Lucky me, I’ve been catching up on paying bills and bookkeeping in between exercising and working. Exciting, right? But in my spare moment, I have found why I’ve been craving Citrus like mad.
Breakfast
The perfect cup of coffee. Thanks to my mini french press
Coach’s Oats + Cottage Cheese <-- my current breakfast addiction. But I have yet to take a good picture of oatmeal. Always so bland looking. But taste heavenly. Especially Coach's Oats.
Snack
See. Citrus in my CHO! Sorry for the ugly lighting. But Blood Orange is a mighty good new flavor of Chobani’s greek yogurt.
Lunch
Simple veggie salad. Yup, OJ. Although, I think I should clearly be craving Vitamin D – as much as I sit here at my desk taking pictures and not outside in the glorious sunshine. LOL.
Craving Citrus
Lately, I have had an insane craving for citrus. You might have seen me question or mention it on twitter. Like oranges galore (luckily I have been receiving bags of it from my neighbor and in my CSA box). And lemon + water with my meal. Alot. I have never liked the later before because the contents remind me of a finger bowl they put at your table after eating messy foods.
I discovered there are 2 possible reasons my body is intuitively craving Vitamin C:
- Old Wives’ Tales say I am having a girl
- Vitamin C is beneficial to exercise performance and my body wants more vitamin C so it can kick some ass
Since I am ‘fixed’, #1 is clearly out of the question. 
Number 2 it is!
According to ExRx.net:
Vitamin C and Exercise Recovery
“…A previously mentioned study found that vitamin C supplementation prevented muscle soreness … it is likely that vitamin C does not directly function in muscle recovery because post-exercise values in the previous study fell to values 20% below baseline within the first 24 hours of recovery. The possibility does exist that vitamin C may play an indirect role in exercise recovery. The vitamin has the ability to regenerate vitamin E. This means that any function vitamin E has within the body can also be linked back to vitamin C… The literature to date seems to imply that vitamin C probably has no direct significant role in muscle recovery from exercise, but may possibly play a significant indirect role in the process.
Summary/Current Recommendations
Depressed vitamin C levels can ultimately cause decreased performance. Vitamin C can regenerate other antioxidants and act as an antioxidant itself. Therefore the need for vitamin C is likely increased in those who exercise regularly. An intake of 100 to 500 mg seems to be sufficient to meet the needs of the exercising individual. This level can easily be obtained through a fruit and vegetable inclusive diet. As stated earlier these dosages would best be absorbed if taken in small quantities at multiple intervals…increased vitamin C may be beneficial to performance. The abundance of vitamin C rich foods establishes that inadequate vitamin C levels should be increased via food sources, not by supplementation, if possible.”
You can read the full article here.
Well, there you have it! Vitamin C plays a significant indirect role in exercise performance. And my body is intuitively telling me I need it.
Do you have any weird food cravings?
About Christine McCarthy
I’ve craved citrus my entire pregnancy …maybe we’re having a girl? Guess we’ll know in 20 or so weeks
Lindsay recently posted..Mood Boosting Food
Yay on your pregnancy. Are you going to wait til birth to find out what you are having? I was going to try that with my kids, but I just couldn’t do it. LOL. Congrats. Maybe you are having a girl. Will be neat to see if the old wive’s tale is true.
Yeah we are waiting until the birth- looking forward to the surprise
Lindsay recently posted..Mood Boosting Food
I’ve been craving citrus like mad for the last couple of weeks, too! I’m going with the explanation regarding needing more vitamin C to kick ass as well!
Molly@hungryhungryrunner.com recently posted..Eating For Two
LOL. You are sure its not the first one… right?? haha. How have you been Molly?
Christine McCarthy recently posted..I tried Crossfit… (and survived)
very interesting!!! i’ve actually been craving citrus recently also! weird
Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean recently posted..Healthy Blueberry Scones
I really do think there is a correlation between post workout recover and Vitamin C. Because when my daughter and I went out to lunch after Crossfit, I downed the water and lemon I asked for. But weird, I would never have thought of post workout Vitamin C as most of us are focused on protein powders.
Christine McCarthy recently posted..Abs of Steel in Six-Weeks
No weird craving per say…but I am obsessed with Bell Peppers (red ones to be more specific!)! I have one a day. Love the crunch! p.s. I have yet to take a good looking picture of Oatmeal as well! lol
Kierston recently posted..Workout: Let’s Play Chest!
I love the red bell peppers! Definitely yummy eating them raw. Hummus makes a great dip for them.
As for the oatmeal, really is very ugly looking. haha. think I need to invest in a light box cuz I’m never home to shoot in natural daylight.
Great information. I’ve been craving citrus, everyday for the past three days, so I have been eating oranges and I never eat oranges. Weird! I also bought the Blood Orange from Chobani, but I haven’t tried it yet. Have a great day!!
You must be getting you workout on to be craving all that citrus.
I do listen to my body’s queues. If it says Citrus, I feed it citrus. It says Chocolate, I… well, I eat a morsel. LOL
Funny, I’ve been craving grapefruit! I do remember that of pregnancy though where I’d just want to eat orange after orange. I just had my third so that can’t be it.
Melanie Flinn recently posted..A Cooking Party
haha. proved the wive’s tale wrong! grapefruit? never craved that one. then again, I’ve NEVER craved lemon in my water.
Christine McCarthy recently posted..Abs of Steel in Six-Weeks
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