How healthy was your Christmas dinner?

It's the day after Christmas and all are out running......

...running off that Christmas dinner with more calories than you care to count! But could it be that what you put inside you yesterday will actually help with your training? Here is some good news about your Christmas dinner!

Turkey

The turkey that you cooked up yesterday is actually low in fat, once the skin is removed, and contains lots of amino acid called alanine and this amino acid (protein building block) is very good for buffering muscle damage in cells and so, if you had a pre-dinner run yesterday, this will have gone to work at repairing the damage done in training. Turkey is also high in tryptophan, that boosts fellings of happiness, vitamin B3 and B6 and zinc.

Sprouts

The sprouts that you ate yesterday contain vitamins K and C and are high in omega-3 fatty acids as well glucosinolates that help protect you against cancer.

Carrots

Carrots are packed with carotenoids such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein, which help to protect vision and protect you against cancer.

Cranberries

Cranberries are full of antioxidants and nutrients that are essential for a runner's good health

Parsnips

Parsnips are low in fat and high in fibre and have the antioxidant, falcarino.

Christmas pudding and cake

Okay, so these are not really healthy but the dried fruit in the pudding and the cake contains lots of fibre and nutrients and the spices in there, such as cinammon and nutmeg, can help with digestion and to take down inflammation.

So, you see, it's not such bad news after all. All you need to do now is go off to your Boxing Day race or training run to burn off the excess calories that you took in with the chocolates, sweets, cream.....!

Good luck in your race today. Don't forget to claim your handicap when you get back!