply to other areas of my life—like running.

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Would You Sever Your Running Self?

What if, as soon as I slipped on my running shoes, my severed self stepped in and took on all the grunt work? Say one day I’m not looking forward to a tough workout in the cold. If I had a severed running side, I wouldn’t have to feel the bitter chill, climb tortuous hill repeats, or endure huffing through race pace miles. I’d step outside in my shoes, and in the blink of an eye, be done and back inside for a post-run snack. I’d reap the rewards of building my endurance and athleticism for fun races and routes without needing to suffer through the not-so-fun parts of a training block.

The fictional scenario sounds tempting. “But running is supposed to be fun!” You might say. “If you don’t love it, don’t do it!” Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree. But if you’ve ever trained for a race, you know there are days when you wish you’d picked an easier hobby. Here are some instances in which I wish I was severed:

1. When my alarm goes off at 5 A.M. for my early run and I’m snuggled in bed, sleeping on the cool side of the pillow.
2. When I’m running through pouring-down rain so heavy I’m open-mouth breathing like a carp.
3. When I have to run up a hill that forces me into near slow-motion pace.
4. When I run out of water during a blistering hot run.
5. When the run is so sticky and muggy that I have to peel off the gnats that got stuck to my face one by one.

Turns out the reason why people endure tough, less-than-enjoyable things can be explained by the a theory conceptualized by psychologist Michael Inzlicht from the University of Toronto. The paradox suggests that effort can be both costly and valuable, that, although our genetic makeup pushes us to choose survival above all else (which often does not require climbing high mountains or running long distances), humans have evolved to sometimes choose difficulty over ease.

I asked Inzlicht what the repercussions would be of severing yourself for say, marathon training.

“While it might seem appealing to skip the grueling training and just enjoy being race-ready, our research suggests this would likely diminish the overall experience,” Inzlicht says. “We’ve found that effort, despite being aversive in the moment, serves as a crucial source of meaning and satisfaction.”

He says that behavioral studies show that people value achievements more when they require significant effort. That rush of emotion you get after a race might not feel as powerful if you didn’t spend months of a training block working for it.

“By removing the experience of effort, we might be removing what makes achievements feel truly significant,” Inzlicht says. “The struggle itself becomes part of the story and identity. “

It reminds me of the famous , a study conducted by a psychologist named Walter Mischel in 1970. Mischel would place a marshmallow in front of a child (of preschool age) and tell them that if they waited to eat it, they would be rewarded with a second marshmallow later. The results found that more children were willing to wait longer (the more difficult option) in order to reap the higher reward. Similarly, runners are willing to experience the lows of training because the feeling of crossing the finish line is so powerful.

The study also found that the children who resisted the marshmallow were more likely to be patient in the future and better prepared for “difficult” aspects of life. The same could be said for enduring those tough parts of running. shows that runners, (especially ultramarathoners) have higher levels of self-efficacy compared to those who don’t run, which significantly impacts motivation, commitment, and self-control. also report that, because these kinds of runners have strong mental fortitude, they have more efficient emotion regulation strategies, stress-coping mechanisms, and experience less anxiety.

To me, the most glaring part of this research is that most of the time, runners aren’t born with this extra mental fortitude, but it’s developed through the constant repeated action of enduring hard things like waking up at the crack of dawn, running through the sleet and snow, and tackling scary steep hills.

So if I severed myself, I might not have the same mental toughness that I have today. The same mindset that has helped me tackle problems outside of running, helped me navigate the daily stressors of life, and grow confident enough to seek bigger goals and challenges. In fact, counterintuitively, not suffering through those days when I hate running may ultimately make me love running less.

Of course, the whole scenario is fictional, and so coming to this conclusion might seem sort of inconsequential. But this thought exercise reminds me that it’s important to understand why we invest so much time and energy into this silly hobby of ours. It helps us appreciate running even on those crappy days, and it’s what gets us through the inevitable lows that come during that race that we train for all year.

Plus, who knows how far biotechnology advancements will go? Maybe severing will one day be a real option. At least now, I’ve made my decision far in advance.

RELATED: Versatile Running Gear You Can Wear All Day, Anywhere

The post ‘Severance’ Made Me Reconsider My Commitment to Running appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

It’s Halloween, which means there’s an abundance of candy laying around. I have some sitting on my counter right now, in fact, for guests to munch on—only after I ate all the Almond Joys out of the bowl.

Most people would assume that there’s no Venn diagram where candy and running overlap, but “most people” wouldn’t know that ultrarunning GOAT occasionally munches on Pear-flavored jelly beans during races. She’s a candy fiend, also vocal about her affection for Mike and Ikes, Dots, and Sour Patch Kids. Leadville Trail 100 champ Clare Gallagher buys her mid-run Sour Patch Kids in bulk. But it’s not just ultrarunners who dip into the candy jar. Two-time Olympian and Boston Marathon champ Des Linden has also been known to snack on sweets before a race—let’s not talk about the time she startled the world when she absolutely mutilated—I mean, ate a Kit-Kat
in a totally
normal
way


Suffice it to say, there are those who swear that popping a few gummy bears during a long run gives them the same energy boost as a gel. While I’ve tested how it feels to I’ve never packed candy in my running vest. To me, it seems too far-fetched that sweet treats can help our running practice, but let’s look at the facts.

This review is based on my own personal taste and experience running on the roads. If Halloween candy is your jam, I highly recommend you test this fueling strategy out for yourself on whatever running surfaces you enjoy

Is All Sugar Created Equally?

American College of Sports Medicine recommends runners consume 30-60 grams of carbs per hour for any run lasting longer than 90 minutes. Popular gels Gu and ±áĂŒłŸČč both contain 100 calories and 22g of carbs, which isn’t too far off from many candies in my Halloween bucket.

Matthew Kadey, MS, is a Canada-based nutrition registered dietitian and author of Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sports+șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű. He’s also an avid endurance athlete himself.

“Certainly the various types of candy can serve as an effective fuel source for exercise,” he says. “The sugar content can provide the same fast energy source as engineered sports products like gels. Besides, candy is typically much more enjoyable to eat and can help deal with palate fatigue. I think most of us will look more forward to stuffing in a fistful of gummy bears than sucking back a gel.”

Straight from the expert’s mouth. Candy = fuel, right? However, Kadey has some warnings to heed.

“The sugar content of candy varies widely, so you need to know how much you are getting,” he says. “Some candy will provide fewer carb calories than gels, so you need more to get the amount of simple carbs to have a performance benefit. Some candy may provide a dose of carbs that could be problematic to untrained guts that may lead to gastro issues.”

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He adds that many products are also lower in sodium compared to sports nutrition products, so you need to make sure you’re getting those electrolytes somewhere else. And if you are going to eat candy on your run, he recommends feasting on candy that’s mostly pure carbs (sugar) like gummy bears, Twizzlers, and Sour Patch Kids.

, CPT and certified running coach based in Utah, agrees that sometimes gels and candy aren’t all that different.

“Your body’s preferred energy source is carbohydrates, and when you’re exercising and your body is under that kind of stress, it’s going to be looking for the most easily accessible fuel source, which is going to be simple carbs or sugars,” he says. “I love using candy in training, but in racing, having to eat something like four, five, or six pieces of candy in order to get the same amount of sugar or carbs from one gel is just not going to be convenient and easy.”

He adds that you’re also taking a risk that the additives in candy might mess with your stomach.

“In addition, some gels have a glucose and fructose mix which maximizes the amount of carbohydrates that your body can process.”

Below, I did a nutritional breakdown of a few fan-favorites, as well as my honest thoughts on how they tasted/performed during my long runs.

*Note: I’m not in an aggressive training block, therefore all “long” runs I tested these candies on ranged from 6-12 miles on the roads.

±áĂŒłŸČč

• Calories: 100
• Carbs: 22g
• Sugars: 13g
• Sodium: 105mg

GU Energy Gels

• 100 calories
• Carbs: 22g
• Sugars: 7g
• Sodium: 60mg

Swedish Fish

• 110 calories
• Servings: 5 pieces
• Carbs: 27g
• Sugars: 23g
• Sodium: 25mg

Swedish Fish are delicious, but I didn’t love the fact that I had to eat about six pieces to reach 30g of carbs. I want my fuel to be low volume, and it took me a bit to get through this school of snacks. Plus, I found they got stuck in my molars so my tongue was doing backflips for the rest of the run to get stuff unstuck. Maybe most of the candy was left behind in my teeth, because I didn’t feel as energized as I wanted to with these. One bonus: they’re coated in wax, so you can put them directly into your vest pocket without them gumming up and getting melty.

Twizzlers

• 120 calories
• Servings: 3 pieces
• Carbs: 27g
• Sugars: 14g
• Sodium: 70mg

Twizzlers are another easy, seemingly unmeltable candy I can stick in my running vest. I had no problem chowing down on three strands of these, and they weren’t overly sweet, so I didn’t get that parched feeling after too much sugar. Plus, they have a decent amount of sodium, so a win for Twizzlers! Pro tip: I held all three in my hand and chomped down at the same time like one Twizzler banana.

Sour Patch Kids

• 110 calories
• Servings: 12 pieces
• Carbs: 27g
• Sugars: 24g
• Sodium: 25mg

Speaking of parched, I should have known Sour Patch Kids were going to be an issue. I’m not a sour-inclined person, so I was puckering up while mowing through 12 pieces. Plus, the little granules of sugar stuck to my sweaty fingers and got me all sticky, which I wasn’t a fan of. I definitely reaped the sugar buzz rewards, though, and felt great on my run.

Three Musketeers Fun Size

• 130 calories
• Servings: 2 bars
• Carbs: 23g
• Sugars: 20g
• Sodium: 55mg
• Fat: 4g

I was so hoping some kind of chocolate would work for me, but fun size Three Musketeers didn’t provide much fun to my run. While the carb and sugar count line up with a gel, the chocolate itself didn’t sit well with my stomach. I got a cramp shortly after and felt some churning and burning. They were the easiest to eat, however, being perfect bite-sized pieces.

Starburst

• 120 calories
• 6 pieces
• Carbs: 24g
• Sugars: 16g
• Fat: 2.5g

First and foremost—I only eat pink Starburst. Don’t ask me to trade for your yellow or red, I’m not interested. Secondly, these little squares were not great running fuel. You only have to eat six for 24g of carbs and 16g of sugar, but they’re hard. It took me forever to get through just one because I wanted to chew it really well—hello, eating something hard and running is a recipe for a disaster.

Mini Twix

• 150 calories
• Servings: 3 pieces
• Carbs: 20g
• Sugars: 15g
• Sodium: 60mg
• Fat: 7g

Talk about scary—have you ever had Mini Twix bars melt in your running vest? Well, I did. It might’ve been due to the day’s heat, which is a factor out of my control, but each of these Mini Twix bars melted through their wrappers, so chocolate got all over my fingers. If they hadn’t melted, however, they would have been decent fuel. I enjoyed the layers of cookies over the nougat in the Three Musketeers, but still got some digestive distress.

Branch’s Mellowcreme Pumpkins

• 120 calories
• Servings: 4 pieces
• Carbs: 30g
• Sugars: 24g
• Sodium: 70mg

Full disclosure, I’m obsessed with this Halloween-specific candy. And I loved it even more out on my long run. Initially, I went to the store looking for Candy Corn, but stumbled upon these classic pumpkins instead. I only needed to eat four pieces to get all the carbs, calories, and sugar I need. And they’re delicious.

A Bittersweet Conclusion

There are a lot of reasons to eat Halloween candy, but in my opinion, for the purpose of fueling runs isn’t the best one. There are so many products out there that replicate exactly what we need, while candy just slightly misses the mark. As both experts in this article point out, candy isn’t always easy to consume, the volume isn’t ideal, and depending on the type, you’re not always going to get the right sugar and carb content that digests properly.

If I was going to continue using candy on my long runs, I’d opt for Mellowcreme Pumpkins (which, you’d be hard-pressed to find during a spring marathon training block) or Twizzlers. Both were easy enough to eat, gentle on my stomach, and gave me a heck of a sugar rush.

The post Can You Replace Running Gels with Halloween Candy? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

For the past 10 years, Spring Energy has provided endurance athletes with , and more recently drink mixes, made from “real” foods. Athletes looking for wholesome alternatives to more traditional sugar-based gels made in a lab have flocked to Spring’s smoothie-like gels made with fruit and basmati rice.

While Spring products are more expensive than many gels, many athletes have found the tradeoff for high-quality, real food fuel that goes down easily on the run to be worth it. Until now.

After skepticism about the actual contents of Spring’s gels began brewing late last year, it turned into a full-blown controversy this week.

In January 2021, Spring Energy released a game-changing gel, Awesome Sauce. In collaboration with coaches and runners Megan and David Roche (who taste-tested and named the flavor), the applesauce, basmati rice, and sweet potato-based gel was designed to provide endurance athletes with a whopping 180 calories per 54 gram packet.

This high-carb alternative became especially enticing when was published in April 2022 reporting that ultrarunners should consume 240 to 360 calories (60-90 grams of carbohydrates) per hour. It’s no surprise that Awesome Sauce (sold at $5 a gel), with its small but surprisingly mighty nutritional content, initially flew off the shelves. It seemed too good to be true.

After several third-party lab tests, that appears to be the case.

Not-So Awesome Sauce? 

In late 2023, runners took to Reddit to discuss their doubts in Awesome Sauce’s nutritional facts, which were printed on the packaging and stated on Spring Energy’s website. Though it’s unclear who first performed a concrete test on the gel, two months ago, Liza Ershova, a Reddit user who uses the username “sriirachamayo”, posted in a thread called Ershova allegedly performed a test “in an environmental chemistry lab” and found that the dry weight of Awesome Sauce is 16g instead of the stated 45. She hypothesized that, “If all of those grams are carbs, that corresponds to about 60 calories, not 180.”

On May 17, German endurance sport speciality shop Sports Hunger stating that they, too, had Awesome Sauce gels tested by a third party, and allegedly found that each packet contains 16g of carbs instead of the 45g that Spring Energy claimed.

“The maker of Spring Energy assures us that they will rework their manufacturing process to ensure that they will again reliably achieve their high numbers that they declare to have,” a Sports Hunger representative says in the video. “We hope that this is really going to happen because we believe that natural food for many of our customers is a great alternative to the regular gels.”

On May 28, ultrarunning coach Jason Koop, who coaches elite athletes sponsored by Spring Energy, posted an Instagram Reel saying that he’d paid for Spring Energy Awesome Sauce to be tested by a third party, RL Food Laboratory Testing in Ferndale, Washington. The results showed that the gels tested contained 76 calories and 18g of carbs. The lab results can be found on . Koop declined to be interviewed for this article.

Other runners have also come forward after attempting to replicate the gels with varying degrees of Awesome Sauce’s ingredients: organic basmati rice, organic apple sauce, apple juice, yams, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, sea salt, and cinnamon—and could not achieve the gel’s original volume of 54g. Their experiments suggest that it’s impossible to fit all of those ingredients into the small Awesome Sauce package while achieving the stated nutritional content.

Claiming Responsibility 

On May 22, the Ershova shared Spring Energy’s response to their experiment on Reddit: “Our analysis supports the accuracy of our product labeling. However, we will reevaluate to make sure our data is accurate. Although we hoped your experience with our products would have been wholly satisfactory, we recognize that individual needs can vary. Given the wide variety of options available across different brands, we are confident you will find the right product that suits your specific requirements.”

Four days later, on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Spring Energy sent out an email to newsletter subscribers stating:

“In early May we submitted Awesome Sauce for third-party caloric and biomolecular analysis. Although the results indicated that on average our products deliver the designed nutrition value, we have recognized weaknesses in our processes and ingredients which can introduce unwanted variations in some batches.To mitigate those variations in our small batch production, we decided to modify some of the formulations, revise and innovate processes, and re-evaluate ingredient sources. These changes will bring higher quality and more consistency to our products. Enhancements of our products aimed to stabilize their nutrition values are on the horizon, and within the next few weeks, you’ll see the results of our efforts. A new and improved version of Awesome Sauce will soon be available.”

The internet outrage ballooned swiftly.

“‘On average’ – if someone has a beat on where I can grab packets of Awesome Sauce at 75g of carb per pack to allow for the average of their product to be 45g overall, hit my inbox,” @aidstationfireball . “Excited to taste the new, re-formulated, $7 gels they’ll replace these with.”

David and Megan Roche, the Boulder, Colorado-based running coach couple who collaborated with Spring Energy on Awesome Sauce, discussed the backlash on their podcast. They weren’t involved in the chemical composition and makeup of the gel, they claimed. Rather, they simply proposed the concept of a high-carb gel to their friend Rafal Nazarewicz, the founder and CEO of Spring Energy. They stated they understand the public’s outrage, and Megan added that they “didn’t really use it” during their runs because she didn’t feel that her body was responding to the energy it was supposed to provide.

In addition, the Roches stated on their podcast that they have quietly harbored concerns about Awesome Sauce for years, and while they did not explicitly tell their athletes not to use it, they made a point of promoting other gels instead. (The Roches currently have a financial partnership with The Feed, the online warehouse that sells a wide variety of sports fuel, including Spring Energy.)

David elaborated in a lengthy on May 29: “It’s sad and infuriating that the nutrition was wrong, and we are thankful to the really smart people who figured it out on Reddit (including an athlete we coach who started the initial thread). When we described concerns to Spring, we were assured that the nutrition was correct and they followed all FDA regulations. We left the Spring sponsorship years ago, and we never received compensation for proposing the name/doing taste testing (outside of the $200 per month that we both received during the sponsorship). Since then, we have publicly directed athletes to other options for high-carb fueling, while hoping to be a source of love and support in the community. Our podcast covered our concerns as soon as the German lab testing indicated that we wouldn’t be risking making defamatory statements about a business without substantial evidence.”

Who Can We Trust?

While concerns around Awesome Sauce instigated this investigation, it’s not the only flavor under scrutiny. Koop sent additional Spring Energy gels, Canaberry (named after professional ultrarunner Sage Canaday) and Hill Aid, to the lab for testing. The results indicated that both of these flavors also contain fewer calories than stated on their nutrition labels.

The lab results showed that the batch of Canaberry that was tested contains 10g of carbs (versus the stated 17g), and the Hill Aid sample contains 10g of carbs (versus the stated 20g).

Koop also paid for Gu Chocolate Outrage to be tested. The results were consistent with the nutrition facts. All three of these reports can also be found on .

These vast discrepancies between Spring Energy’s reported nutrition facts and the lab results raise the question: which gels can be trusted?

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA), most running gels fall under the category of “dietary supplements”, which don’t have to be approved before being sold. However, the FDA requires that all dietary supplements have nutrition information clearly marked on a product’s packaging (including serving size, number of servings, and ingredients) and periodically inspects manufacturing facilities to confirm that products meet the labeling requirements. The FDA also reviews product labels for accuracy.

“Dietary supplements are regulated by the FDA, but much of our role begins after products enter the marketplace. In fact, in many cases, companies can produce and sell dietary supplements without even notifying the FDA,” the FDA states on their website.

The FDA allows nutrition labels to have an inaccuracy margin of up to 20 percent—for reference, based on multiple lab results, Awesome Sauce’s caloric content is about 57 percent less than what the label says.

Sports psychologist and ultrarunning coach works with some of the top endurance athletes in the world, and is best known for training Meb Keflezighi to  his 2009 New York City Marathon win. She recommends several products out on the market to her ultrarunner athletes, as well as suggestions that might work with a person’s individual plan. Typically, she suggests that athletes rotate gel flavors to avoid flavor fatigue, which can impact an athlete mentally and derail performance. So if a certain brand is proven to work well for an athlete, she says, use a variety of flavors.

“I usually use high molecular weight carbohydrates, but the thing is, they’re not as sweet as other sports nutrition products out there,” says Austin, who owns a consulting business providing sport performance services to Olympic and professional athletes as well as military and industry personnel. “So what we’ll do is we might throw in another gel like the Awesome Sauce to help give them that sweet component. It’s just in their arsenal.”

She says, in general, her athletes who have consumed Awesome Sauce have had positive experiences, but that because these gels were just one part of the fuel plan, that muddies the waters a bit. In addition, the potential lower calorie count of this gel may make it easier to digest. However, Austin recalls that one of her clients was taking in one Spring Energy gel (multiple flavors) every hour in her ultra, but found herself so hungry that she needed to eat a lot of the food provided at aid stations on the course, too.

“She was a smaller ultrarunner, and I thought it was interesting that she was taking in all these calories,” Austin says. “She was using Spring Energy gels, and I now I’m thinking, ‘Maybe this is why she needed all the additional food on the course, too, because she wasn’t getting what we thought she was.’”

Ultramarathon dietician is surprised and disappointed in the news about Awesome Sauce. “My clients and myself bank on the efficiency of the gel being easy and light to carry,” she says. “Underfueling within a long run can create acute symptoms like low energy, nausea, or brain fog. Ultrarunners find themselves in dangerous situations on long runs and races, and are often in remote areas, so unintentionally underfueling could have negative consequences.”

Austin says runners can still rely on information they’re receiving about endurance fuel, but that it’s always possible there are, as Spring Energy suggests, bad batches. She’s leaning toward this being the reason for the nutritional inaccuracies (keeping an open mind that more information can come out) because she’s had experiences with bad batches of gels in the past, where the product tasted off and she brought it to the attention of the brand, who confirmed it was an error on their part.

By May 30, Spring Energy had removed Awesome Sauce from its website, although it can still be purchased in the All Inclusive and Vegan Spring sampler packs. There, Awesome Sauce is described as, “our best-seller, has been created for all carb lovers who want to fuel in a healthy way, with wholesome products free of added sugars!”

owner Lee Wilson has made the decision to take Awesome Sauce,  Canaberry, and Hill Aid off store shelves. “It came down to the integrity of it,” Wilson says. “After the other flavors came out with the test results, we decided we can’t sell it.”

Nashville Running Company crew member Eric May added that this whole ordeal is disappointing, especially because the gel was so popular in the community.

“We used to have people come in when we got shipments and walk out with boxes of them,” May says. “It’s a bummer.”

He adds that a few customers have remarked that they still really enjoy Awesome Sauce and will keep using it.

“How a company reacts to the issue tells you a lot about them, and the fact that they’ve taken down their product, it means they’re probably doing their homework to see what’s going on,” Austin says. “I would say, give them a chance to rectify the situation.”

Sabrina Stanley, a pro ultrarunner from Silverton, Colorado, has used Awesome Sauce frequently in the past, but says she stopped eating it when she felt she was taking in three times what she should be consuming to keep hunger at bay. She adds that though it’s a huge disappointment that athletes thought they were buying a gel under the impression it was a different product, the company is the only party at fault.

“Professional athletes aren’t responsible for making sure the nutrition label is correct,” Stanley says. “They are often sub-contracted to give opinions and help promote a product in hopes of making a few extra dollar to continue doing what they love. They aren’t in the lab developing the product and writing the nutrition label, like the consumers, they are trusting the hired them to do their due diligence.”

On May 29, Spring Energy , with Nazarewicz saying they’ve identified weaknesses in the manufacturing process, and that only some batches were accidentally made with varying nutritional values. Nazarewicz apologized and stated Spring Energy is introducing changes to its process and hopes to continue its mission toward making real food performance products.

“Spring Energy has admitted to inconsistencies in their product and also said in a recent IG post this was not intentional or malicious,” Shobe says. “However, to be this far off from your stated nutrition label deserves some major inspection. The whole thing made me question not only the integrity of their products but the nutritional labels of other products. Why, as a dietician, didn’t I become more suspicious of Awesome Sauce in the first place?”

The post How Many Carbs Are in Spring Energy, Really? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

The post-long run nap—some athletes love it, need it, and swear by it. Others complain it’s a necessary evil, that they actually feel worse after passing out on the couch. So which is it? Is an after-workout snooze optimal for recovery? Or is it only hindering your sleep schedule later in the evening?

We caught up with a few experts to gain clarity on the topic.

The Cause of Post-Run Sleepiness

This might feel like a “duh” moment, but there’s a lot of science behind why your muscles and overall psyche become tired after a long run. When you work out, your muscles are using adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a compound in the body used as a source of energy, to contract and flex. When you deplete ATP levels, your muscles don’t have enough of it to efficiently work and move, therefore bringing about something called “.” This is a type of exhaustion that occurs due to changes in the muscles themselves.

A second type of tiredness you might feel after a long run is “,” which occurs when overexertion changes the brain’s chemical balance. This slows the communication between the central nervous system and muscles, making you not only mentally exhausted, but inhibits your ability to transmit messages to your legs.

There’s also that points to the idea that feeling tired after exercising is the body’s way of protecting itself from burnout and injury. But further studies need to be conducted to prove that undoubtedly.

What the Experts Say

Tag along with marathon champion Hellen Obiri for 24 hours and you’ll find that this Boston Marathon winner and Olympian takes several mandatory naps a day, mostly after her training sessions. But longtime running coach, Katie O’Connor, says post-run nap opportunities aren’t prescribed often for her clients. Most of them are parents or people with hectic work schedules, so taking a couch siesta isn’t exactly realistic, though they wish it was.

“In my opinion, I think it just messes with your sleep schedule later on,” O’Connor says. “So many people don’t get enough sleep at night as it is. The better rested you are before your long run, the less chance you’ll need to have that post-run crash.”

She adds that if someone has a peak run of 20 miles or more, or is exercising through extreme cold or hot weather, a nap might be necessary. After a big race, for example, O’Connor is all for athletes sleeping as much as they can. But otherwise, she feels no one should feel so exhausted that they feel the need to crash. “There are other ways to recover than a nap—compression boots, cold or hot soaks, getting in a protein smoothie,” O’Connor says.

Clinical psychologist Shelby Harris not only specializes in behavioral sleep medicine, but she is a marathon runner herself. When asked if she participated in the ceremonial post-run nap, she says, “I used to [nap] when I was a newer runner and had a long run of more than two hours. Now I’m more conditioned to it that I don’t feel the need to.”

However, she’s not against taking a siesta after an afternoon out on the trails, confirming that a post-run nap can be a useful way for your body to recover and repair muscles, as well as boost energy.

Sleep specialist Chris Winter, host of the podcast, is more focused on differentiating between feeling sleepy and feeling fatigued. For example, he can’t ever remember a time where he worked with a marathon runner who couldn’t keep their eyes open at mile 18 because they were so tired.

“Another question is to ask yourself: Why do I feel the need to sleep after a run versus just resting?” Winter says. “Lack of hydration, overtraining, age, illness—there are a lot of things that can impact the fatigue severity scale.”

Sure, there’s a certain amount of exhaustion that’s expected after a tough workout, but sleep experts like Winter watch out for red flags like excessive lethargy, which can hinder an athlete’s performance. That’s when it’s important to look into potential chronic illness, nutritional deficiencies, depression, or something else.

Pros of the Post-Run Nap

Muscle recovery: Sleep triggers the , which are essential in stimulating protein synthesis, a process in which proteins are used to repair the tiny tears in muscles that accumulate during exercise.

Replenish glycogen: One of the best ways to restore glycogen is by eating enough carbs after exercising, but it’s also during sleep. The body constantly and naturally produces glycogen (as long as you’re properly fueled), so when you’re asleep and not expending energy, it has time to catch up on what it’s lost during the day.

Increased mental alertness: This one seems obvious, but while you sleep, your body both mentally and physically recharges by repairing muscle and tissue, strengthening memory consolidation, from the brain (thanks to the glymphatic system), and more.

Cons of the Post-Run Nap

Grogginess: Sometimes you feel less rested after your nap, and that’s due to something called “,” the transitional period from sleep to waking up. The brain produces while you’re sleeping, and when you wake up abruptly from a nap, it might not have time to stop sending those waves. This leads to grogginess, sleepiness, and confusion.

Disrupted sleep schedule: Napping can be a vicious cycle. You nap because you’re tired, but then you’re not tired later so you don’t sleep very well overnight. The next morning, you’re tired again, so you nap again, and the cycle continues. If you’re prone to insomnia, you might want to avoid naps for this reason.

Poor nap quality: show that the benefits of sleep are most noticeable when you are in a deep sleep, which isn’t always the case with a post-run nap. More likely than not, you’re crashing on a couch (which is usually less comfortable than a bed), and your core temperature and heart rate are high, making it difficult to relax into sleep.

To Snooze or Not to Snooze?

The answer to whether or not you’ll want to partake in post-run shuteye is highly personal, but most sleep experts advise following a few nap guidelines:

1. Keep it consistent. Nap everyday at the same time for the same amount of time so your body becomes accustomed to it. This will reduce sleep inertia.
2. Don’t let it become a domino effect. If you sleep during the day, you’ll most likely go to bed later than usual. This can often cause people to want to sleep late the next day, disrupting their whole schedule. No matter what, keep your morning wake-up time the same.
3. Hydrate and refuel beforehand. Don’t crash without first getting sufficient electrolytes, carbs, and protein. You may even find that you don’t feel so exhausted after drinking and eating.

Here’s the bottom line: With great naps come great responsibility. You don’t necessarily need to fight sleep after a long run, but be smart about it. If you finish up late in the afternoon, it might not make a ton of sense to take a nap since you’re so close to bedtime. In that case, you can grab a cup of coffee or take a cold plunge to stay awake. But in another scenario, where you have the afternoon to spend at your leisure, a 20-minute nap isn’t a big deal. Most importantly, if you feel like your exhaustion is out of control, seek out medical advice. Don’t sleep on taking care of your Zzzzs!

The post Post-Run Naps Are the Best, but Are They Good for Us? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Picture this scenario: You get through a tough workout on Sunday—whether it’s a tough round of 800-meter repeats or 16 miles at marathon pace—and, surprisingly, you feel fine ČčŽÚłÙ±đ°ù·ÉČč°ù»ćČő.Ìę

The next morning, you’re a little stiff, but nothing too serious. You take a day to rest, and then head back out on Tuesday for an easy run.Ìę

Then, boom. Your legs feel like they’re made of lead, you’re sore all over, and what’s supposed to be an easy run feels like you’re wading through molasses. What the heck happened?!

This is what Cory Smith, running coach and founder of , calls “second-day syndrome.” The official term is delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, but he likes to use second-day syndrome because it nails home the point that the ailment often happens two days after a hard workout, which a lot of people don’t expect.

Why the Two-Day Delay? 

Before getting to the bottom of why DOMS happens, let’s start with simple definitions. defines DOMS as, “A sore, aching, painful feeling in the muscles after unfamiliar and unaccustomed intense exercise.” Basically, whenever you lift weights, run a tough workout, go rock climbing, or do an activity beyond your current level of fitness, you’re creating tiny tears in muscle tissue. In response, your body releases chemicals, lipids, alongside white blood cells like cytokines, macrophages, and neutrophils to quickly repair those muscles. This flurry of activity in localized areas of the body also initiates an inflammatory response. The muscle tears, rebuilding process, and inflammation creates that soreness and stiffness DOMS is recognized for.Ìę

“The soreness peaks anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after the initial stress, so it’s common for runners to feel fine the next morning and think they’re all good and recovered,” Smith says. “But then, on that second day, you might feel worse than you did yesterday.” This is because there’s a delay in delivery of blood flow to the muscle also called the “inflammatory cascade.” Think of muscle repair as a slow ramp-up process; sometimes it takes a few days to reach peak soreness.Ìę

Is DOMS Inevitable? 

Though it can be painful, annoying, and hindering, DOMS shouldn’t last long-term. In fact, it won’t be a recurring sensation.Ìę

“Eventually, through repeating the cycle of damaging and healing, you’ll grow stronger,” Smith says. “Your body is going to be accustomed to this stress and you’ll feel DOMS less and less.”

Depending on the severity of your workout and how often you repeat it, DOMS generally goes away in a few weeks. Your muscles heal, rebuild stronger, and eventually become accustomed to the intense exercise. Contrary to popular belief, just because that soreness goes away doesn’t mean you didn’t have a hard workout. Your body has just adapted and may require less recovery.

“If you’re not almost recovered from a normal workout on the third day, you probably went too hard,” Smith says. “Generally, it depends on the type of workout that you’re doing— some light temp work—you may only need a day in between and you’ll be recovered. Whereas if you’re doing hard 800s, you’ll probably need two full days to recover. For a long run at marathon pace, you might need three days.”

The Latest Science 

Since defining DOMS, research has traditionally been focused on muscle tissue damage. But a recent published by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences has shown that connective tissue, like deep fascia, may be more involved than previously thought. Deep fascia is connective tissue surrounding muscles, and it facilitates movement between muscles and acts as a pathway for blood vessels.Ìę

Authors of the study believe that they’ve found evidence that proves further research and effort needs to be focused on the fascia, rather than just muscle tissue. This also means that runners may want to pay more attention to their fascia, as it doesn’t respond to conventional static stretching, rather and mobility. It’s less about stretching individual muscles, but lengthening the connections made by the fascia.Ìę

There are several ways to target this connective tissue. One effective method is pedal during yoga: downward facing dog, the extended side angle pose, and the standing figure-four stretch.Ìę

Stay Stretched and Keep Moving

There’s no fix-all method to preventing DOMS, but recovery protocols may dictate how severe or sustained your soreness will be. Smith recommends static no more than six minutes after your run. It’s important to get those muscles stretched as quickly as possible after a run so they don’t tighten up. Tight muscles and bringing blood flow to the muscles. You need fresh blood and oxygen delivered to the worked out muscles, as it carries away the lactic acid buildup there. A massage gun can produce the same results.

“Movement is key! My go-to for runners is walking for 20 to 30 minutes after a hard workout, but an easy spin or recovery swim will also work,” says physical therapist and running coach Amy Parkerson-Mitchell.Ìę

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

recommends drinking 7-10 ounces of water every 10-20 minutes during your run, and an additional 8 ounces within 30 minutes after. When you sweat, you lose water, which is important for oxygen delivery to the muscles. Plus, water acts as a sort of medium within the body to deliver nutrients like amino acids and electrolytes to damaged muscles.Ìę

Focus on Heat 

You might be inclined to reach for an ice pack when you’re recovering from a long run, but Parkerson-Mitchell says that heat is key. In a comparing heat and cold therapies for recovery, researchers found that applying heat directly after a workout produced less muscle damage. Ice, on the other hand, is great for when you’re in the midst of DOMS, rather than before it happens, because it eases swelling and numbs pain.Ìę

There are two types of heat therapy: dry heat in the form of heating pads, and moist heat in the form of steam towels or a hot bath. Both are effective, but the Orthopedic Institute of Pennsylvania says that moist heat works faster in changing the muscles temperature.Ìę

Don’t Rush It

Amy Parkerson-Mitchell says warming up and cooling down is more important than people think, and skipping these steps can increase the time required for recovery from DOMS. Dynamic mobility exercises like walking high-kicks, knee-to-chest, and walking lunges are good for cold muscles prior to a run because you’re moving your joints through their full range of motion. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with DOMS is going too fast too soon after a hard workout.Ìę

“This is why, with my clients, we do two hard workouts a week,” Smith says. “Typically, I give two days for runners to recover from a difficult run. If you do too much too soon, that’s when you lead into stagnant performance and overtraining.” 

But the too-often overlooked component of DOMS is the negative implications it has on your mindset. You might feel discouraged by how tough a run feels when you experience DOMS, especially after conquering a longer, tougher workout just a few days prior. Don’t fret or feel like you’re losing progress—remember that what you’re experiencing is completely normal, and something you can minimize for a sustainable, long-term running life.Ìę

The post Feeling Terrible Two Days After a Hard Run? There’s a Reason….and a Solution. appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

There are countless surrounding the impact of holiday music on our mental health, with both positive and negative effects proven. While you may enjoy bopping along to The Jackson 5’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” when it plays on the car radio, or always crank up the volume when Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” comes on at your holiday party, these classic carols may actually be most useful when you’re out dashing through the snow, if you know what I mean.

Indres Viskontas, a neuroscientist, professor at the University of San Francisco, and author of , has analyzed and compiled copious amounts of research pertaining to music and psychological impact. For example, one had 20 male participants perform two six minute running tests, one with and one without music. Researchers measured mean running speed, blood lactate, total distance covered, heart rate, and rate of perceived exertion. The results concluded that runners who listened to their music of choice were significantly faster and had lower blood-lactate concentrations.Ìę

Viskontas says amateur athletes specifically will benefit from running to music they enjoy—emphasis on the word “eČÔÂáŽÇČâ”. It might be obvious to some, but benefits like improved mood, release of endorphins, and overall performance won’t be as strong if you’re listening to songs that you don’t enjoy.Ìę

All that to say, elite athletes won’t necessarily improve by listening to music.Ìę

“This is where the studies split and stop showing results,” Viskontas says. “When you’re at the far end of the spectrum of skill, it’s sort of moot. For example, a marathoner who sits at the front of the pack is probably not going to run faster if they are listening to music—they’re already going as fast as they can. For the average runner, however, there are significant benefits.”

How ‘Music Doping’ Works

Music affects the brain on a chemical level. Viskontas cites a few mechanisms surrounding music and how we perceive it. The first is that music raises the in the brain. An example of this can be seen in dementia patients who, according to their CT scans, don’t show much brain activity due to the disease. But show that if you play music that a patient loves, their brain “comes online,” as Viskontas describes it. This is the arousal boost to the brain, much like a sip of caffeine, jolting you into attention.Ìę

“Music is also a tool that’s often used to ,” Viskontas says. “It can pull our thoughts together and make us focused.” 

, director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Music Lab, (and also an active runner) says, “You may not realize this, but when you listen to music, the part of your brain that you’re using doesn’t just process sound. It’s also the part that controls movement, so you’re actually engaging the motor system of the body when you listen to music.” 

Another mechanism is called the analgesic effect, or the endorphin effect. This is when music raises levels of neurochemicals, like dopamine and hormones,that play important roles motivation, especially when it comes to movement.Ìę

“Music can wake us up, synchronize our brain activity and movements, and raise neurochemicals that allow us to run faster and stronger with less pain,” Viskontas says.

‘Run Rudolph Run’ 

Given all this research about the correlation between endurance performance and music, we wondered how Christmas carols, one of the most polarizing genres, fit into these studies. For some people, holiday tunes can have a lot of negative associations, while others experience heightened senses of happiness.

“One of the reasons Christmas music has such an emotional impact is because it comes at a time when we either celebrate with family, or are reminded of family we lost,” Viskontas says. “We only hear it during one part of the year, and that happens to be a time where we’re making a lot of memories, either happy or sad.”

She adds that, as humans, we are highly influenced by sounds in the world. It’s why, for example, we shy away from abrupt noises like a car backfiring or a thunderclap. Have you ever been startled awake by something (say, a cat knocking a vase off a table—darn you, Mittens)? That’s because hearing is one of the only senses we maintain even when we’re sleeping, because it’s so sensitive.Ìę

“We like soothing sounds that make us feel safe,” Viskontas reasons. “And if you take the top 100 most played Christmas songs on the radio and compare them to the top Billboard songs, you’d probably see more upbeat, joyful, happy sounds, which is why people might feel a certain comfort and happiness when listening to carols.” 

Those who have positive feelings around the holiday season will benefit from listening to carols while running, as the brain becomes stimulated (or, aroused), hyper-focused, and that can not only create that “runner’s high,” but can promote short-term psychoactive effects like feelings of calm and elevated mood. Excess endorphin release has also been for its pain-relieving properties, which can be extremely beneficial during a run, like a natural ibuprofen.Ìę 

Hannon is of the opinion that the research regarding music—jolly or not—can be divided into two schools of thought: It enhances your running performance or it alleviates pain, making you feel better overall during your workout but not necessarily producing better results.Ìę

“There isn’t actually as much research as you’d think on this,” she says. “It’s hard to get a whole bunch of people to show the same effects because there are so many factors that influence your performance on any given day.”

In any case, there’s a short window of opportunity for these benefits, if you reap them. Listening to Christmas music before the 25th can spur excitement of what’s to come, whereas hearing your favorite merry tunes in January can seem sort of
depressing.

As for Viskontas, she says she grew up singing in the choir in school, so there’s some Christmas music she can’t listen to without crying—a sort of melancholy nostalgia. But other carols, more modern tunes, bring about more positive associations.

“I listen to them while I’m trimming the tree or doing something else holiday-related,” she says. “But going for a run while listening? I’ve never tried. But, you know what? I might have to test that out.” 

Holiday Music That Decks My Halls

Below is a playlist of Christmas songs (with a few Hanukkah and Kwanzaa tunes, too!) that make us merry and bright while on our daily runs. Try sprinkling them into your own Spotify exercise playlist and see if they make you go ho, ho, ho or no, no, no.Ìę

Holiday Running Playlist

O Come, All Ye Faithful, Pentatonix 

Carol of the Bells, Mykola Dmytrovych and John Williams 

Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24, Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Santa Tell Me, Ariana Grande

Underneath the Tree, Kelly Clarkson

Last Christmas, Wham!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, R3HAB

Christmas Tree Farm, Taylor Swift 

Little Saint Nick (1991 Remix), The Beach Boys 

Light Up the Nights, Maccabeats

Oh Hanukkah, Maccabeats 

Kwanzaa-Umoja-Uhuru, Sounds Of Blackness

Matunda Ya Kwanzaa, Rockapella

The post Can Running to Holiday Music Improve Your Splits? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

In my book, there are two types of people: those who do turkey trots, and those who vehemently do not.Ìę

Turkey trots, annual races (generally 5K to 10K) that most commonly take place in the United States on Thanksgiving morning, have been a well-kept tradition since 1896. The very first trot was held in Buffalo, New York, and only six runners participated in the five miles along downtown Buffalo’s dirt roads. Since then, the tradition has skyrocketed in popularity. from 2022 reported that 756,894 people ran or walked in 730 turkey trots across the country.Ìę

Trotting a Fine Line with Food Anxiety

Much like any race, there are plenty of good reasons why people run on Thanksgiving morning. But one not-so-good reason? Running a turkey trot because you feel like you need to “justify” the Thanksgiving feast you’ll eat later. A of 2,000 Americans found that 88 percent feel anxious around the holidays, with 85 percent reporting that they overeat to the point of being uncomfortable.Ìę

Thus, the idea of “punishing” yourself with a run before you enjoy pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, and mom’s famous jello pudding can seem like a good way to balance the scales. However, not only is this not effective nutritionally-speaking, but it’s damaging to your mental and emotional health. Mental endurance and life coach says that, though this way of coping with Thanksgiving is harmful, she’s not surprised people do so.Ìę

“It’s all centered around these narratives about diet culture in our marketing,” she says. “Half of the time the holidays are shown to us as a time to indulge and cook all these delicious things, and the other half is marketed to us as a time to watch our weight and be thinking about races coming up in 2024.”

The Problem with “Earning” Your Meal

Just as it has been that using food as a reward in a child’s adolescence often leads to overeating, unhealthy relationships to food, and lost hunger cues, adults can also feel the negative implications of “earning” your food with exercise.Ìę

“Food is a basic human need, not a reward,” says professor of sport and exercise psychology, . “In general, people feel better about their bodies and eating when they consider food to be necessary fuel rather than a reward.” 

Even avid runners may use the turkey trot as an excuse to eat more than usual—that’s the “reward.” You might not even sign up with the intention of using it to burn calories before your feast, but subconsciously, you might already feel guilty about what’s to come and are trying to get ahead of it by overcorrecting.Ìę

“If exercise is viewed as a means to an end or as something one must do to earn food, feelings of guilt, pressure, or even punishment begin to be associated with exercise,” says Arthur-Cameselle.Ìę

If runners have this mindset, they should really question if this is the relationship they want to have with food and exercise.Ìę

“When you are willing to question the narratives fed to you and decide whether or not they serve you and your goals, it gives you ownership of the mental space you want to be in around the holidays,” Foerster says.

So if you feel like you might be running for the wrong reasons, is it better to avoid a turkey trot altogether? Not necessarily.Ìę

Know Your Why

“It depends on the person, but most of the time, it’s worth the effort to manage your perspective and mindset so you’re not missing out on an experience,” Foerster says. “If you avoid it this year, you’re not really coming up against the problem of your mindset—you’re just avoiding it.”

She suggests coming up with better reasons to run the turkey trot, like having it be a tradition to do with your family members or using it as time for yourself before all the holiday hecticness.Ìę

“My overall suggestion is to run the turkey trot if you enjoy running, if you like the social aspect of the race, or if you notice positive mental benefits like improved mood after you’re done,” Arthur-Cameselle says. “If you don’t enjoy any of those aspects or gain that type of experience from running, find a different form or exercise or sport that makes you feel how you want to feel. If exercise feels like play, you are more likely to stick with it.” 

Though changing your mindset around the turkey trot is healthy, it might not help your unhealthy relationship with Thanksgiving dinner. For that, Foerster recommends mindfulness.Ìę

“All that stress, guilt, and shame you might feel around a holiday meal actually have a more negative effect than the food would,” she says. “So you might as well eat the food and actually enjoy it and be present, and then move on. Sort of like failing a workout. You experience it that day, and you’re not going to carry it with you moving forward. Your goals aren’t ruined because of it.”

You heard her, folks. Run Thanksgiving morning because you’re hot for the trot, not because you feel bad about eating a lot.

The post You Don’t Need to Earn Your Thanksgiving Feast with Exercise appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

After dozens of elite American runners complained about the proposed midday start time of the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on February 3 in Orlando, Florida, and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission announced this morning that the Trials start time will be moved back to 10:00 A.M. ET.

This decision came to fruition in part because of the many athletes who voiced their concerns about the noon start time. Immediately following the 12:10 P.M. start time announcement, a letter was written by athletes Sara Hall, Colleen Quigley, Jared Ward, and Emma Grace Hurley voicing the “Increased risk to athletes’ health prompted by a noon start time.” 84 athletes signed the letter, requesting the Trials start at 6:00 A.M. In October, a group of elite U.S. marathon runners met with USATF CEO Max Siegel to discuss the same concerns

After alternatives were discussed over the past two weeks, a compromise was announced today. The start time has been moved to the earlier time, and contingency plans have been set up should projected weather conditions deem that necessary.Ìę

In a press release, Chief of Sport and Athlete Services at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Rocky Harris, says that he only wishes to support the athletes as best as he can.

“By making this adjustment in the starting time, we underline our collective commitment with USATF to support our athletes in their quest for excellence,” he says. “We’ve listened to their feedback and acted accordingly, aiming to create conditions that foster peak performance. Our ultimate goal is to provide opportunities for athletes to truly shine on their journey to represent Team USA at Paris 2024.”

While the new suggested time isn’t what the athletes initially proposed in their petition (“Preferably at 6:00 a.m., but no later than 7:00 A.M.), it’s a compromise. temperatures around 10:00 A.M. averaged about 70 °F, and 80 °F at noon.Ìę

The U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon will serve as the qualifying race for the U.S. athletes who will run in next summer’s Paris Olympics.

The post New U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Start Time Announced After Athletes Raise Concerns appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

If you’ve never heard of sweet potato bark, don’t worry because before we met , an outdoor lifestyle writer and Washington Trail Association Guide Correspondent, we hadn’t either. Leader lives in the Greater Seattle area in Washington and tackles hikes across the Pacific Northwest. This, of course, requires plenty of on-the-go fuel, like Leader’s favorite dried sweet potato bark.

The bark is dehydrated sweet potato puree that’s spread onto parchment paper into thin pieces and sprinkled with spices. It’s sweet, salty, and highly nutritious. “A sweet potato makes a great trail food because it’s a basic ingredient packed with fiber and vitamins,” Leader says. “Plus, you can eat it both as bark for a snack or rehydrate it back into hot water for mashed potatoes or soup.”

Leader’s bark recipe came about when she became fixated on ras el hanout, a North African spice blend. In Arabic, ras el hanout roughly translates to “head of the shop,” because in places like Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia where it’s regularly sold, this blend is made of the best spices the store has to offer. There’s no single recipe for the blend, but the most common flavor profile includes cardamom, cumin, coriander, peppercorn, sweet paprika, dried turmeric, and cinnamon. Traditionally, ras el hanout is used for stews and grilled meats, but it can be used for about anything, including sweet potatoes.Ìę

“Once you make a batch of ras el hanout, you’ll find yourself sprinkling it on everything!” Leader says. “I even gave it away as Christmas presents one year.”

Ras El Hanout Sweet Potato Bark

The post Peppermint Bark? Nah, Try Sweet Potato Bark. appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “You are what you eat,” but did you know that your preference toward certain flavors may be a reflection of your personality? believe that several traits—extroversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism—correlate with specific food behavior, like what you may or may not like. Not everyone believes personality traits are dictated by astrology, but because it’s fall and chilly winter weather is looming, we wondered what your zodiac sign says about your favorite variety of chili:

Aries

Spicy Chili 

Daring and ambitious, you refuse to take the easy route with anything, Aries. Even your chili. You like it extra spicy—and sometimes, you don’t even drink water to cool your scorching tongue. (Shudder.) You’re a fire sign, so of course you’re attracted to the heat. People commend you for your indestructible taste buds, but don’t get too big of a head. You often jump into challenges without thinking twice, but one of these days, you’ll encounter a ghost pepper in your chili and get totally burned.Ìę

Taurus

Black Bean Chili 

You are loyal and consistent, Taurus, and always at the ready whenever someone needs you. That’s why your go-to is classic black bean. You had it once a long time ago and, from then on, it’s the only kind of chili you eat. Even when you’re tempted by a steaming bowl of white chicken or a veggie-packed recipe, you stubbornly remain set in your ways. You crave consistency and calmness, and that’s what no-fuss black bean chili brings you.

Gemini

Three-Bean Chili

You’re a social butterfly, dabbling in everything and anything, Gemini. Three-bean chili invites all the beans to the party, so you don’t miss out on anything. That, after all, is your greatest fear. You’re also slightly impatient, so the fact that this type is easy to make is ideal, because you’re endlessly friendly until you get hangry. But be warned, you’re good at juggling lots of beans at once, but at some point, something must give. Allow yourself to relax, once in a while.

Cancer

Red Curry Chicken Chili

As a Cancer, you have many layers. Thus, you prefer a chili that’s a little more complicated to make. You have many moods, and this savory, slightly sweet red curry chicken chili has an abundance of flavors—coconut, red curry paste, garam masala—that appeal to you. You’re also ride-or-die, so you talk this recipe up all the time, and if people talk bad about it, you can feel seriously hurt. The good thing is that Cancers are drawn to stability and routine, so when you’re making this at home, you have the recipe down pat.Ìę

Leo

Pork Chile Verde 

Yes, Leo, you’re next. We’ll roll out the red carpet just for you. You prefer your chili to be creative and full of complex flavors. For this reason, you like pork chile verde, made with pork shoulder, poblano peppers, jalapeños, and tomatillos. Though it’s generally recommended you follow recipes exactly, this chili allows for artistic flair (aka you can play with the spice level). You like the showmanship of making this variety, complete with all the accouterments like tortillas, thinly shaved radishes, and sour cream.

Virgo

Vegetarian Chili 

You like things a certain way—and that’s usually um, perfect. Vegetarian chili requires precision in chopping the vegetables in very specific sizes so every spoonful has just the right balance of celery, onion, carrot, bell pepper, and sweet potato. You’re also tuned into a modestly healthy lifestyle, so a chili packed with fiber-rich, nutrient-dense ingredients eases your digestive system and your mind. You’re governed by Mercury—the messenger of communication—so you can take a list of seemingly random ingredients and somehow make sense of them in a big, bubbling pot. Also, it’s not unlike you to make big batches, so you can prep for future meals and deliver meals to your friends and family.Ìę

Libra

Turkey Chili 

You’re not going to rock the boat, Libra, even when it comes to chili. You like what everyone else likes because it makes you happy to know that others are pleased. This means you end up carrying a bit too much, so of course you pick one of the heartiest chilis. You also have a hard time making up your mind about things, and chili turkey is right there with ya. It’s not super spicy, but not totally mild, either. This chili means that you don’t have to choose “hot” or “not” because you can have somewhere in between. Don’t get us wrong—you’re very artistic, but you tend to utilize creativity in private passions, but not in your chili.

Scorpio

Venison Chili 

Dear , you’re always surprising us. You eat venison chili not only because it’s delicious, but perhaps because it’s less common to cook with game. And venison is often misunderstood, my mysterious one, and you are too. Sure, this kind of chili is a little different, but you just have to get to know it and you’re hooked. You’re also extremely intuitive, so you know venison is the next big protein source—ahead of the trends, as always! 

Sagittarius

White Chicken Chili

You’re fueled by excitement and new knowledge, Sag, which is why you prefer the variability of white chicken chili. Everyone enjoys this chili a little differently, whether that’s with andouille sausage and pepper jack cheese; bacon and sour cream; or poblano peppers and lime. And you’re good with mixing and matching and trying them all. It’s a good thing, too, because you’re a sign who demands to have it all.

Capricorn

Butternut Squash Chili 

You, my sweet Capricorn, are unique. That’s why you’re drawn to buttery and sweet butternut squash chili. You’re also ambitious, and thus want a chili that’s a bit more involved— cumin, chili powder, ground cinnamon, oregano, coriander, garlic, oh my! But you can also be a bit conservative and restrained, which is why it can be hard to break through to your relaxed center. Maybe that’s why you relate so wholeheartedly with the cubes of butternut squash, which takes extra effort and cooking time to soften.Ìę

ŽĄ±çłÜČč°ùŸ±łÜČőÌę

Cincinnati Chili 

You could care less about the niceties and small talk. You just want good chili, and you don’t want to wait for it. Specifically, you want Cincinnati chili—known for its sweet (there’s actual chocolate in there!) and spicy notes—served atop hot dogs or noodles and sprinkled with cheese and oyster crackers. Here’s the catch, though: Since you’re a bit of a nonconformist, you’re not eating Cincinnati chili at the famous Skyline, you prefer the secondary, lesser known Gold Star. And you will go to your grave insisting this chili is the best.Ìę

Pisces

Texas Chili 

As a Pisces, you absorb the emotions of others, whether it’s fear, joy, pain, or hope. You also soak up flavors very well and are a certified supertaster with heightened taste buds. For this reason, you’re pulled toward the classic Texas chili, made with beef chuck roast, chipotle chile, smoked paprika, coriander, and no beans. You adapt well to your surroundings and wish to blend in, so you bring this Texas classic to every cookout, where it draws a crowd you can get lost in.Ìę

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