John Myers
Snacks are often the unhealthiest meal imaginable, even if the packaging says exercise. They often contain a lot of sugar, animal protein isolates, and a lot of artificial additives.
Healthy sports snacks
Snacks for athletes (but also for non-athletes) should meet a few important criteria. Of course, only if the person concerned values HEALTHY snacks:
- Healthy snacks should be free of isolated sugars.
- Healthy snacks should contain complex carbohydrates if they contain carbohydrates.
- Healthy snacks should provide high-quality protein.
- Healthy snacks should be free from synthetic additives such as B. artificial vitamins, flavors, etc.
- Healthy snacks should be prepared as freshly as possible.
21 Pre and Post-Workout Snacks – Healthy pre and post-workout snacks
If you want to benefit as much as possible from your training, you should eat the right thing beforehand. Because a pre-workout snack provides the necessary energy and helps to maximize training success.
“When I train without my pre-workout meal, my workout isn’t the same and it just feels bad,” says Manuel Villacorta, nutrition expert (also in sports nutrition) and author of Eating Free and Peruvian Power Foods. “However, if you feel good after the right snack, then you can train harder.” A pre-workout snack also prevents low blood sugar levels, which would otherwise make you tired and listless.
After a workout, it’s almost even more important to eat right. Because then the organism needs material to repair, regenerate and build muscle tissue and also to replenish the now-empty glycogen stores.
Below we present 20 healthy and vegan sports snacks that are quick to prepare and can be eaten half an hour to an hour before training or after training. The designation “(NT)” means that the respective Snack is an ideal post-workout snack.
Beetroot juice
Let’s start with a very simple snack: a glass of beetroot juice. Beets are vegetables that have very special properties for athletes: they can increase physical performance and endurance. We have described how the beetroots do this here: Beetroot – the athlete’s vegetable
Of course, freshly squeezed beetroot juice would be perfect. The combination with apple juice is also delicious. But beetroot juice is also available in organic shops – as a pure juice that is fermented with lactic acid and is therefore particularly digestible.
Fruit Protein Shake
Blend 30g of vanilla-flavored rice protein powder with 1 cup of orange juice and 1 cup of ice cubes.
Chocolate iced coffee with an extra portion of protein
Mix 1 cup of iced coffee (Bio Lucafé) with 1 large spoon (15 – 25 g) of hemp chocolate drink powder (consists of 25 percent hemp protein).
Oat special
Sprinkle ½ cup cooked oatmeal with 1 tablespoon dried fruit and 1 tablespoon ground almonds.
Berry Protein Shake
Blend 1 scoop of rice protein with ½ cup of ice cubes and 1 cup of frozen berries.
Apple with peanut butter
Cut an apple into chunks and serve with 2 tablespoons of peanut or almond butter.
Fruit Mug
Mix 1 cup of berries with honeydew melon chunks, banana slices, and orange wedges (or other seasonal fruit) and sprinkle with tiger nut chips.
Fruit leather
Enjoy a portion of fruit leather. How to craft this is described here: Fruit Leather – The Crafting
Tropical Specialty Trail Mix
Prepare a trail mix with ½ a handful each of macadamia nuts, coconut chips, cocoa bean nuggets, and banana chips. (NT)
Sweet Potato Protein Shake
In the blender, add about 25g rice or hemp protein, ¼ cup cooked sweet potato cubes, 1 cup ice cubes, 1 cup almond milk vanilla, and cinnamon to taste. (NT)
Banana Peanut Chocolate Shake
Blend 1 banana, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 cup ready-mixed hemp chocolate drink, and ice cubes. (NT)
Banana shake with soy drink
Mix 1 banana with 1 cup of Organic Natural Soy Drink.
”Cottage cheese” with whole grain crunchy
To 1 cup vegan cottage cheese, add 1 teaspoon maple syrup, ½ cup Aronia or almond crunchy, and a pinch of cinnamon. (NT)
Vegan cottage cheese is made as follows:
Ingredients:
- 1 L soy drink (natural, unsweetened), 1 lemon, 25 g walnut oil or rapeseed oil
Preparation:
Heat the soy drink. Once it boils, turn off the stove. Add the juice of a large lemon and use a spoon to stir it into the soy milk, which should now be flaky. Stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Then take the milk off the stove and let it cool for about 20 minutes. Then pour the flocculated milk through a cloth or filter bag. Drain the resulting “cottage cheese”. The yield should be about 400 g. Now stir in approx. 25 g of an oil of your choice and season the “cottage cheese” either sweetly (as above) or savory with salt and herbs.
Spinach Peanut Smoothie
Blend together 4 cups fresh spinach, 1 teaspoon chlorella powder (provides 60% protein), ½ cup vanilla soy yogurt, 1 cup almond milk, 1 banana, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter. (NT)
Banana Toast
Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter on whole-grain toast and top with banana slices.
Waffles with almond butter and fresh jam
If you make whole wheat waffles, you can always freeze some. In the toaster or oven, these can then be baked up quickly and crispy again for a snack. Spread a waffle with almond butter and top with a dollop of freshly made jam (mix fresh berries with dried dates).
“Chicken” nuggets with sweet potatoes
Do you have leftover baked sweet potatoes from the day before? (Cut the sweet potatoes into slices, brush with some coconut oil or vegan margarine and bake in the oven until soft). Then just fry up some “chicken” nuggets (made from tofu) and eat them with the baked sweet potato slices. Both harmonize wonderfully in terms of taste and at the same time provide high-quality protein and easily digestible but complex carbohydrates.
Avocado pasta with smoked tofu
Take ½ cup of cooked rice noodles (e.g. the gluten-free King Soba Brown Rice Noodles). Mash an avocado with a fork and stir the avocado into the pasta. Fry about 100 to 150 grams of smoked tofu cubes and fold the cubes into the avocado pasta.
Quinoa and Pea Mix
Put ½ cup of frozen organic peas in a saucepan with some coconut oil and some water. Boil the peas for just a few minutes. Mix the peas into 1 cup of cooked quinoa and season the high-protein mix to your liking.
Tofu with Pumpkin
Fry 100 to 200 g smoked tofu slices and eat Hokkaido pumpkin steamed in coconut oil or vegan margarine and a little water.
Pita with hummus
Fill a whole wheat pita bread with hummus (chickpea puree).
Snacks for athletes with healthy organic proteins
Protein powders are used in some of the snack ideas above. In any case, choose purely vegetable proteins of organic quality for your sports snack. You can mix these into an endless variety of shakes, smoothies, and juices or stir them into mueslis and breakfast mixes.
You can choose from:
- Rice proteins in nature, chocolate, and vanilla
- Hemp proteins in nature, chocolate, vanilla, and coconut
- lupine protein
- pea protein
Chlorella powder: The chlorella algae in powder form can be integrated very well into shakes. It consists of about 60 percent high-quality protein. In terms of taste, it goes best with green smoothies or protein shakes with green content (e.g. spinach).
And if you need something really fast, then you can use turbo protein: the protein tablets made from lupine protein – the pure snack for athletes. They are chewed and thus provide high-quality, alkaline plant protein quickly and without any effort. Chlorella tabs are also quickly sucked or swallowed.
The chlorella and lupine protein tablets are also always at hand. They can also be stowed in the car and even have space in the frame or saddle bag.
