Best Foods for Bodybuilding

There are two major reasons why obesity is on the rise. People are not moving their bodies (exercising) and the consumption of processed, high fat foods is skyrocketing. Bad food choices are a key factor that seriously increases your weight and creates a multitude of health problems. Beer and chips do not create muscle!

You need not to go Mars however to find something special to bulk up and build your muscles. You can find the most powerful muscle building foods in your local supermarket.

Identifying Bad and Good Foods

The simple logic to finding good food is - looking for food that is high is value such as protein, the right amount of carbohydrates and good fats, vitamins and minerals.

Bad foods are generally foods that are ready to serve in 5 minutes like - burgers, pizzas, hotdogs, various forms of pre-cooked and processed meats, battered fish and chips, potato chips, ice cream, cold drinks and sweet dishes that contains high volume of sugar. Alcoholic beverages like beer and wine also add a huge amount of unnecessary calories to your body.

Before we move forward, we need to know, what kind of food builds your muscles? Well, the answer is those that are protein rich. Only a protein rich diet can build your muscles by supplying the necessary amino acids to complete the protein chain for successful muscle building. Basically, our body requires a number of proteins to build muscles, so it is essential that you consume different proteins in order to complete the protein chain.

Here is a brief list of those foods that can help you to bulk up:

Eggs

This is an affordable and very useful protein source for body builders. The main benefit of egg protein is that it absorbs very quickly and gives you amazing results. But keep in mind that you should only have the egg white not the egg yolk, as egg yolks contain large amounts of cholesterol. Usually, one egg contains 50kcal with 84% of protein, 0% fat and only 8% of carbohydrates. It is cheap and a very good staple food for bodybuilders.

Turkey and Chicken

Both are excellent sources of lean meat. Red meat is good for muscle building but it has some drawbacks. You can't consume red meat in large volume, because it creates digestive problems and other issues - whereas chicken and turkey don't cause those problems. Usually, a chicken or turkey breast contains 9 grams of protein (approx) and they are a very good source of vitamin B and phosphorous.

Fish

Fish is another great source of protein and it contains nearly 0% carbohydrates. It should be a regular part of your diet. Fish not only contains protein, they also contain several other important fatty acids like omega -3. Omega-3 and other essential fatty acids keep your heart healthy, is great for your skin and for maintaining brain function (and intelligence). It also very good for your eyes. If you are trying to reduce your weight, then you can't eliminate fish from your diet as fish oil is very good for reducing fat. Fish is easier to digest than beef or pork. Just don't have it battered!

Other foods

Other high protein food include nuts, legumes and beans, cheese, red meat, yogurt, and spinach, which all work very well for muscle building. You must also hydrate your body with plain water at regular intervals to avoid dehydration. For serious body builders, check out the range of protein powders to give you a real muscle building edge. Coupled with a fruit and berry shake, these can improve your efforts ten fold.