When you think of a diet for building muscle, your mind probably turns to the classic options. You likely will focus primarily on protein sources like chicken, tuna and eggs. An athlete’s diet should consist of nothing but meta and steamed rice, right?
But this is far from the only kind of food that’s going to be useful for building muscle and improving performance. In fact, for bodybuilding, sprinting, swimming, long-distance running, and any other kind of athletic pursuit it is highly important that you get a balanced diet that will incorporate a wide range of different food groups.
In particular, it is crucial you get your fruits and vegetables.
Interested in taking supplements to boost your athletic performance? What might interest you to learn is that consuming fruits and vegetables can actually be more effective while also costing much less and having a myriad of other amazing health benefits!
Here are some examples.
Top Fruits and Vegetables That Improve Athletic Performance
Beets
Beets are far and away among the very most important vegetables for building muscle and for athletes of all kinds.
That’s because beets are among the most effective foods in the world when it comes to raising nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a natural ‘vasodilator’. This means that it can cause the blood vessels (veins and arteries) to dilate (widen) thereby encouraging the flow of oxygen and nutrients around the body. The result is that the muscles get more oxygen and energy during training and more nutrients for enhancing recovery.
This can help you lift for more reps, run further distances and recover at a faster rate.
Potatoes
Carbohydrates are often made out to be the bad guys but in fact they are very important for building muscle and for physical training in general. Potatoes are a good choice of carbohydrate because they’re also high in fiber, high in vitamin C (which enhances recovery) and low in calories. Consume after a workout and the energy will go straight to the muscles rather than the waist.
Spinach
Spinach is a vegetable that is high in protein as well as being a good source of phytoecdysteroids. These don’t have anything in common with anabolic steroids but they may have a similar effect – with some studies suggesting they are a good option for encouraging muscle building and testosterone production.
Kale
Kale is the vegetable highest in calcium. Calcium is actually very important for your workouts, not only does it help to strengthen the bones but it also reinforces your connective tissue and it helps to strengthen contractions for more explosive power during workouts.
Kale is very trendy right now being high in protein and low in calories. A shame it costs a fair bit though!
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are technically not fruits or vegetables, but they are found in the same aisle and they’re safe for vegans, so they’re fair game to include here. Mushrooms are not only another great source of protein but also come with a wide range of additional health benefits and advantages. They’re packed with minerals, they can encourage recovery from training and much more besides!
It’s surely only a matter of time until we start seeing mushroom protein shakes cropping up in health stores!
The other amazing benefit of mushrooms is that they contain vitamin D. In fact, they’re one of the few dietary sources of vitamin D! (Another being oily fish).
This is important seeing as vitamin D is considered to be a master hormone regulator, and is responsible for encouraging the production of testosterone in particular – one of the main anabolic hormones for building muscle and burning fat.
What’s more, is that vitamin D has recently been shown to be much more potent than even vitamin C when it comes to supporting the immune system and preventing colds and flus. As any athlete knows, a cold can be enough to complete derail and athletes training plan, which in turn can be the difference between victory and failure!
Carrots
Carrots are generally healthy and a great source of vitamin A, C and K. What’s really exciting about them though is the lutein, which may help to increase energy levels and enhance the efficiency of your very mitochondria!
Your mitochondria are the energy factories of your cells which convert glucose into ATP (glucose being the sugar that comes from carbs, and ATP being the usable form of energy in your body).
This in short means that with carrots and other sources of lutein, you can actually run faster and that you’ll actually burn more calories even when you’re resting!
In one study, rats were given lutein (which needs a source of fat to absorb such as milk) and it was found that they began running long distances voluntarily in their wheel, burning much more fat as they did.
Apples
Apples are rich in vitamin C, which is another crucial vitamin for enhancing the immune system and helping athletes train longer and harder without fail.
Vitamin C also helps to encourage the repair of muscle tissue, increases serotonin to aid with mental recovery, and even increases the production of both testosterone and nitric oxide when paired with zinc.
On top of all this, apples are also very rich in fiber, which can help to improve bowel movements, the absorption of food, blood pressure, and more. Fiber is also key to supporting a healthy microbiome, which in turn can support a healthy immune system, better mood, weight loss, and much more.