Discover the Foods that Build Muscle

By Harley Radowski

Eating to build muscle is an important part of your bodybuilding program. Eating food that helps build muscle will ensure that you are not wasting all that hard work you are doing in the gym.

Lifting weights in the gym forced your muscles to work, but guess what? Working your muscles uses considerable energy, and energy is supplied by your food. Correct nutrition also helps heal muscle injury that often occurs while you are working out. You may not even know you have caused injury to your muscles, but your body knows, and your body needs fuel from food that helps build muscle in order to repair that muscle.

When looking into the types of food that helps build muscle, you probably immediately think of eating a low fat diet. That is great, but probably the most important type of foods that build muscle are foods containing high levels of protein. Foods like meat, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese and other milk products. Nuts are also a great protetin source.

There is an optimum amount of protein that your body needs for building muscle effectively. Do you know your lean body mass weight? Yes? Great! Take that figure (in kilograms) and multiply it by 2.75. You have now got your daily protein requirement. If you do not know your lean body mass weight, you will need to apply one of the formulas that calculate this.

Carbohydrates, in moderation, are also essential when finding foods that build muscle. Do not eat too much, though, unless you choose high fiber carbohydrates (which are the healthiest ones anyway), and then you can indulge in much larger amounts. Good high fiber carbs include rice, potatoes (yes, potatoes ? just do not add butter!), oatmeal and bananas.

Reducing fat in your diet is of course necessary to build bigger muscle on a body that appears lean and has a low body fat ratio. If you are focussing on what foods build muscle mass, you also need to bear in mind that it pays to reduce fat as well. Although proteins are essential (as we talked about earlier), it is really important to select proteins that are low in fat, or that you can cut the fat off. So eat your chicken without the skin, and go for lean steaks rather than more fatty cuts of meat. Opting for cottage cheese or other reduced fat cheeses, and low fat milk also helps reduce your fat intake.

Drinking sufficient water with your meals, between meals, and while you are working out is also very important. Without sufficient water you will dehydrate, and you will be tired and lacking in energy, which gives no assistance at all to building your muscle with the right type of food.

Two litres of water a day is what most experts recommend to maintain optimal health. To drink that amount, you need to drink up to 12 glasses of water a day, which is quite a lot. So start early in the day, and space your water consumption out throughout the day.

Regular bodybuilding workouts are also essential to maximise the effects of good bodybuilding diets. It is all very well knowing what to eat to build muscle, but if you do not combine this great new diet by building muscle mass with weight lifting exercises or other bodybuilding routines, you will not be able to build muscle fast. So do both ? eat foods that build muscle, and undertake bodybuilding workouts, and you will end up with a body you will be proud of. - 17274

About the Author:

How to build bigger muscle is easy. You can find out more about weight lifting exercises, foods that build muscle other ways to build muscle, go to the best resource on finding the best ways to build muscle fast.

Goji Berries Beware of Imitations

By Alonzo Chang

The issue of what is wild-crafted Tibetan Goji Berry (Lycum Eleagnus Barbarum) seems to plague marketers of this delicious fruit. There are blatant misrepresentations of its origins by sales efforts wanting to cash in on the fruits pristine regional origins while distancing themselves from the polluted background of the Chinese variety called Wolfberry (Chinese Lycee or Lycium Barbarum), which most provider's source as Goji.

Goji Berries have been harvested in Tibet for thousands of years and it is revered there as a potent medicinal food. It grows wild in Tibet and is a very popular fruit with many Tibetans lauding its benefits. Wolfberries are harvested in China. Unfortunately, China does not offer organic certification and questionable regulation regarding pesticides, herbicides, and DDT with regards to farming and cultivation. Chinese agricultural land is often compromised by over farming which leads to soil depletion and diminishes the nutrient quality of the produce and this holds true for Wolfberries.

Tibet is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with clean air and rich soils. Tibet's pristine environment is the optimal environment for growing the most nutritious and clean goji berries in the world. Goji berries' nutritional profile is rich in vitamins, minerals and immune enhancing polysaccharides. To ensure that the Goji Berries provide you with maximum nutritional benefits and are not compromised by environmental pollution choosing Goji Berries from Tibet is your best option.

To call a product Goji when in fact it is a Chinese grown fruit could be construed as a truth in advertising claim violation even though the claim fails to have legal implications. Our resources indicate there is some definable amino acid and trace mineral difference between Goji Berry and Wolfberry. The Goji is more nutritionally dense; it is the gold standard. Thus, wild-crafted Tibetan Goji Berry is original and highly superior to the Wolfberry.

The Tibetan Goji Berry is the most superior berry because of the numerous third parties certified USDA registered laboratory reports confirmed the antioxidant levels (ORAC units) and health promoting polysaccharides in these Goji Berry, as well as the nutritional density.

You should investigate what of the 40 varieties of Goji Berries or Wolfberries you are buying. The differences between the varieties of the berries are not insignificant. - 17274

About the Author:

Himalayan Goji Berries offer unique nutritional benefits especiallyhigh antioxidant protection. These Himalayan Goji Berries were chosen by Dole because of their superb quality and organic certification.