The Tarahumara Indians Natural Energy Drink

Iskiate (IS-kee-ah-tay) or as we call it here Chia Fresca

If you need a pick-me-up, read on about the magic of Chia seeds!

Chia Seeds– Chia is the ancient Mayan word for “strength”! This powerful seed is great for energy along with encompassing some of the richest plant-based omegas (healthy fats). They are also packed full of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, dietary fiber, and are a complete source of protein. Chia seeds are excellent for boosting energy and supporting exercise performance! In the book “Born to Run” the author talks about a Northwest Mexican tribe (Tarahumara Indians) as super athletes, who may be some of the world’s greatest long-distance runners who literally run hundreds of miles at a time “for fun”. It was their diet that they were interested in to understand what fueled them. Come to find out, one of the things that they consumed before running is a drink called “iskiate”, in which the author referred to as the “10,000-year-old-Redbull”. It included- water, chia seeds, and lemon or lime. These days it’s also often known as Chia Fresca.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 oz of water
• 1-2 Tbsp dry chia seeds
• A few teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
• Raw honey or maple syrup (optional)

Stir the chia seeds into the water; let them sit for about five minutes. The more it sits, the more gel-like the seeds and water become. If you don’t like the gel-like texture, you can hide these ingredients easily into a strawberry smoothie, etc.! P.S. I always drink with a straw to help keep the acidity off my teeth and gums. I usually start my morning off with this even before coffee and/or tea. You may find you may not need coffee or tea… how dare I say that, lol!

Fueling our body with natural ingredients will help our human engines in the most optimal way. Most common commercialized energy drinks contain processed sugars, artificial flavors, and ingredients which we should try to avoid as they can hinder our overall health.

For example: Celsius I think is the new craze for an energy drink, as it states that it is “packed with 7 essential vitamins, no high fructose corn syrup, no aspartame, no preservatives, and/or no artificial colors or flavors”. That is a great start, but they still managed to keep sucralose in there as their non-sugar sweetener. A new study published in the JAMA (one of the largest to-date to examine how the brain responds to sucralose) … which is an artificial sweetener found in Splenda, by the way … “Sucralose was found to increase activity in the regions of the brain responsible for food cravings and there was an overall decrease in the hormones that help the body feel full”. In general, artificial sweeteners were first used as insecticides and most metabolism to formaldehyde in our body.  Not only that, but it can also trick our body’s response and may increase our insulin by 20%. They may also increase issues with migraines, fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis, and more… Just a heads up!

*I also have a sports electrolyte drink that I’ll share some time for those hot long days!