Vegan Gingerbread Energy Balls
Iron is a very important micronutrient. Iron helps with transporting oxygen from the lungs to the body, so it is especially important for athletes, as well as pregnant women (and women in general due to losing iron during their menstrual cycle).
Female athletes that are underfueling are at risk for RED-S (Relative energy deficiency in sport). This can also affect male athletes, however for females Iron levels may decrease significantly due to amenorrhea (loss of menstrual cycle).
I highly recommend female athletes to have their stored Iron (Ferritin) levels checked yearly, because if anemia goes undiagnosed it can lead to potential short term (fatigue, stress fractures, etc.) and long term negative effects.
For everyone, eating adequate iron within their diet is important. Besides animal heme iron sources (meat, eggs, etc), and plant based non heme sources (spinach, nuts, etc), you can get iron into your diet by cooking in a cast iron skillet or using black strap molasses
My favorite way to incorporate black strap molasses into my diet is by making energy balls!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup cashew or almond butter
1/3 cup vegan vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3 tbsp black strap molasses
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
sprinkle of salt
Steps:
Combine ingredients above.
Roll into balls, refrigerate and enjoy!!
Makes ~10 balls
Fun fact: Iron is best absorbed when paired with vitamin C rich foods. So for example pairing 1-2 of these balls with cut up strawberries would make for perfect snack!
Vegan Gingerbread Energy Balls
