I'm sure by now you've heard all about the amazing health benefits of antioxidant rich foods in your diet. Not only do these free-radical fighting antioxidants help you look and feel younger by slowing down the aging process, but they also help to prevent cancer, heart disease, and loads of other degenerative diseases. But that's not all. Antioxidants also help you to recover better from exercise...and that means more muscle and less fat on your body in the long run!
The function that antioxidants play in aiding your recovery from exercise is the inhibition of free radicals produced during exercise. Any time you workout, free radicals are produced in the body that damage muscle tissue. Having an adequate supply of antioxidants about an hour or so before your workout can greatly reduce the muscle damage caused by free radicals, hence, improving your muscular recovery from exercise.
Some of the most potent sources of whole food antioxidants are berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cranberries), cherries, acai fruit, various teas (green tea, white tea, black tea, and red tea - a.k.a. rooibos tea), nuts, seeds, red and black beans, purple potatoes, grapes, red wine, cinnamon, and dark chocolate or cocoa. Don't be fooled by all of the intense marketing for expensive antioxidant supplement pills...remember whole foods are always better for you (and cheaper) than a pill.
My favorite pre-workout antioxidant-loaded snack is a piece of whole grain toast with almond butter, a small amount of blackberry jam, and topped with a pile of fresh blueberries or sliced strawberries. I wash it down with a glass of iced green tea or rooibos tea sweetened with just a small bit (about a teaspoon) of raw honey. This is literally a quintuple-whammy of potent anti-oxidants! The almond butter, blackberry, blueberries, raw honey, and the green or rooibos tea are all loaded with different varieties of muscle protecting, youth promoting antioxidants. I throw down this snack about an hour before my training. Give it a try for yourself, or be creative and come up with your own antioxidant-rich pre-workout snack based on your tastes.
Remember, your body is continually bombarded every day by free radicals (creating oxidative stress) from exercise, air pollution, smoke, sun exposure, junk food, exposure to chemicals, etc. To reap the full benefits of antioxidants, try to make sure that every meal and snack you eat has at least one or two sources of antioxidant rich foods. This will give you a continuous supply of antioxidants throughout every day to prevent damage from the free radicals you are constantly exposed to.
Antioxidants are just one piece to the puzzle of a healthy diet that will give you the lean, muscular, youthful, and disease-free body that everyone wants. To discover the secrets behind all of the other pieces to the diet puzzle that create a lean body (macronutrient profile, glycemic response, hormonal response, glycogen storage, muscle protein synthesis, the role of leptin, the insulin process, etc.), visit http://truthaboutabs.com
?2005 truthaboutabs.com
Michael Geary - NCSF CPT, AFAA CPT;
Author of "The Truth About Six Pack Abs" ?2004-2005
Visit http://truthaboutabs.com to discover innovative training and nutritional strategies for losing body fat and developing a rock hard body!
Nutrition facts have become a part of everyday life because... Read More
The fact that diet directly affects behaviour is no news,... Read More
Acid reflux disease, or GERD, is a common compliant of... Read More
Whenever possible, we should try to get our antioxidants and... Read More
Because all of us have been brought up eating junk... Read More
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin like A and E.... Read More
Having a large amount of such "visceral fat" is associated... Read More
The Omega Zone Diet and specialists' opinion"Omega RX Zone -... Read More
What if I told you tap water and homogenized milk... Read More
The key to good hydration is drinking a lot of... Read More
Instead of Butter: Use top quality, cold pressed, extra virgin... Read More
Soy, and most soy-based products, are nutritional powerhouses. Soybeans are... Read More
Some fats are good for you. Your body can't function... Read More
When Helen Boardman was still a girlish 99, she fell... Read More
We know we need to eat a minimum of 5... Read More
When I hear the word fat I usually think of... Read More
Many people experience unpleasant reactions to foods they have eaten... Read More
The most dreaded word in many dieter's vocabulary is 'fat'.... Read More
Bread is one of the oldest known recipes to man.... Read More
A fictional overheard conversation at a Thelma's Fine Dining.Hi, I'm... Read More
What is Cholesterol?Before we go into how to reduce your... Read More
When you actually sit down and think about it, bottled... Read More
Salt is vital for our health. Right now, you have... Read More
Established in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, "Foundation for Innovation in... Read More
Sprouts not only taste good, but they are also a... Read More
same day cleaning service Wilmette ..DeathDeath. Why it happens? Why do we die? Why do... Read More
1880s - Characterization of monosaccharides by Emil Fischer.1952 - Fresh,... Read More
When you actually sit down and think about it, bottled... Read More
The most dreaded word in many dieter's vocabulary is 'fat'.... Read More
With all the news about Splenda of late and the... Read More
Acid Reflux Disease, or GERD, is a common disease which... Read More
New studies bring to our attention that high levels of... Read More
Approximately 30 years ago, food manufacturers were competing against the... Read More
Every person on earth has experienced pain at one time... Read More
In this fast paced world, good nutrition may sound very... Read More
Having a personal wellness program has become a concern for... Read More
An American culture that is marked by a chronic lack... Read More
Archeological records indicate that man has cultivated the olive tree... Read More
How did we cure ourselves of many aches pains and... Read More
Heart Disease remains the number one cause of death in... Read More
Looking into statistics, we can see the average American consumes... Read More
According to the renowned research scientist and inventor of the... Read More
There's no doubt--carbohydrates have taken center stage in public discourse... Read More
So, what is new about this that you already don't... Read More
Here is a continuation of the light and darkness metaphor:... Read More
They sit left behind on relish trays. They're often by-passed... Read More
Bright white teeth and fresh breath does not necessarily... Read More
The word cholesterol has become synonymous with poor health. Indeed,... Read More
Many of us sprinkle oregano on our pizza and stews... Read More
It's really hard to believe that something could be worse... Read More
Nutrition |