The Year of The Monster Is Coming

part 4 coming soon…..

3.     Vegetables-
Do you want to better your body and improve your diet? Vegetables are one of the best ways to improve your diet. Vegetables include an abundance of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phyto-chemicals.

Vegetables are one of the best sources of vitamins and minerals around. If your on a diet you will need a abundant suppy of vitamins and minerals. Multi Vitamins will help with this but you will be covered more completely with whole food sources like vegetables. Veggies have compounds that help the absorption of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. Some of these compounds even help absorb vitamins and minerals from meats, grains and some supplements.

Veggies are also one of the best natural sources of fiber. Fiber is a carb that is indigestible. It does not provide calories but does provide bulk and slows digestion. This helps by stabilizing blood sugar levels and preventing energy level crashes. When energy levels crash cortisol levels go up. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone that breaks down muscle tissue and makes recovery harder. Secondly fiber improves amino acid absorption by keeping your intestines clean. Better amino acid uptake means better use out of your protein consumption.

You should eat a pretty good variety of veggies. Asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, onions, peppers (all colors), spinach, squash and zucchini are all good choices.
On a high protein diet: On a high protein diet veggies are a plus because of the fiber they provide. More fiber equals a better absorption of protein.  Veggies are also a good choice because on a higher protein diet you may lack some vitamins and minerals that are not in high protein food choices. If your taking in high protein but little carbs and fat, the fiber and bulk from vegetables will help keep you full without you feeling like your starving.

On a high protein high fat low carb diet: Veggies make a very good choice on a high protein high fat low carb diet because veggies do not use up a lot of carbs. You can eat a good portion of veggies without worrying about ingesting a lot of carbs. A cup of most veggies on gives you between 5-10 grams of carbs. In most cases if your only taking in about 60-70 grams of carbs a day. You could have the equivalent of 6-12 cups of veggies a day.

On a moderate protein moderate carb moderate fat diet: On a moderate diet veggies compliment whatever you eat. By providing extra mineral, vitamins, and fiber, they compliment protein, carb and fat foods.
 

4.     Chicken-
How many great things can be said about chicken? It’s easily accessible. It is pretty cheap and it is a highly bio available source of protein. Chicken has a biological value of 80+ making it very easily digested and used by the body. It has high amounts of protein and very little fat. Chicken is also a very versatile meat. There are probably over 352 ways to cook a chicken, so this can help eliminate some boredom on diets. Chicken is also a rich source of B vitamins, selenium and phosphorus.
 

On a high protein diet: Chicken packs a mega protein punch. 6 ounces of skinless chicken breast meat will give you over 50 grams of protein and only .75 gram of fat per ounce.
 

On a high protein high fat low carb diet: Chicken can also be useful on a high protein high fat low carb diet. The darker meat of the chicken can be naturally fattier so it would be a perfect choice on higher fat diets.
 

On a moderate protein moderate carb moderate fat diet: Chicken being so versatile goes well with many things so on a moderate protein moderate carb moderate fat diet chicken complements things like veggies or brown rice. Giving a well rounded meal of protein carbs and fat.

part 3 coming soon….

To see part 1 go to: http://blog.bodybuilding.com/JaruebaT/2009/05/25/the-top-12-foods-you-should-have-in-your-diet-part-1/

you can find more helpful articles like this one at taylorednutrition.tripod.com