5 Fruits & Vegetables that Support Your Fitness

What we eat is as important as our fitness routine for ensuring we are growing and improving as planned. Food is the most basic foundation of fitness that fosters muscles growth and pliability. Fruits and vegetables have been known to encourage better overall health but not everyone has heard of eating them for muscle growth. Getting the proper dose of fruit and vegetables will give a few steps forward on your goals.

A study conducted on college students found that those who ate appropriate amounts of fruit and vegetables had better BMI and lower weight than those who don’t (Gilmore, et. al. 2008). Ensuring you obtain the right vitamins, anti-oxidants, and calorie amount appears to support your fitness goals. Loosing fat and gaining muscles is part of a solid fitness plan and fruit and vegetables provide the catalyst for doing just that.

The five fruits and vegetables you should not do without are:

Oranges: Vitamin C to thwart disease, magnesium to lower blood pressure, and anti-oxidants (1).

Bananas: High carbohydrate food that restocks glycogen levels that cause muscle breakdown (2).

Apples: Burn fat and support skeletal strength (3).

Blueberries: Antioxidant that helps recovery after workouts (4).

Carrots: Low fat that provides fiber (5).

An article entitled 5 Tips to Build Muscle Strength in the Harvard Health Letter further emphasizes how eating right and building muscle protects against future injury (2014). The food we eat has a large impact on our ability to maintain a healthy body and meet our fitness objectives. When engaging in multiple physical sports and activities it is important to ensure that the required strength is gained to compete effectively.  

Fitness requires the ability to create small tears in the muscle and allowing those tears to heal. Nutrients are used to repair those tears and build muscle. Without eating right the muscles cannot build properly and tears don’t repair effectively leading to fatigue and possible future injury. It is even possible to cannibalize current muscle growth. Incorporate fruits and vegetables into your program so that you are using your time most effectively.  

Gilmore, et. al. (2008). Selected health behaviors that influence college freshman weight change. Journal of American College Health, 56 (4). 

No Author (2014). 5 tips to build muscle strength. Harvard Health Letter, 39 (5).