Cinnamon, One of the keys to running a faster marathon is storing enough glycogen to get through “The Wall” that many runners encounter at or around the 32km mark.
When the glycogen stored in your liver and muscles runs out, your body is forced to burn fat, which requires more energy and causes you to slow down.
Research has shown that cinnamon helps to reduce blood sugar and increase insulin levels. This results in more glycogen storage in the liver and muscles.
While carbohydrate loading by eating a high carbohydrate diet can help to increase the amount of glycogen stored in the liver and muscles, cinnamon may help to maximize this effect. Studies indicate that ½ to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon a day is enough to have an effect.
There are a couple of commercial energy gels that contain cinnamon. Hammer Nutrition and Carb BOOM! Both make an Apple Cinnamon energy gel that contains ground cinnamon. Is this just flavouring, or are they on to something?
I put cinnamon on my slow-cooked steel-cut oatmeal (my preferred pre-marathon breakfast) and sometimes in my coffee (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it).
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