We all know that vegetables contain vitamins and minerals. We also know that our bodies need them every day. But researches have shown that almost 89% of Americans are not getting proper nutrition from food they take. It’s because in now days we like these fast foods, which are chemically modified to be bigger and tastier. But if we want to be healthy or reach our goals in fitness or bodybuilding, we cannot afford to eat these unhealthy foods. But even if we are eating normally we need to get some extra supplements.
For bodybuilders these vitamins are “extra boost’’ which helps to create extra energy, and also vitamins play high role in metabolic reactions in our bodies. But if you have an active lifestyle, vitamins from your local super-market is not the best choice.
Let’s look at the most important vitamins in our body:
- Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid). It’s an antioxidant vitamin that helps to protect your muscle cells from different injuries and help them to recover a lot faster. Also it helps to absorb iron. Iron is a mineral that aids the formulation of hemoglobin, which then facilitates your breathing process. If you don’t have this sufficient iron in your body, you may suffer from different breathing problems during your training. Also an interesting fact is that vitamin C releases steroid hormone in our body. And steroids are what most of the bodybuilders are so excited to get big and strong. No need to use any illegal steroids if there is very good balanced amount of vitamin C in your body. You can buy vitamin C in capsules, pills and drinks. But also it can be found in natural products – mostly citrus fruits.
- Vitamin B6 (also known as pyridoxine). This vitamin is important in metabolism for proteins and carbohydrates. While proteins and carbohydrates should only be consumed moderately, bodybuilders need more of both, but they can reduce its negative impact by increasing their intake of Vitamin B6. The best source for vitamin B6 is in food like liver, beans, vegetables and chicken.
- Vitamin B1(also known as thiamine). This is like an “energy” vitamin. And as you know energy is very important in our workouts. Vitamin B1 helps to produce energy from fat and carbohydrates in our body. It gives strength to bodybuilders muscle, so that he can carry heavier weights for a longer period of time. So more intense your workout is – more vitamin B1 you need.
- Vitamin D. This vitamin is the “sun” vitamin. It good to have a nice brown skin, but while we are resting in the beach, the Sun produces vitamin D in our body. It helps to absorb calcium in our bones, so they get a lot stronger. And that’s very important avoiding any injuries in bodybuilding. It’s hard to recover from broken bones and it’s a lot of wasted time.
- Vitamin E. This vitamin keeps our immune system strong. It serves a vital anti-oxidant factor wherein it shields the cell membranes from potential damage.