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Bodybuilding Nutrition Facts
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20 Facts About Bodybuilding Nutrition
The human body requires energy to move and function. The source of that energy is the food. Sound bodybuilding nutrition involves providing the human body with the required nutrients in appropriate amounts.
Here are 20 nutrition facts that you should know:
- Foods that is labeled "light" must have 33% fewer calories, or 50% less fat or sodium, than the regular food item.
- Sugar - Read the label. Other forms of sugar include barley malt, corn sweetened, corn syrup, grape sugar, dextrose, fructose, glucose, honey, lactose, maltose, mannitol, sorbitol, and maple sugar. Six teaspoon of sugar in an eight-ounce glass of water is equivalent to the concentration of sugar in some soft drinks.
- Butter and Margarine have the same caloric content- about 100 calories per tablespoon. Although butter has more saturated fat than margarine, saturated and unsaturated fat has the same number of calories. Because butter is an animal product, it also contains cholesterol, which margarine does not.
- Limit your daily intake of sodium to 1,100 to 3,300 mg (about 1 teaspoon of salt fat). Avoiding the salt shaker is not enough. You also need to watch processed foods, they are often loaded with sodium in several forms. When eating out, watch out for terms that indicate a lot of sodium: au jus, in broth, cocktail sauce, pickled, smoked teriyaki or soy sauce.
- Avoid fried or deep-fried foods. Stir-frying is one of the best methods for retaining nutrients while cooking vegetables, followed by pressure-cooking and steaming. Boiling is the worst as is deep-frying.
- When you have food craving, eat the food slowly. It takes about 15-20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that your craving has been satisfied. Even if you are watching your calories, eating a few "goodies" once in a while is not a crime. The following snacks have 50-60 calories each; two chocolate kisses, eight chocolate covered mini-grahams, one low- fat, sugar free ice cream bar; 12 jelly beans; one mini peanut butter cup; and one cracker "sandwich" filled with peanut butter or cheese.
- One carrot a day has enough beta-carotene to lower the risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer. Other vegetables high in betacarotene are beets, broccoli, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.
- During stressful times eat protein. Stress may cause your body's tissues to break down faster and mend more slowly. Protein is important because it helps repair tissues. An average size man needs slightly more than two ounces and an average sized woman need slightly less than two ounces. Foods that serves as good sources of protein include fish, poultry, lean meats, milk products, dried soybeans and seafood. The white of an egg is almost pure protein. All of the fat and cholesterol is in the yolk.
- Vitamin C is thought to help protect against the common cold and certain forms of cancer (e.g., esophageal and stomach). Vitamin C is found in it's natural state in fresh fruits and vegetables, including grapefruit, strawberries, green and red peppers, oranges, cantaloupe, tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes and dark leafy greens.
- Light beer typically has 20 percent fewer calories than regular brew. Alcoholic drinks are absorbed so fast and so efficient that about 20 percent of the alcohol in a drink reach your brain within seconds after you consume it.
- Meat, poultry, and seafood, which carry a lean label, must contain fewer than 10 grams of fat per serving, with only up to four of those grams being saturated. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil appear to be protective against heart disease.
- To reduce the amount of coffee derived caffeine, percolated-brewed coffee has less caffeine than dripped-brewed coffee, while instant coffee has less caffeine than brewed.
- In general, the darker the food the more nutrients it contains. Pink grapefruit contains more than 30 times the vitamin A of white grapefruit. Romaine lettuce has twice the calcium and iron, eight times the vitamin C, and more than 10 times the vitamin A of iceberg lettuce.
- Two tablespoons of nonfat, dry milk added to half a glass of skin milk boosts the calcium level in the beverage by 70% (from 150 mg to 255 mg). By eating a banana, you gain a generous portion of both potassium and calcium.
- Soybeans are abundant with all nine essential amino acids, and are an excellent source of protein.
- Your body is mostly (50-70%) water. Exactly how much water depends on how old you are and how much muscle and fat you have. Muscle tissue has more than fat tissue.
- High fiber foods, such as many fruits and vegetables, tend to be bulkier and help you feel more full on a low calorie diet.
- Fat-free doesn't mean calorie free. If a food package label says the food is fat free, the product must contain fewer than 0.5 grams of fat per serving. Calorie free items must contain fewer than five calories per serving.
- Almost three-quarters of all allergy reactions to food are caused by three foods: eggs, milk, or peanuts.
- If you take vitamin and/or mineral supplements, you should take them with food.