Athletic-Minded Traveler

First, the pronunciation: Ah-sigh-ee

Second, what is it? It’s a fruit that comes from a palm tree in the Brazilian Amazon. It’s likened to a small grape with less pulp. Because the berry loses nearly all of its nutritional value 24 hours post harvest, the berries are immediately turned into a puree, flash pasteurized, and then frozen.

Third, why is it considered a superfood? Loads of antioxidants (more than blueberries, 20x what is in red wine and 10x that of grapes), amino acids, flavonoids, and fatty acids (meaning healthy omega fats). This is a helpful summary of the acai berry’s super food properties.

Last, what does it taste like? The answer depends upon which product you are trying. The pure, no sugar added, acai is rather bland. A sort of berry flavor that is a little gritty.

There are numerous acai based products. Whole Foods sells the Sambazon brand which manufactures juices, pre-made smoothies, energy drinks, sorbet, frozen smoothies packs, and even supplements (freeze dried powders and capsules).

With the exception of a certain type of smoothie pack (Sambazon Pure Acai) and the supplements, nearly all acai based products have added sugars.

So, this brings me to the topic at hand–how to benefit from the acai without making a smoothie, taking a pill, or drinking a special juice that has extra sugars? After learning about the berry and all of its nutritional benefits, I wanted to introduce acai to our 2 year old daughter, who only drinks water and milk (meaning the juices were no-go). While a smoothie would work, I wanted something easier.

My solution? Oatmeal!

When I make a batch of oatmeal, I melt in one of the pure acai packets. Each packet is 100 grams, yields 80 calories, 6 grams of total fat with 4.5 grams being the healthy type, 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein. Vitamin A comes in at 15%, C at 8%, Calcium at 4% and Iron at 6%!

I typically prepare 1 cup of the old fashioned oats on the stove and use 1 acai smoothie pack. I may sweeten with a little honey and/or agave nectar. Our daughter loves it. And one “batch” lasts through 3-4 breakfasts.

Other ideas: mash the acai with bananas, or mix into plain Greek style yogurt–which will keep it from getting too runny.

After revisiting Des Moines and Omaha, we’ve updated and “beefed up” the content for these two midwest cities–pun intended. In addition to strolling back through the main downtown areas, we also added coverage to the burgeoning westside’s of both cities (West Des Moines and West Omaha).

Both downtown’s continue to grow at a rapid pace with new hotels, new restaurants (e.g., Centro in downtown Des Moines), new health clubs and more–Omaha’s Qwest Center even will be hosting the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials during the first week of July.

When there’s a Walgreens or CVS on every other corner, there’s no need to worry about finding familiar over-the-counter meds to help remedy an illness. But overseas travel to more remote countries can make finding a bottle of Tylenol as challenging as running a 4-minute mile. According to Robert Edelman, MD, director of the travelers’ health clinic at the University of Maryland medical center, the savvy athletic-minded traveler headed abroad will pack the following five pills as an emergency supply:

1. A non-drowsy antihistamine (e.g., Clairtin) - for unexpected allergic reactions

2. A pain killer (e.g., Tylenol, Advil, etc.) - headaches, bodyaches, etc.

3. Dramamine (for boating, motion sickness, etc.)

4. Imodium A-D (diarrhea, etc.) - food poisoning strikes 30% of all travelers

5. Ciprofloxacin (not OTC) - your doctor must write a prescription to obtain this one, but it will help the 30% of food poisoned shorten their sickness by 1-3 days

While the fitness equipment surrounding Sheraton Shanghai’s glass enclosed non-lapper may not overly inspire athletic-minded travelers, the hotel’s window washers clad in Spiderman outfits may do the trick!

Fitness fanatics who happen to catch sight of the friendly neighborhood hero look-alikes may suddenly find themselves craving a vertical thrill. Yep, in an effort to NOT alarm its guests, this Starwood luxury hotel outfitted its window washers in full Spidey attire. Not surprisingly, the creative customer service endeavor drew even more attention to the weekly cleaning.

While we have not yet toured Shanghai (we have expanded to Europe), the Shanghai Stadium Rock Climbing Center with its 20 meter wall and over 100 climbing routes should satiate your inner spider.

Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead. Hey there! There goes the Spiderman!

These chicken skewers are fabulous! The flavor is Mediterranean/Middle Eastern with lots of garlic and lemon. We love it!

Now, while garlic is a known “health food” (anti-viral, anti-cancer, decongestive, cholesterol-reducing, immunity booster, anti-bacterial), this is a recipe for garlic lovers only. Those that have delicate systems should take heed: lots of garlic can cause serious gas.

While I discovered the recipe in the San Diego Tribune, I have made a few tweaks.

Shish Tawook

Ingredients:

12 cubes of frozen crushed garlic (Buy it at Trader Joe’s. This easy substitution makes this recipe a breeze!) If you don’t have the frozen crushed, then use 10 fresh cloves mashed.

1/2 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (Do not cut corners here. Only fresh squeezed will do.)
3 T olive oil (Recipe actually calls for 1/3 cup, but I’ve used 2 T just fine)
2 T Plain Greek Yogurt (This is important as Greek Yogurt is thick. I used 2%)
1/2 tsp cardamom (Don’t have it? Just use a pinch of cloves and allspice)
1 tsp white pepper (I used black)
2 lbs boneless chicken breast cut into bit size skewer friendly pieces

Directions:

Combine garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, cardamom, salt and pepper in bowl or shallow dish. Stir well. If you are using the frozen garlic give it some time to dissolve. It should be ready by the time you finish trimming and cutting the chicken.

Add chicken to marinade. Either in the shallow dish or throw it all into a Ziploc. Marinate overnight or longer. I had the chicken marinating 2 nights the last time I enjoyed this dish. It turned out great. (My friend Beth agrees, but her boyfriend reported that she smelled of garlic well into the next day…)

Thread chicken onto skewers and cook on grill over medium-high heat for a total of 6-8 minutes. Turn the skewers 1-2x during the cooking. If you are using wooden skewers don’t forget to presoak them in water for a few minutes to prevent a mini fire.

ENJOY! We threw our chicken over a salad with grilled vegetables and feta. Another variation is to add some shrooms and peppers to each skewer.

If you enjoy this sort of content, check out the archives for EVERYTHING FOOD. And to Eat Well when you travel, visit our site.

It should come as no surprise that shaking extra salt on food is a BAD idea.

First, nearly all of us (who doesn’t?) consume some processed or pre-packaged foods–nearly all of which have some, or a ton, of sodium. Everything from bread and cereals, to chips and crackers, to canned goods to frozen meals contain anywhere from 5% to 45% of an individual’s recommended sodium intake–PER SERVING. (My beloved Peanut Butter Puffins deliver 230 mg, or 10% of the RDA in a 3/4 cup serving, which is about 1/5 of what I’ll typically savor each night.)

Second, excessive salt consumption is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and other bad stuff. Some experts even rank sodium higher on the “bad food list” over trans fats and saturated fats and believe limiting sodium to the RDA could save 150,000 lives each year.

Third, it’s not the salt shaker addiction that is the problem, it’s the American diet. And the FDA’s recent announcement that it may remove salt from the list of foods considered to be safe, is further substantiation that the Food Police are waking up to the fact that this is serious business.

So how much of the white stuff is okay? The American Heart Association recommends daily intake under 2,300 milligrams which amount to ONE measly teaspoon! Keeping salt intake under this level is no easy feat, even if you consider yourself a healthy eater. Check out our previous article about how a seemingly healthy day of eating by an athlete can still put you way over the limit.

Need a tasty low-salt recipe? We have an idea here. Also, if you care about being healthy, exercising and eating well when you travel, check out our entire site! Or just go to www.athleticmindedtraveler.com to find gyms, hotels, fitness centers, run routes, lap pools, places to eat, and more in the U.S., Canada and NOW Europe.

We’re proud to announce that our U.K. content continues to expand with the addition of England’s “Second City”, Manchester.

With fabulous restaurants, numerous hotels with gyms that impress, and cultural landmarks, visitors will quickly realize that Manchester isn’t only for football/soccer fans–though their beloved Manchester United Club is arguably the most valuable sports team in the world.

Next up…Paris!

When we posted last July about the risk of eating grapefruit when taking certain medications and the potential link to breast cancer in post-menopausal women, we recevied quite a bit of feedback.

(Click here to read the original post.) And visit our site to learn more about what we offer.

Mainly, readers wanted to better understand the estrogen effect. After reading more about grapefruit’s interaction with different medications, we thought we’d pass along the following:

First, the compounds in grapefruit can interfere with enzymes in the body that break down estrogen-progestin products and other drugs. (It’s estimated that grapefruit interacts with over 60% of orally administered drugs.)

Second, if you are taking a estradiol type drug (orally) for menopausal symptoms, consult your physician. Because grapefruit can interfere with the breakdown of estrogen type drugs, the drug’s effect can be greatly pronounced in the body–meaning that the dosage actually received can be multiplied.

Third, if the body does in fact receive a higher than intended estrogen dose, risks of blood clots and other “bad” side effects can materialize. It has been established that “serum estrogen concentration is associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk”. Click this link to read more.

Fourth, one potential solution is using a skin patch, which bypasses the whole digestive process that grapefruit impacts.

While these studies are relatively new and grapefruit’s impact/link to breast cancer is still being investigated, any postmenopausal woman should consult her physician if grapefruit is on the daily menu.

Airlines are charging extra these days for many items that used to be free: food, pillows, check-in luggage, help from the skycaps, etc. Southwest is now even charging more for those wanting to board first…so called, “business fares”.

Find your perfect hotel gym and more on AthleticMindedTraveler.com.

Now JetBlue is putting their spin on the nickel and dime-ing, but this concept is a good one. Beginning April 1st, JetBlue fliers can pay an extra $10, $15 or $20 (depending on flight length) for more space to stretch their legs. The discount carrier, known for its leather seats and personal satellite television screens, reconfigured its Airbus A320 fleet to allow six rows with 38 inches of “pitch” instead of the existing 34 inches in all other rows (industry average is 32 inches). The extra space does not come at the expense of customers sitting in the rear of the plane — 34 inches has been the JetBlue pitch in all rows for some time.

Smart move. Creating a larger legroom option and charging a reasonable premium brings more revenue per flight for JetBlue and smiles to the faces of tall travelers willing to pay a few bucks extra to avoid leg cramps. Win, win.

I know, I know…more praise for Trader Joe’s? Yep.

Last week I noticed that TJ’s now sells leeks–all nicely trimmed too. Hooray! I love the delicate and sweet flavor of leeks! And, they are super good for you too.

If you like veggies, then I’ve got a super tasty recipe for you that is ridiculously easy. Friends and family have been big takers of this one. It is also a wonderful accompaniment to fish. (Our favorite is grilled halibut.)

For more of our favorite Trader Joe’s Items, follow this link.

THREE Ingredients ONLY:
Leeks – I purchased 2 packages from TJ’s. Each package had two nice sized leeks in them. Total cost was around $5

Zucchini: About 4-6 should do it.

Garlic: Get the frozen crushed garlic that TJ’s sells.

Directions:
1. Slice each leek lengthwise. Then chop. It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect. After you do the chopping, throw them in a strainer and wash/rinse. Leeks often have dirt in between the layers.

2. Chop the zucchini into a size that you want to eat. I prefer about dime to nickel size.

3. Heat a little olive oil (or butter) in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add leek. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the leeks have softened quite a bit.

4. Add your garlic cubes. (You can also have them in the pan at the beginning.) I use 4-6 cubes. We like garlic!

5. Stir it all up. If your garlic needs a little help “mixing” in, add a little water or even chicken broth. Once you add the zucchini and some salt and pepper, the liquid from the zucchini will ensure it all mixes up.

6. Add the zucchini. Continue to saute until zucchini softens — about 5-10 minutes.

7. Salt to your liking–1/2 tsp should do it.

8. Enjoy. This “batch” lasted us about 2-3 days.