What the heck is “iskiate?” This is a super-simple chia seed drink that I read about and had to test.
I am reading this book called Born to Run, in which the author seeks out a Mexican tribe called the Tarahumara who are amazing world-renown runners (we’re talking major endurance runs and inhuman speed here), and tries to figure out the secrets to their incredible athleticism. The book is filled with great stories and advice for anyone interested in running.
As I was reading, I came across a fantastic passage about chia seeds! The author describes being handed a drink that he first describes as “gooey slime that looked like rice pudding without the rice, lots of black-flecked bubbles I was pretty sure were frog eggs in midhatch.” Pleasant, eh? Aren’t you happy I’m posting this?
Anyway, he goes on to talk about how this drink is made of chia seeds, and is used by the Tarahumara tribe to fuel their endurance runs. It’s also the first he learns of chia seeds, and boasts his findings of this superfood: “In terms of nutritional content, a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone. As tiny as those seeds are, they’re superpacked with omaga-3s, omega-6s, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants.” True true.
Well, obviously I had to make this chia drink before a run and do a blog post on it!
True to the description above, this is not the most photogenic of beverages. I tried.
All the book says about the drink is it’s chia seeds dissolved in water with a squirt of lime. Simple enough! So here’s what I did:
serves 1
1 1/2 C water
1 T chia seeds
1 lime, halved
Mix seeds into water and let sit about 10 minutes. Then mix up, squirt the lime into it, and plop limes in (I did this partly cause my lime wasn’t very juicy and I wanted more flavor from it, and partly in an effort to get better pictures out of this funny-looking concoction.)
I actually made this, photographed it, and then put it in my fridge for two days before I actually drank it pre-run. By then, the seeds were super soft and really easy to drink up. Kind of wished I’d taken the lime out, though. It was quite tart!
Now I’m not going to pretend this is some kind of miracle drink that will turn any average Joe into an endurance runner. But a cup of this and one of my cran-apple breakfast truffles sure did fuel a fantastic run for me!
Hope these pictures don’t scare you away from trying it . . . and happy running!
Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 73; Calories from Fat: 45; Total Fat: 5.0g; Saturated Fat: 0.5g; Sodium: 11mg; Total Carbohydrates: 6.9g; Dietary Fiber: 5.0g; Protein: 3.0g
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