Even the most slothful, exercise-challenged among us indulge in a little exercise in summer. Whether it’s just a walk around the park or some lazy swimming to cool off, the sunshine brings out the best in us.

And when we exercise we want to accomplish more.

Whether you are an exercise junky, or a sloth there is something for you in this smoothie: the serious can boost their endurance, thanks to the beets and the chocolate; and even if you are not an athlete, the beets aid the body’s natural detoxification system and can lower blood pressure. So it’s win all round.

A word of warning to the slothful … It won’t help us choose exercise over chocolate cake, I’m afraid, but once we decide to exercise it may help us accomplish a bit more. (Then we can have that bit of chocolate cake … oh, I shouldn’t have let that slip out!)

The recipe comes from Rachael Hartley, RD, LD, CDE writing at HealthyAperture, who says …

Many studies have been done to see how beets can help you make the most of your workout. One study found beets increased tolerance to high intensity exercise. Beets also increase blood flow to muscles, making it easier to produce ATP, or energy. One small study looked specifically at running and found eating beets can actually help you run 3% faster, up to 5% faster in the last mile (let’s see if I make it that far!). For maximum benefit, eat beets 2-3 hours before exercising, but no more than 12 hours.

… Bonus benefit – this smoothie also contains cocoa powder, another endurance enhancing food!

So, can this smoothie boost more effective exercise? Try it and tell us if it helped you accomplish more.

 

Please turn to the Next Page for the recipe …

 

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