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  1. #1
    Herald of the Titans iLive's Avatar
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    How important is fruit and vegetables for bodybuilders?

    I make sure to include fruits and vegetables in my diet, but what role does it play for the one wanting to build muscle mass and get stronger? Thoughts?

  2. #2
    Well.

    If you want to focus on Protein for rebuilding muscles, you could get your Carbohydrate intake via Vegetables -- super filling and full of good vitamins and fiber. Fruit is a simple Carbohydrate, thus you want to eat much less of it than Vegetables (so you don't spike an insulin response), but it still has some decent benefit. I personally prefer to have Fruit that either contains loads of anti-oxidants or bananas (for the fat content).

    There is no cut and dry answer for proper diet (for body building or weight loss). One of the best things you could hope to do for your body if you're building would be to make sure you hit your macro's and add in more protein (1g per lb of lean muscle) -- I only recommend that kind of protein intake for people who are hoping to gain mass, honestly.

  3. #3
    well....

    I'm not a bodybuilder, but i've dated a guy once, he was pretty big if that's what you want... He used to eat a lot of apples/bananas/papaya.

    Also drank a lot of natural orange juice, and i remenber he used muscle tech as supplements (not saying it's good or anything, just saying what he used).

  4. #4

    Talking

    Very important. Fruits/Veggies contain phytonutrients (spelling?) that help balance the ph level in your body. It also aids in digestion. As much protein as you need, meat can take a toll on your system when it comes to digestion.

    When you go to supplement stores, you can actually grab Phytonutrient (once again, spelling) supplements that are basically all the nutrients extracted and put into capsule format. That said, it is only for when you can't get enough into your system.

    Another tip I can give is the following; Mix up your protein. Personally, I don't eat pork anymore because of how shitty I feel after eating it, and depending on the supplements you take, you will need to make sure you are getting -quality- protein in your diet.

    Stuff like Beans (Dark Red Kidney Beans, Chick Peas, etc) will give you a good amount of protein, and have high fibre which will actually normalize your blood sugars for a longer period of time, or replenish them after an intense workout.

    Beef (I personally prefer grass fed organic), is a good source depending on the cut. And Grass fed organic beef has CLA which helps with the breakdown of triglycerides (spelling?) in fatty cells helping you use the fats as fuel.

    Chicken. Pretty much a staple due to a good amount of protein and carbs. The carbs aren't as quality as the beans, but still good.

    Turkey. Pretty much like chicken but has triptophen (spelling?) in it (that is what causes those turkey comas after thanksgiving).

    Fish of any Kind. Smaller Fish you can have more often, the bigger fish have trace amounts of mercury in it, and can cause 'cloudy mind syndrome' which is basically the opposite of what the omega 3 fatty acids do for you.

    Egg Whites. I actually have about 8 Egg whites every morning before a workout with 1 whole egg (for the B vitamins) along with other spices. Egg whites these days in super markets are a lot cheaper than buying a carton of eggs and separating them yourselves.

    Cheese. Great protein intake for serving size but contains a lot of saturated fat. Nice to have, but don't overdo it.

    Milk. As the Governator said in 1976. Milk is for Babies, not Bodybuilders.

    Hope that helped.

  5. #5
    Herald of the Titans iLive's Avatar
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    @Radux
    How's fruits with anti-oxidants helpful, or is that more for the health?

    @Torcida
    Great post. I tried out beans (baked white beans) yesterday, and today at school I really had to go to the toilet. :P What do you make out of those egg whites in the morning? And what's wrong with milk? I've always had milk + oatmeal or cornflakes for breakfast and thought it was fine supplementing with protein.

    I was actually considering making a list of what I eat a day to see if I get enough calories and proteins to be able to build muscle mass and gain weight, because my weight hasn't really changed December. I weight 65 kilos and exercise 4 times a week for 1½ hour. How much weight can I gain per month? Is 1 kilo reasonable or how does it work? It's just so I can shape some goals and have an idea of my current investment in what I am doing.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by iLive View Post
    @Radux
    How's fruits with anti-oxidants helpful, or is that more for the health?
    Yeah it's mostly for general health. They aren't uber important if you really watch what you eat and where you buy it from. But for the average person, it can help in digestion (i.e. removal of oxidation in foods).

  7. #7
    High Overlord
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    Be very careful of taking nutritional advice from strangers. Ask your doctor, they won't give you pseudoscience or nonsense like a lot of the posts in this thread are guaranteed to. For example, the word "phytonutrient" sounds very sciencey and helpful but in fact in this context is useless and irrelevant (look it up). "Mixing" up your protein is also an odd thing to advise, given that your metabolism will just churn up protein into the same amino acids as all other protein before incorporating it into your own proteins.

    In short- don't ask the internet for health advice; ask a doctor.

  8. #8
    Yeah really the only benefit you get from mixing up your protein would be the vitamins associated (i.e. steak won't give you omega3 fatty acids like salmon will). Or just for quality of life benefits of not getting bored by eating the same thing every day.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by iLive View Post
    @Radux
    How's fruits with anti-oxidants helpful, or is that more for the health?
    Antioxidants are important because they will help to eliminate free radicals in your blood stream. When you exercise you greatly increase the generation of free radicals.


    I suggest you get a copy of "Enter the Zone" by Dr. Barry Sears. It will answer about any questions you have about athletic diet. In order to gain mass you need to increase your Protein intake but you also need to keep Carbs and Fats in the correct proportions with the protein. It all comes down to managing the hormone levels within your body that book will teach you how and why.
    Last edited by thx_138; 2012-01-04 at 10:30 PM.

  10. #10

    Talking

    -iLive
    To answer the thing about fruits with anti-oxidants, it is basically because your immune system is weakened, lowers downtime, etc.

    As for the beans, for the first 2 weeks you will be running to the washroom pretty quickly. This is because your body is trying to become normalized to the fibre that the beans provides to your body.

    For the egg whites, i usually just do scrambled, sometimes, a cheese omlet, but something that is relatively quick so i am not wasting time.

    As for milk, it's protein value plummets once you pass a certain point in your age because the protein in milk isn't taken in as protein, it is taken in as a carbohydrate, can cause constipation, etc. In your early life (whenever you start drinking to about... 22 years old ish) milk is okay. This is because your have an elevated metabolism due to hormones. Your body metabolizes carbs pretty quickly at this age range, but fats are another story (and it depends on fats too, but that is another topic for another day)

    another thing to remember, and might make calorie counting a bit easier (yes, you need to)

    1g of Protein = 4 calories
    1g of Carbs = 4 calories
    1g of Fat = 9 calories

    Also, if you are aiming for fat loss, make sure to vary your calories on a day to day basis. if you have 1800 calories a day, for example. If you stick to this day in, day out, your body gets used to it, and makes by with it. But lets say on day you are working your legs you have 2200 calories, and then you only intake 1450 calories on your arms day. it can confuse you body, and force it to tap into your fat stores.

    My personal average is 2000 calories a day. 50% from Protein (250g), 30% from Carbs (150g) and 20% from Fats (44.4g, and i try to put it as roughly 51%+ of my fats from polyunsaturated). This isn't for everyone, obviously, and if you are body building, you want to be putting on weight all the time. A good download to snag for bodybuilding is (i can't remember the brand) a program (check your torrent sites) Muscle Maximizer. it is basically a meal planner program and it helps you map out your caloric count.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Radux View Post
    Yeah really the only benefit you get from mixing up your protein would be the vitamins associated (i.e. steak won't give you omega3 fatty acids like salmon will). Or just for quality of life benefits of not getting bored by eating the same thing every day.
    Not just that. Apples keep your heart healthy (very important for people that take supplements and exercise hard) and also help digestion/pooping.

    Banana's are a really good source of carbs and fiber and so on....

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Torcida View Post
    As for milk, it's protein value plummets once you pass a certain point in your age because the protein in milk isn't taken in as protein, it is taken in as a carbohydrate, can cause constipation, etc. In your early life (whenever you start drinking to about... 22 years old ish) milk is okay. This is because your have an elevated metabolism due to hormones. Your body metabolizes carbs pretty quickly at this age range, but fats are another story (and it depends on fats too, but that is another topic for another day)
    Source? Gluconeogenesis is a natural process that happens with a lot of amino acids. It's a natural production of glucose by the body. I'd be interested to read a study on age sensitivity effects on this process so if you have one, I'm all ears (eyes?).

  13. #13
    Projali

    Study was released in a book called 'The China Study', unfortunately the vegan community 'hurrah!' it in their more current books (skinny bitch/bastard) but it has amazing insight on the effects of milk on the human body. If memory serves it is the largest study of it's kind done over a very long period of time (35 years, not sure on that duration though)

  14. #14
    Without these foods in your diet, you may find that your immune system is not as strong, your energy levels are not as high and that you start suffering from various ailments. By ensuring you are satisfying your body's requirements by getting the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables, you will also ensure you are functioning at your best.
    herbsonline.net.au/
    Last edited by andrewsteven; 2013-01-10 at 06:19 AM.

  15. #15
    The Insane Underverse's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Histidine View Post
    Be very careful of taking nutritional advice from strangers. Ask your doctor, they won't give you pseudoscience or nonsense like a lot of the posts in this thread are guaranteed to. For example, the word "phytonutrient" sounds very sciencey and helpful but in fact in this context is useless and irrelevant (look it up). "Mixing" up your protein is also an odd thing to advise, given that your metabolism will just churn up protein into the same amino acids as all other protein before incorporating it into your own proteins.

    In short- don't ask the internet for health advice; ask a doctor.
    Different protein sources have different ratios of amino acids. You're right in that a lot of what you'll get here is pseudoscience, but I think you'd be surprised with how ignorant the conventional medical community can be as well.

  16. #16
    Vegetables don't have a lot of calories. An entire bag of frozen broccoli is 4 servings and only has 80-100 calories. Calorie-wise, you can eat a lot more fruit than vegetables. A single banana is 200 calories.

    Eat a little of both if you're just going for general health. If you want in-depth shit, well, don't ask on mmo-champion.

  17. #17
    Deleted
    Id say vegetables is abit important, but not fruit.

    Keep im mind i said IN MY OPINION

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Archangel Tyrael View Post
    Not just that. Apples keep your heart healthy (very important for people that take supplements and exercise hard) and also help digestion/pooping.

    Banana's are a really good source of carbs and fiber and so on....
    Bananas have a lot of potassium which is needed for the nerves and muscles

  19. #19
    Even if not for bodybuilding, fruits and vegetables do need to be included in your diet for better health. Besides that, there are some fruits and vegetables that do help with bodybuilding. Like Kale, Yams, Beets & Bananas are some of the healthy foods to consume for building muscles. Bananas in particular contribute to better muscles in different ways. These are high in carbs which makes them a great pre and post workout snack. Eating it before bed is even better as it helps your muscles get right amount of relaxation. Protein in it helps boost metabolism and in turn helps you with losing fat.

  20. #20
    Well, broccoli has an insane amount of essential nutrients for your well being -so it is a great vegetable if you don't really like it. Try frying it in butter. Do not EVER cook it in water, looses about half or more if nutrients in 10min or so. Frying pan or steam, only way to go.

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