Make Your Own Energy Gel: Red Tart Cherry & Chia Seed
Is anyone else grossed out by commercial carbohydrate gels? With my half marathon training in full swing, I’ve recently been hitting those longer runs where I could really use a little extra energy, but there’s just something extremely unappealing about the pre-packaged sugar goo that’s usually spiked with manufactured vitamins (plus, I can taste the vitamins in the gel). So I decided I needed to make an all-natural energy gel with real ingredients that my body would easily recognize as a source of energy. My two magic ingredients: red tart cherries and chia seeds.
You’re probably wondering, “What’s the big deal with red tart cherries?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Tart cherries are different than sweet cherries in other ways than the obvious flavor component: they’re high in anthocyanins, a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound thought to possibly reduce muscle damage during strenuous exercise. If you’re feeling extra scientific, you can read this article about a study on long-distance running and drinking cherry juice. My gel recipe doesn’t use nearly as many cherries as the study (nor are you consuming them for seven days), but it still utilizes the same beneficial ingredient.
The chia seeds act as the gelling agent, absorbing much of the liquids from the cherries and orange juice, and their healthy omega-3 fats and protein content digest slower than carbs, giving a steady supply of energy. Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run mentions that the Tarahumara Indians used chia seeds during their hunting ultra runs through the desert, where they would chase their prey to exhaustion. Even though you aren’t chasing down your dinner; I’m sure you can still appreciate having extended energy on your run.
The nutrition of this recipe compares to your typical store-bought energy gel: about 100 calories, 24 g carbs, 60 mg sodium, and 55 mg potassium. There is slightly more gel in my version, but it tastes better, so you won’t mind.
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{Tart Cherry & Chia Seed Energy Gel}
No need to buy energy gel–just make a batch of this homemade gel, freeze it in individual bags, and then thaw the night before a long run. Consume it as a gel or diluted with water.
Servings: 5 (slightly less than 1/4 cup each)
Ingredients
1/2 cup frozen tart cherries
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp honey
Directions
1. In a blender or food processor, blend cherries and orange juice. Add in chia seeds and salt. (It will be slightly foamy on top)
2. Let chia mixture sit for 5 minutes, then give a good stir. Let sit for another 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Add honey and thoroughly combine (it should be really thick). Pour slightly less than 1/4 cup of gel into 5 individual snack size plastic baggies.
4. Freeze until the night before a run. Place in fridge to thaw.
To consume:
You can just rip a hole in the side of the plastic bag and eat the mixture straight up. I’m not coordinated enough to do that running, so if you’re like me, I’d recommend getting a gel flask container for your running belt (they usually come in 4 oz sizes like this one) or just dilute the mixture with water and consume throughout your run in a normal water bottle, since you should be hydrating anyway–the chia seeds shouldn’t get stuck in the nozzle (at least mine didn’t).
Nutrition info per servings: 104 calories, 2 g fat (0 g sat fat), 1.5 g pro, 24 g carb, potassium 55 mg, sodium 60 mg
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Nice writing, Ryan. I am enjoying your blog.
Thanks, that means a lot! Glad you enjoy it 🙂
I’ve been a huge fan of tart cherries and chia for a long time but I never thought of combining them. I can’t wait to try this!
I’ve been making my own chia frescas for pre-run nutrition by using Trader Joe’s Tart Cherry Juice for the liquid, which has a great ingredient list: 100% tart cherry juice.
I like the salt and the orange juice for potassium components of your recipe, and I too am pretty grossed out using the convenient GU packs. I’m gonna give your recipe a shot. Thanks for posting!
I’ve thought about getting the tart cherry juice for convenience, but I am unsure how it’s processed. If it gets heated to kill possible bacteria I worry the heat would destroy some of the beneficial compounds. Do you know if it’s cold-pressed treated or pasteurized?
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Thanks for the natural gel recipe, I hate sucking down the store bought gels. Find weight lifting workouts for runners at http://weightlifting-workouts.com.
I completely agree. They upset my stomach!
I’ve been able to buy tart cherry juice concentrate online but I can’t find actual tart cherries anywhere, not even at Whole Foods. Where do you get yours?
A grocery store here in Oklahoma City called Buy 4 Less has frozen red tart cherries year round. The recipe would still work with the juice, you just may need to add a bit more chia seeds to make it thicker, since juice is thinner than the actual fruit!
I’ve not had any luck finding fresh or frozen out here in the sticks but my local Walmart sells Oregon brand canned tart cherries in tart cherry juice in the baking aisle by the pie fillings.
I’ll have to bring a cooler next time I drive thru. OKC 🙂
You can clean out Buy 4 Less’s stock with a cooler haha! But canned should do the trick the same as fresh!
I love the idea of this recipe. I love chia seeds. I love red tart cherries and often add them both to my fruit smoothies. However, I’m allergic to oranges / orange juice (along with many other fruits). To get the nutritional value, do you have any suggestions to swap for the OJ?
You could use sweetened vanilla almond milk instead of OJ and add 1 tsp more of honey. Almond milk has more potassium and sodium than OJ, but that’s ok! Cherry almond vanilla, sounds like a good combo to me 🙂
I want to make this as well except instead of orange juice, I’m allergic to citrus, I will use coconut water….it’s higher in potassium anyway…what a great recipe. Been searching high and low and just do not like the store bought ones…Not only that, but they leak everywhere….I was thinking about getting these little packs….have you ever used them, Ryan??
http://astore.amazon.com/marisnutran05-20/detail/B00AM5NTIS
Coconut water would work great! I haven’t used the reusable gel packs, but I would imagine they would work great since they are meant to hold up well in kids lunch boxes!
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Thank you so much for this recipe. My daughter is a Cross country Dunne and I was looking for a natural energy drink for her. It was easy to make and the ingredients are packed full of natural energy and void of chemicals and additives.
Hello, thanks for sharing this, it is greatly appreciated. Does it work without honey? I’m on a low sugar diet.
You would still get some benefit from the carbs in the fruit, however the use for a gel with a simple sugar for quick energy. Your body uses it immediately for fuel during endurance running. If you omit the honey and use this as your sole energy source on a run, then it will probably not give you the carbs/calories you need to adequately replace enough of the energy you are burning.
LOL…found the cherries in my own freezer! Forgot that we have a cherry tree and usually have too many to eat, so I end up freezing them in Ziploc bags. I made the recipe as stated, but the ingredients did not cover the blade assembly in my Vitamix so I had to add a bit more orange juice. I decreased the honey also. The final result does not look anything like the picture, but it was very tasty. Thanks for the recipe.