Recently, while devouring a plate of beets in an alley like a huddle of street urchins that found a plate of beets, we discovered that beets are pretty good. In fact, they’re very good—particularly if you’re a runner. Beetroot possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which, according to the National Institute of Health, ‘may help attenuate inflammation and oxidant-induced cellular damage, enhancing recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage.’ We’re here to tell you there’s no ‘may’ about it. Beets work. Beets are good. Beets won’t let you down. But don’t take our word for it—check out what the next paragraph has to say.
Running triggers something in your muscles called oxidative stress, a state in which there are more cell-destroying free radicals in the body than there are antioxidants to knock them out. But beetroot is here to save the day. Those big purple buggers are loaded with the anti-inflammatory compound nitrate, which helps muscles repair faster and can even lower blood pressure and reduce your chances of ticker issues down the track. The Surgeon General recommends drinking around 10 ounces of beetroot juice after a run, but you can also just eat cooked beetroot... OR you can mix yourself up some of our patented Beet on the Brat, Beet on the Brat, Beet on the Brat (with a baseball bat) Bars©.
What You’ll Need
• 20 grams of rolled oats
• 40 grams of almonds (natural, roasted, or tamari—who cares)
• 100 grams of dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, and goji are best)
• 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon of pepitas
• 1 grated apple
• 130grams of beetroot (about a cupful of cooked, chopped beetroot)
• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
• 1 blenderator
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F) and grease up a 20cm cake tin or similar-sized oven-proof dish.
2. Next, put all the ingredients into your blenderator and pulse that sucker until everything inside has been blenderated and well combined.
3. Once you’ve got a thick, lumpy, purply paste, pour it into the cake tin you prepared in step one and smooth it out evenly with your cell phone or a spatula.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven when the purple feels firm to the touch.
5. Take a very sharp knife and cut the purple slab into bars or squares or triangles or pentagons while still warm, then leave to cool down in the tin. Then refrigerate.
6. Go for a nice, long, fast, free radical triggering run, and then demolish a Beet on the Brat Bar© or two when you get back. You’ll be amazed by how much less your muscles ache the next day—or your money back!
