Holistic Chef Graduate Angelina Crumble on Beetroot Powder and its Benefits for Active Student Athletes

Our Holistic Chef Program proudly features Holistic Chef graduate, Angelina Crumble. Angelina is a full-time Nutrition Services Manager at an assisted living facility and is now a holistic chef as well!

With over two decades of food service-related experience, Angelia always had the motivation to help others achieve their dietary goals.  She just did not know how to do it successfully. Enter Bauman College!  

Get to know Angelina Crumble and check out her recipe for optimizing the athletic performance of her 3 young-adult children with Beetroot Energy Oatmeal Bites!

Focus on Teaching Student-Athletes how to Optimize Performance through Food

My name is Angelia Crumble.  I am a full-time Nutrition Services Manager at an assisted living facility in a small town about an hour away from Kansas City, Mo. With over 20 years of food service-related experience, I always had the motivation to help others achieve their dietary goals.  I just did not know how to do it successfully.  

After an extensive search of the top culinary schools around, Bauman College was the best fit for me because it combined cooking and health.  Not knowing what my next year would entail, I hit submit and filled out all the necessary paperwork to begin my holistic chef training. 

Now, as a graduate, I finally have the knowledge and skills to help others optimize their nutrition and use food for fuel to improve their body, mind, and soul. 

My next career goal is to focus on teaching student-athletes how to optimize performance through food. As a mom of 3 young adult athletes, I know the world of sports and kids and have noticed that students need guidance in choosing which foods to eat, knowing how to prepare them, and deciding when to eat them. I’m ready to educate my community about the benefits of eating whole foods, how to supplement with food first, and how it can increase endurance and strength.  

With this in mind, I’d like to tell you about one of my favorite foods for athletes, the red beet!

Just “Beet” It

How many times have you seen or heard the slogan “Just Do It” as you are working out or see it on the uniforms of your competitors?  But how can you “just do it” if you are exhausted, worn out, and can hardly catch your breath?  To you, I say, “Just Beet It”!  That’s right, it’s time to eat some red beets.

As a student-athlete, you may not think of beets as a powerhouse of foods, but, eating them, in any form, can help you to increase exercise productivity, performance, and endurance. 

Below are some amazing facts about what beets can do for your body during exercise, and how to use them in powdered form. I will also share with you a delicious beetroot energy bar turned into a ball for easier transport, that is great to eat before, during, or after a workout. 

Beets for the Win

Beets are a root vegetable that come in many vibrant colors and varieties and all of them have an earthy tone to their flavor. The best-known variety is the red beet. If you feel ambitious, you can make your own beetroot powder or purchase it, to easily add to smoothies and other dishes.  The powder form can give the same effects as eating beets in their whole form or juicing them. 

Benefits of Beets:

• Produces ATP for energy production 
  When engaging in strenuous exercise, you use ATP or Adenosine Triphosphate. These are chemical molecules obtained from the breakdown of the food that you eat which releases energy throughout your body and gives more energy to other cells within parts of your body. ATP is not stored for future release like glycogen in the muscles, so it gets delivered and distributed as energy is needed to move your cells while performing exercise or any strenuous sports.  To learn more about the function of ATP in the body, check out verywellfit.com. 
• Releases Nitric Oxide in the body  
  Nitric Oxide is a gas naturally occurring inside and outside of the body.  Inside the body, it acts as an important chemical messenger.  It improves lung functioning by opening the blood vessels to increase the oxygen flow throughout the body. When eating beets, they release nitrates that get converted into nitric oxide. This will help you boost your stamina so that you can exercise longer.  

How to Use Beets

• Supplement for Pre-Workout 
  Be sure to eat beets it within 2 to 3 hours before training or competition to get the most effect. Doing so, it will give the nitrates time to be converted into nitric oxide and absorbed in the bloodstream. They can help relieve muscle soreness, cramping, and fatigue. Do not use mouthwash, chewing gum or suckers after using beetroot powder or juice since these products may kill the bacteria on the tongue and in the mouth, needed to convert the nitrate to nitrite. 
• Ways to Enjoy Beetroot 
  Beets can be juiced, roasted, eaten whole, or in powder form. Beetroot powder can be mixed in smoothies, sprinkled on veggies, or cooked in dishes and casseroles. It can also be baked in desserts.

Surprisingly, you may not be able to taste the beet when cooked and added to dishes. There may be, however, an unpleasant taste if mixed with only plain water, so blending it into protein drinks and smoothies will be the best when added to liquids. In baked goods, it gives a natural and organic pink color that is healthier than food colorant.

When adding beetroot powder to any food or drink, consult the packaging for amounts needed to obtain the correct nutritional content.   

Try this beetroot energy ball below. Adapted from the Tahini Fig Bars recipe by Brittany Maullins at eatingbirdfood.com. 

Beetroot Energy Oatmeal Bites

Prep time | 15 minutes    Cooking time | 30 minutes     Servings | 8-12 balls (depending on size) 

INGREDIENTS

• ½ c dried figs or dates, finely chopped 
• 1 c oats, old fashioned, rolled (do not use instant) 
• ½ c toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds                                                                                   
• 1/3 c honey or maple syrup 
• ½ c tahini or peanut butter or any other nut/seed butter    
• 2 TBS chia seeds 
• 2TBS ground flaxseeds 
• ½ tsp vanilla 
• ¼ tsp sea salt 
• *1 tsp beetroot powder 
• Chocolate coating 
• ¼ C dark chocolate chips 
• 1 tsp coconut oil 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large bowl, add figs, oats, pumpkin seeds, honey, tahini, chia seeds, ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt and beetroot powder and mix thoroughly until it holds together.  
2. Roll into 1 inch or bigger, balls. 
3. Place in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil. 
4. To melt, use a double broiler of simmering water or slowly melt in microwave in 1-minute increments, stirring gently until chocolate and oil are melted. 
5. Remove balls from refrigerator, pour or dip chocolate over balls until covered. 
6. Place balls back in the refrigerator to harden for about 30 minutes. 

*Note: Oatmeal balls are sticky and messy, the beetroot powder may stain hands. 

TOPPING OPTIONS

Before returning energy balls back to refrigerator after rolling in melted chocolate, coat in one or more of the following toppings to add for more flavor and depth.

• Toasted Coconut 
• Chopped Nuts/Seeds 
• Beetroot Powder 
• Toasted Oats 

In conclusion, beets are a powerhouse food that can help you to “Just Do It”. They increase stamina and performance in any exercise regimen or sport.   

This blog is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace any information obtained or given from your own physician or dietician. Please refer to your doctor when changing your diet and or exercise routine.