Iskiate

Iskiate;

The recipe but also some thoughts about chia seeds drawn from experience.

Once I bought my first pair of Vibrams I of course wanted to know a bit more about them and barefooting in general. I quickly ended up on barefoot Ted MCDonald's website which had Born To Run splashed all over it. I'd already heard of the book through the parkour community and decided I'd better see what ll the fuss was about.

I loved the book. I found it captured well the feelings I was experiencing myself as a new runner. One part which particularly interested me was Iskiate. I've always been interested in these kind of magical remedy recipes. I loved reading about the elvish lembas , ent wash and orc draughts when I was a teanager and even bought a book about herbal remedies and thought about how I could make my own versions: when I read about the Iskiate it seemed almost the same. I was eager to learn more.

I'll show what I've learnt and give some comments on my own experience.

The Recipe as I found it;

Juice of one lime	Disolve the sugar in the lime juice
1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar
33cl water	Add the water
1 or 2 dessert spoons chia seeds	Stir in the chia seeds

I've found it best to dissolve the sugar in the lime first and then shake together the water and chia in a protein shaker then add the lime-sugar mix. I also like to leave it for at least 20 minutes before drinking – I'll explain why later. I was given my shaker by a body-building friend of mine and it has a wire ball in side which really breaks up the lumps.

Recovery shake of my own;

After a particularly hard run or a parkour session here's a recovery shake I like;

In a shaker mix 20g chia seeds with 150ml water. Make up to 500ml with strawberry and banana smoothie add 20g whey protein and shake till smooth.

Where to get ingredients

Lime

First I no longer use fresh lime; they are relatively expensive, variable quality, and take a long time to squeeze. I now use pure lime juice which I buy in 250ml bottles from the tesco ingredients isle. I use a quarter of a bottle per serving – its much cheaper and quicker and I can't really taste a difference.

Protein

Protein powder I get from bulk-powders which I first came across when I first wanted to buy maltodextrin. Its a no branded protein and there probably are better things out there but I find it fine and it is comparitively cheap. Maybe its placebo but I do think I can tell a difference in recovery when I use protein powder although I only use it after particularly hard runs or parkour sessions. When I do use it I take 20g – 40g after the session depending on what I did (20g after a run 40g after a hard parkour session) then 20g the following day at breakfast.

Chia

I buy from an online shop which specialises in importing chia seeds. I've found the service excellent and the product seems great although I have nothing to compare it with.

Thoughts and Comments

I've been drinking Iskiate regularly for about 18 months and have also experimented with chia seeds during runs. I've read up on chia seeds and their use. I believe my experience with chia puts me in a good position to offer opinions.

Chia seeds are really good for you, high in calcium, dietry fibre, and omega 6 and 3. I believe that chia is the only food one the planet that has the correct ratio of omega 3/6 for humans. They are very low on the glycemic index (as low as is possible). They are also high in protein, even compared with something like chicken, although it would be dificult to eat eough chia to make it a viable source of protein. They are low in carbohydrate.

I believe the key things which make chia so useful are its low GI value and its ability to absorb water. I don't believe chia, on its own, is useful as a fuel. I read an article advising eating a handful of chia before water during a marathon instead of using sports drink. I've tried eating chia in this way and I really don't believe its useful; chia just does not provide the things the body needs whilst exercising at intensity. I think chia, on its own, could be useful for something like walking.

So I think chia is only useful when made into iskiate.

I read once that the reason iskiate works is because you get an instant boost from the sugar then a sustained energy from the chia. I don't believe that either. I think the only energy comes from the sugar but that the chia blocks the body's rapid uptake of the sugar, therefore removing the crash that one can get after sugar and giving more sustained energy. I also think iskiate helps keep you hydrated for a long time which I put down to the chia's water absorbing properties.