To gain muscle mass, it is crucial to take care of your diet to achieve the expected results with physical exercise. And surely when reading this you have automatically thought about proteins. It’s true, This nutrient is key in muscle formationbut there are also other key components that we can find in foods such as fruit, which are essential for muscle.
Nutritionists and dieticians say that a balanced diet is essential for muscle growth. And to achieve it, Fruit cannot disappear from the daily diet. That’s according to Stephanie Wells, a dietitian and owner of Thyme to Go Vegan Nutrition Service, a private practice that offers nutritional advice for vegans.
What are the best fruits for muscle?
Although it is not something that is talked about much, fruit is essential to gain muscle mass. This type of food is rich in antioxidants and has many health benefits. However, they do not have protein, which as you know is the key nutrient in muscle building.
What they do have is a high in carbohydrates and many other nutrients that can promote muscle growth, as we will see below in these eight fruits that cannot be missing from your routine if you are starting to train to gain muscle.
Bananas
Bananas are one of the best-known sources of complex carbohydrates and vitamin D, an essential nutrient for maintaining healthy bones. These carbohydrates give us the energy necessary to train. Without them, the body begins to break down muscle into glucose, a simple form of carbohydrate, which can be used for energy.
Therefore, if you do not consume enough carbohydrates before training, your body will burn muscle to generate movement, so consuming a food rich in this nutrient, such as banana, is essential to be able to gain muscle with physical exercise.
Dates
Dates are an even better source of carbohydrates than bananas. Just two dates (pitted) contain 36 grams of this nutrient. In addition to being a source of energy, these carbohydrates present in dates can help us replenish muscle glycogen reserves after training.
And, during the exercise, the body uses carbohydrates from two different sources: the one consumed just before training and the one that is stored in the form of glycogen in the muscles.
So, by including a snack as nutritious as dates before or after training, you will achieve preserve these glycogen reserves that will allow you not to feel so tired after exercising.
Mango
The next fruit that will help you build muscle is mango. In addition to being rich in carbohydrates (one cup contains 25 grams), this tropical fruit It is full of potassiumwhich helps maintain healthy blood pressure and beta-carotene. It is also rich in omega-3, all of them essential nutrients to keep the body healthy and to be able to train making the most of the available energy.
Avocado
It may surprise you, but yes, avocado is a fruit. Forks very rich in monounsaturated fatty acids. These healthy fats make avocado an excellent choice for protecting cardiovascular health.
It is also a great ally for developing muscle mass, because to do so we need a lot of energy. That is why experts from the world of sports recommend consuming between 350 and 500 extra calories per day when the goal of training is to gain muscle.
And avocado, with its rich monounsaturated fats, It’s perfect for gaining calories. healthy to train with all the energy your body needs.
Guava
Guava is one of the best fruits if we want include a rich source of vitamin C in our diet. And this nutrient is key for muscle development, because it promotes healthy muscle function.
Vitamin C is a key component in collagen productiona protein that connects muscle cells, promotes muscle elasticity and helps transmit force to bones when they contract.
That is to say, that The more muscle you have, the more collagen your body must develop. And to do this, you need large amounts of vitamin C.
Strawberries
As with guava, Strawberry is a fruit rich in vitamin C. It can also provide some carbohydrates, but its content in this vitamin is what earns its place on this list.
Because vitamin C is not just a precursor to collagen. This nutrient can increase the amount of iron our body absorbs of foods of plant origin. In turn, this mineral is a component of myoglobin, a protein that is responsible for storing and transporting oxygen within muscle tissue.
For all this, it is demonstrated that Iron deficiency in the blood can make it difficult to build muscle mass. And that is what makes fruits like strawberries so beneficial in the diets of those looking to increase their muscles.
Watermelon
Watermelon is also an excellent fruit for gaining muscle. It gives us many electrolytesespecially magnesium and potassium, which are essential to prevent muscle cramps.
And yes, it is true that watermelon is usually associated with weight loss due to its rich water content. But it also promotes muscle growththanks to citrullinean amino acid that increases the amount of nitric oxide produced in the body.
Berries
To finish, you can add a handful of dark berries (like blackberries or blueberries) to your breakfast to increase polyphenol intake. This natural plant chemical can significantly assist in muscle repair.
In fact, recent studies show that foods rich in polyphenols, such as blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and pomegranates, can help reduce muscle pain that appears after training and to accelerate muscle recovery after training.