Fruits for Body Bodybuilding
People tend to link fruit with excessive fat gain because of the link between sugar and the growing public health problem of metabolic syndrome.
The media have vilified sugar as it’s linked with diabetes, elevated cholesterol, higher blood pressure, and excessive weight gain.
However, as I mentioned before (see Does Eating Too Much Fruit Make You Too Fat?), the amount of fruit that you need to eat to gain significant amounts of fat is almost enormous.
While many fruits can make us exceed our recommended sugar limits (see Daily Sugar Limits), the benefits of consuming fruits throughout the day outweigh the consequences of concern about monitoring the width of your waistline.
Fruits not only curb your appetite because of their high fiber content, but they also are just as beneficial, if not better, than any over-the-counter supplement you can buy in the store for anyone serious about bodybuilding.
The Best Fruits For Bodybuilders
Many supplements can be bought from nutrition stores like Vitamin Shoppe or GNC, whether it’s for energy (caffeine, B-12) or to boost your strength in the gym (creatine, nitric oxide).
When it comes to nutrition, many weightlifters rely on multivitamins or other over-the-counter vitamin supplements. Adding vitamins to your diet can help ensure you’re not deficient in the micronutrients needed to keep your diet and hormonal systems balanced.
The micronutrients listed here are not only commonplace but also available in supermarkets throughout most of the year. Still, they are much more affordable and nutrient-dense than what you can find in store-bought vitamins.
Here are some of the micronutrients and additives you should be looking for when you shop for fruits in the grocery aisle:
Polyphenols: Polyphenols are a type of chemical that protects the body from carcinogens that cause cancer, and are also known as catechins. Catechins are well known as fat burners in the body and are more frequently found in herbal green teas.
When getting down to low body fat levels (typically under 10% in men), it’s almost necessary to add something that helps burn fat in stubborn areas. In addition to herbal teas, the highest amounts of catechins are found in blueberries, plums, sweet cherries, prunes, apples, and peaches.
Anthocyanins: Anthocyanins are chemicals found in the dark red, blue, or violet pigments of plants that have anti-inflammatory properties. Anti-inflammatories are important because they help reduce muscle soreness and pain associated with frequent, heavy resistance training.
If you’ve been lifting for a while, you know how important it is to get this taken care of. According to the USDA, the common fruits with the highest amount of anthocyanins are blackberries, black plums, and black raspberries.
Nitric Oxide: Nitric oxide is a well-known vasodilator that dilates the arteries and capillaries, helping more nutrients and blood reach the cells where they’re needed. Honestly, you could probably do without it in most scenarios, as it’s not the most important thing you really need to make progress, but any amount of it wouldn’t really hurt.
The amino acid that stimulates nitric oxide production is called l-citrulline and is found in highest quantities in watermelons, specifically in the rind of the watermelon, not the flesh of the fruit.
The Wrap Up
Shopping at the produce section will save you huge amounts of money by simply getting fruits that have all of the micronutrients that you need. The sugar isn’t even a huge factor, as many would claim, as it would take an extraordinary amount of fruit even to come close to what a normally processed meal would contain, so don’t even worry about it.
What else do you want to know?
Can Fruit Really Make You Fat?
How Much Sugar A Day Should You Eat?
Why The Best Diet Is No Diet
