Why bodybuilders eat bananas

For training athletes, University of Nevada's nutrition center recommends the following calorie intake per pound based on activity:. Read more: Diet Plan for Beginner Bodybuilders. When you're engaged in heavy workouts with a goal of building muscle, you need to make sure you get a healthy balance of protein, carbs and fat.

Because muscle is made up of protein, you do need to up your daily protein intake in order to meet the increase in demand. Like your calories, how much protein you need may depend on your activity level and your muscle-building goals. Depending on your protein needs, about 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories should come from this muscle-building nutrient.

To make the gains you want, and in order for your muscles to be able to use the protein from the food you eat, you also need to include a healthy balance of carbs and fat, with 45 to 65 percent of calories from carbohydrates and 20 to 35 percent from fat. Carbohydrates provide your body with energy and, if you're not getting enough carbs in your diet, your body may turn to protein — or even your muscle — for its supply.

Fat also serves as a source of energy and helps ensure you get essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins.

Getting more fat in your diet may also up your testosterone levels, which supports muscle growth, according to the exercise, nutrition and sports review provided by the International Society of Sports Nutrition ISSN and published in the Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition.

There's no single, best food for muscle gain, but you should eat a variety of healthy, nutrient-rich foods from all the food groups to ensure your body gets everything it needs to help you build muscle. Protein food that's good for muscles includes:.

Carbohydrate-rich food that's good for your muscles includes:. Healthy fat-rich food for your muscles includes:. Certain foods contain a healthy mix of protein, carbs or fat, making them some of the best foods for muscle gain. For example, tuna is good for muscle building because it's an excellent source of protein and healthy source of fat. Greek yogurt also makes a good muscle-building food because it's an excellent source of protein and energy-producing carbs.

Read more: 20 Best Muscle Building Foods. Now that you have a basic understanding of what your body needs to build muscle, you may be wondering exactly how bananas fit in. Well, bananas are an excellent source of carbohydrates and they supply your muscles with the energy needed for your workouts. But, they offer your body much more than energy. Bananas are also an excellent source of other nutrients your body needs for health and function.

One medium banana has:. Many traditional healthy foods, mainly vegetables, are notorious for tasting bad, but fruits, and more specifically bananas, are excluded from this stereotype.

This being said, the majority of people I know find bananas to taste good and be a great source of important nutrients for the body. While you can mix creatine with almost any drink, even water, mixing it with certain nutrients makes your body absorb more of it, cutting down on waste. Taking creatine with a banana smoothie, instead of water, will help you make the best use of it.

This is because bananas have carbohydrates, and carbs increase the amount of creatine actually taken into your muscles. If you usually drink a smoothie, add your creatine there instead.

Bananas: Of course, bananas are the first on the shopping list for a banana smoothie. Strawberries: Strawberries will add flavor, color, nutrients, and size to your smoothie. Strawberries also have antioxidants, which help your heart, skin, and body overall.

Strawberries also simply taste good. Milk: For a good smoothie, you need some type of liquid to make it, well, smooth. Milk is also great for weightlifters, with natural protein and lactose a type of sugar. However go easy on the milk, because too much can upset your skin and stomach. Supplements: Smoothies are a great way to get in your daily supplements, like protein powder or creatine.

Depending on how big your smoothie in, you can even add both. Doing this can cut down on the amount of food and drinks that you have to make throughout the day, saving you time and money.

Extra Tip: Freeze your bananas, strawberries, or any other fruits to keep your smoothie cold. These were just a few ingredients to make a smoothie. There are hundreds of fruits, drinks, and other supplements you can add instead. As I mentioned earlier, the sheer amounts of food available today can be overwhelming. This being said, I wrote another article on some of the best foods for building muscle. Meat: Meat is probably the most common food eaten by weightlifters, bodybuilders, and powerlifters.

This is mostly because of how high in protein it is, and the fact that it tastes good to most people. There are some people that claim a vegetarian or vegan diet is better, but the majority of people stick with meat. Eggs, just like meat, are high in protein. This protein helps your muscles grow and become stronger. Rice: Rice is a great filler food, and can be added to countless meals. Rice is also very fast and simple to cook, unlike a lot of other foods.

Although these are just a few options, there are limitless amounts of other foods available to you. Use these 3 foods to make hundreds of different meals to keep your body happy and your muscles strong.

With all of the negative hype in the weightlifting community, carbs may seem like something you should avoid. Bananas have carbs, so you should avoid them too, right? While too many carbs can definitely have a negative impact on your body, and your weight, the truth is that your body needs them.

You might be surprised to learn that underneath that yellow peel is a fruit that contains nutritional heft that promotes a healthier body inside and out. And who doesn't love the power of a banana to add a sweet, thickening touch to any muscle-making protein shake? At an average of about 56 cents per pound, they'll help your wallet stay trim, too.

If there was ever a time to eat a deliciously ripe banana, it would be after a spirited workout. As bananas ripen, their starch is converted into simple sugars, making the flesh sweeter and gooier. A single medium-sized banana has about 14 grams of naturally occurring sugars.

That may sound like a bad thing, but you can use it to your advantage when you're in recovery mode. After a workout, these fast-digesting natural sugars help replenish your spent glycogen, a storage form of carbs that is your main source of energy during high-intensity exercise.

The sugars also stimulate insulin release to help drive amino acids into your weary muscles. Before a workout, chomping down on a ripe banana can provide you with a burst of energy to help power you through your latest sufferfest. And don't forget that ripe bananas can be used as a more "natural" way to tame a sweet tooth compared to packaged foods full of added sugars. This makes ripe bananas a great addition to desserts, post-gym smoothies, or a bowl of oatmeal.

When people think of bananas, they often think "potassium"—and that's a good thing. Potassium governs muscle and nerve functioning as well as supporting healthy blood flow throughout the body.