The magical Kenyan Diet and training at altitute are two keys factors why Kenyan runners are having so much sucess

One unique and interesting thing about Kenyan athletes is their daily diet.  A diet that gives them energy to run for a long time and fast.  Many wake up at 5am and eat something like a slice of bread or ugali with tea to provide energy.  Some prefer going for their morning run on an empty stomach but after training they take tea with rice or ugali. This is common in Kenya as well as drinking at least two glasses of tea in the morning. The most important meal of the day for many Kenyan runners is lunch.  Most eat a heavy amount of ugali, rice and beans/potatoes or stew depending on the athlete.  For example super stars like Eliud Kipchoge and Wilson Kipsang, love ugali with traditional vegetables like spinach accompanied by tradition milk called mursik (sour milk). The ingredients of ugali itself is such a secret and many keep wondering where the energy of Kenyans comes from. Ugali is a carbohydrate but has amazing ingredients. Ugali is a type of cormeal porridge and is made from maize four.  It is cooked in boiling water or milk until it reaches a stiff or dough-like consistency. 100g of maize flour contains folates 0.6mg, vitamin A 0.5mg, vitamin B1 3.0mg, vitamin B2 2.0mg, vitamin B3 14.9mg, vitamin B6 2.0mg, vitamin B12 0.007mg, iron 21mg, and Zinc 33mg. In addition the roughage helps in digestion. Mursik is sour milk that taste so sweet.  It contains enough proteins to help build and repair muscles due to tearing during daily training and competition. With daily intake it helps the athlete be more energetic, strong and able to be tough. The Mursik Factor has been making headlines when an athlete wins a race or breaks a record because Mursik never disappoints. On top of this energizer, the high altitude make the body produce a lot of hemoglobin due to less oxygen giving runners an easy time to run fast in low altitude outside Kenya. This is the magical Kenyan diet that propel Kenyan runners like a space ship going into the universe.  How can you doubt anything that Eluid Kipchoge does to run a 2:01 marathon?

posted Wednesday December 5th
by Willie Korir reporting from Kenya