Muscle Building Vegetables – The Silent Heroes

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I won’t lie, I hate vegetables.  It doesn’t prevent me from eating them but I still don’t like them.  Fact is, I would rather drink them (by juicing) so I can get over the painful experience of eating them.  Unlike my wife, I could care less about the “crunch factor” of many vegetables that “satisfies” her.  They are tasteless, unsatisfying and take forever to chew (in most cases). And they’re not cheap!

So if I hate vegetables that much why in the world do I still dedicate myself to consuming 5-10 serving of them a day and why should you?  Fact is, if you’ve grown up in bodybuilding circles then all you hear is “protein, protein, protein… and more protein.”  Even though many protein sources (aside from eggs and steak in my opinion) are not much more tastier than vegetables, they do exist for a reason!

Vegetables Promote Muscle Growth

They serve a great purpose to our bodies and we need to have our bodies working at its best if we want to build muscle. Building muscle takes a lot of time even with perfect nutrition. Imagine how poor results would be with sloppy nutrition?  My guess is not so well.

Reprogram Your Brain Because You’re Being Brainwashed

Understand that a popular reason protein is hammered into your head is because their is a billion dollar business behind it.  If supplement marketers could not convince you to believe that you need massive amounts of protein ever few hours they would go out of business.  So understand you’re being influenced subconsciously.

Vegetables are not as sexy and harder to package so the food industry does not focus on them because they are hard to position from a marketing standpoint.

I hope this article beings to reprogram your brain into the belief that, “Vegetables help build muscle and I won’t build new muscle without eating 5-10 serving of vegetables a day.” Repeat that ten times out loud.  Good, let’s move on.

Why Vegetables?

There’s a few things overlooked aspects of vegetables. Their natural source of fiber helps your digestive systems a lot. You understand the importance of protein, correct? Check this out: vegetables help us break down our proteins faster so our muscles absorb them efficiently.

Next, vegetables are very low in calories but because of their water density, they satisfy your appetite and keep you full. You can eat 5 cookies and get a 1000 calories or so easy. Try eating 5 celery stalks in one sitting. If you manage to get them down without feeling full, you only consumed 25 calories. Or how about 10 pieces of broccoli? 100 calories.  This prevents overeating during your bulking diet.

Quality calories that improve protein absorbability, without making you fat! . Vegetables are nutrient dense, helping control hormone levels and enhance your metabolism. Vegetables are a key player to your muscle building success.

They also provide us with vitamin E which is an antioxidant which helps remove free radicals in the body, and beta-carotene which  converts into vitamin A in the body and is also an antioxidant and boosts your immune system. You can’t be getting sick while trying to build muscle, so do everything you can to prevent illness and and to keep healthy.

The Veggies That Keep the Belly Fat Off!

I bet you didn’t know that vegetables have a thermogenic in them did you? Well I’m just kidding they don’t. However some of them have the power to stimulate fat loss in the abdominal region.

Chemicals from everyday life are forcing us to hold belly fat…

Everyday, our bodies are exposed to numerous chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides in our food supply, chemicals from water and air pollution, plastics and cosmetics. So as you can see we are going to intake these one way or another. They are known as xenoestrogens.

Xenoestrogens are chemicals that we aren’t going to be able to avoid. They have an estrogen effect on the body. Which is bad for both men and women and has a fat and water retention effect. Having these exposed to us in abundance and pretty much daily stimulates our body to hold onto belly fat. We can’t avoid being overly exposed to these estrogenic monsters, but we can do something to help our bodies remove them.

Vegetables to the rescue

There is a certain group of vegetables which body builders eat, cruciferous vegetables. These include broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, spinach and more. This group of vegetables contain phytonutrients, such as indole-3-carbinol that fight against these xenoestrogens. You want as much fat fighting power as possible, so by including some basic veggies you are another step ahead.

Another thing about the estrogenic effects on the body I skimmed over was water retention. There is a vegetable for this as well. Asparagus. It is rich in antioxidants, vitamin b6 and a good amount of potassium as well. It’s mineral profile along with an active amino acid in asparagus, asparagine, gives asparagus a natural diuretic effect. This is something a lot of body builders use when getting close to a competition.

“So you are telling me they are going to break down my protein faster, and help me lose body fat in the abdominal area and water weight?” Yes that is what you’re discovering. Now do you see why you need them? They are too damn good to pass up! A lot of  “bang for your buck.”

Conclusion

Vegetables serve as a huge edge in improving our bodies physique. So be sure to add in vegetables to your daily meals. You won’t believe the difference not only on your results but how you body performs when getting optimal nutrition. So now we know why our parents always told us to eat our veggies at the dinner table.