Sport Drinks And Energy Drinks For Bodybuilding

There are a vast number of supplements available for bodybuilders, and it's no wonder that they become confused by what they should use and what they shouldn't. Some manufacturer's make wild claims about their products ability to increase muscle and bulk, but you should be aware that there are no regulations in place to guarantee the safety or purity of a product sold as a supplement. Supplements are not required to meet the same safety standards of a prescription drug for instance and no requirement is needed to prove the effectiveness of any health claims the product makes.

We've all heard it before, "you should always drink plenty of water". It can't be stressed enough. However, I believe that too much of anything is detrimental. So, yes, you can drink too much water! Experiment with different quantities and find out what works best for you.

One of the most misunderstood concepts in the world of muscle building is the protein drink. I remember when I first started supplementing my diet with protein shakes. Some of my friends asked if I had noticed any differences in my training like I was on steroids or something. If that was the only time I had been asked similar questions, I wouldn't worry as much, but since it is so common, I've decided to address the point and even show you a couple of my favorite muscle building drinks.

First of all, realize that a muscle building drink is just a substitute for food. It doesn't have any magical properties, its the nutritional equivalent of grabbing a chicken breast and putting it in the blender. While your protein drink should taste a helluva lot better than a blended chicken, it's essentially delivering the same thing.

Now, lets look into making the best muscle building drinks out there. What you want to put in these will depend on what you personally like and what you are drinking it for. I know that last statement will be a surprise to many of you. But the nutritional makeup of your protein drink should depend on what you're drinking it for. Let me explain. If you are about to workout, you want your shake to be full of protein and slow releasing carbs, so you have the energy to work out at your maximum potential.

However, if you want to have a shake after your training session, you will still want plenty of protein, but you will want faster energy releasing carbs, so you can repair your muscles as quickly as possible. Make sense Don't worry if it doesn't, just accept it for the time being.

If you want to personalize your power drink or if you want to make sure what ingredients are in the power drinks you take in, you can make your own blend to meet what your body needs for a specific bodybuilding training set. There are many protein power drinks that you can blend and mix. Protein power drinks add muscle to the drink and it also contains carbohydrates, calcium, riboflavin and of course, protein. Energy drinks are soft drinks advertised as being specifically designed to provide energy.

Nutritional Supplements - Should You Be Taking Them?

Diet is a very important aspect of our health and wellbeing. Unfortunately for most people their diets significantly lack the necessary nutrients required for optimal health. Most processed and 'junk' foods simply do not contain appropriate levels of nutrition yet this is what most people consume on a daily basis simply because they are easily accessible and cheap.

Nutritional supplements can offer you a great way to get the additional nutrients you need for good health. There are many supplements you can choose from and it can be quite easy to get confused. Perhaps the best ones are the whole food supplements. These products are made from natural foods and are usually concentrated mixtures of several varieties of foods and super foods.

An example of a super food is bee pollen. It is called a super food because it contains all the nutrients necessary for life. Of course make sure to check the ingredients carefully on any supplement you choose to take to make sure that you have no allergies or any potential side effects with any medications you may be taking so be sure to consult with a doctor if you are not sure.

Whole food supplements such as green drinks can offer a significant source of nutrients. Unfortunately many normal multi vitamins do not get absorbed well into our bodies so their benefits can be very little. However many natural supplements like whole food supplements or herbal nutritional supplements have much higher absorption rates.

We all know we should be getting more green vegetables and fruits in our diets yet most of us fail to follow this advice. Using a whole food supplement like a green drink can help you get the necessary green foods and fruits you need. Many green drinks come with fruit concentrates added in. In addition it can be difficult if not impossible to consume enough fruits and vegetables before getting full which is why getting a concentrated supplement can be beneficial to provide the body with enough nutrients.

Which Protein Is Best For You?

If you are physically active and taking supplements but still cannot seem to get the energy back in your body and brain, then it’s time to look at how much and what kind of protein you are getting. Even though dieters have been using high-protein diets for years, many are unaware of how much protein they actually need and how critical it is to their overall health. Low-protein diets can be lacking greatly in a lot of essential nutrients such as zinc, iron, manganese, chromium, copper, and others. This deficiency can cause illness and fatigue. Protein deficiency leads to difficult recovery from exercise, feeling tired, frequent colds, poor hair or nails, and a cessation in menstrual period for women, which may sound pleasant but is potentially dangerous. People of all ages are not aware of how much their protein needs change as they increase exercise. As your activity increases, so does your protein needs.

Protein is important in your body because every single cell in the body is made up of proteins. Protein is also essential for muscle building, producing red blood cells, the production of various enzymes and hormones, and good hair, nails, and skin. Our immune systems are almost all protein based, so providing our body with protein means that we can fight colds and other infections better. Proteins are also needed in our body to repair muscle damage that occurs during mild exercise. Protein is made from a chain of amino acids and our body cannot make some of these amino acids, which means that they need to be found in our diet. There are eight amino acids that our body cannot make and must be found in our diet every day. These include: isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Although it is nice to know which amino acids are essential, it is even more important to know where you can find these amino acids because your muscles and body need them on a daily basis.

Since proteins are constantly being broken down, it is necessary to get some every day. It is suggested that women aged 19 to 70 need 46 grams of protein per day, while men of the same age need 56 grams. Now that you know that protein is essential to your life, what kind of protein is actually needed? Even though protein can be found in a good diet by simply eating meat, nuts, eggs, and other foods, many of us with busy lives need a quick and convenient source of protein. At a health food store, your choices are soy, casein, whey, and egg. Although the classic protein source is whey protein, the problem is that even though it has a high amount of useable amino acids, some people don’t like it or have a hard time taking it. Other proteins like soy and casein don’t have the complete amino acid content that your body is looking for.

With all the different forms of protein available one might wonder which is best? Egg white is the perfect protein source. Egg whites contain more than half the protein of an egg and are also rich in chlorine, niacin, potassium, magnesium, riboflavin, selenium, vitamin K, and sulfur. Additionally, egg whites have a high amount of protein but exclude the cholesterol and sodium found in the yolk. Egg white protein is considered almost perfect because human requirements for amino acids and the amino acids contained in eggs are almost identical. Eggs are also one of the well-tolerated proteins, as over 90 percent of the protein of eggs is digested into the individual amino acids that your body needs. Egg white protein is one of the few products on the market that taste good without the added artificial flavors, colors, or additives.

Choosing What to Put in Your Protein Shakes

Before rushing off to your refrigerator to blend everything in site, let's go through some basic principles you will want to consider first. Not only do you want to create the best tasting shakes but you should also aim to make the most effective protein shakes for your dieting requirements. This is important because there is no point throwing full fat ice cream, chocolate sauce, peanut butter and full fat milk all together to create a wonderful tasting fat gaining shake. You need to be a little wise when choosing your ingredients.

So what kinds of ingredients make good choices for your shakes? I recommend using the following tips when getting your ingredients from the supermarket or refrigerator:

1. Try to keep as many of your ingredients as natural as possible. A good example of this is using natural peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter. The natural
version has better protein content and also natural fats that are important in your diet.

2. Fresh fruit should be used whenever possible. Fruit contains the carbohydrates that will fuel your workouts and your day. The complex sugars in fruit are important to any diet (unlike the simple sugars in sweets, sodas, etc).

3. Think about ingredients that will boost your shake's protein content. For example, you could throw a handful of nuts into the blender for a little extra protein without making the shake much thicker. You could add a few raw egg whites (if you are worried about eating raw eggs you may be able to find treated egg whites in cartons at your supermarket). You could always simply dump an extra scoop of whey powder in there as well.

4. Make sure you have enough liquids. If you get a little too carried away you may discover your shake is easier to eat with a spoon then drink from a glass. When you first start creating your shakes it is a good idea to add your liquids (water, fat-free milk, fruit juices, etc.) in stages so that you get your desired consistency.

5. Examine the nutritional information for each ingredient and consider the impact it will have on your dieting goals. For example, you may be opting for fat free (skimmed) milk if you aren't trying to gain weight.

6. Always know what your goal is and make your shakes accordingly. If you are trying to shed the fat you will be skipping the types of ingredients that add too many carbohydrates and fats while trying to increase the protein content.

7. Think of how you might create a unique flavor. You can try things like cinnamon, vanilla, honey, coconut milk, etc. Once you get the hang of this you will see the
possibilities are endless.

Why You Should Start Taking Nutrient Supplements Now

While keeping a well-balanced diet daily is still the most important way in order to maintain a healthy, disease-free body, nutrient supplements can make sure that we go a long way to have the kind of body that we we want. Our fast-paced busy schedule leaves us with very too little a time to cook our meals well.

More often than not, we give in to the temptation of eating with convenience food with insignificant calories. Though convenient and much too often tasty, these packaged mixes unfortunately lacks the nutrients that the body truly needs. Health supplements are widely available to help us get the complete nutrition and that extra energy boost that we need to function well.

Nutritional supplements are widely available. Today, there are many various categories of nutrient supplements including vitamins, antioxidants and anti aging products, to name a few.

Nutrient supplementation generally are a good way to ascertain that we are getting the proper elements despite our fastfood-laden lifestyle. Some of people have specialized functions like practitioner workout regimes or combatting specific diseases.

Nutrient supplements have developed to become highly sophisticated these days as it incorporated additional elements in regular supplements like herbal extracts, enzymes and other natural products. All these health products contain different elements to enable us to lead better lives with the best possible way. With all the abundance of health supplements in there in major drugstores, it is not very difficult to get confused about what is suitable for you to get.

Keep in mind that your body needs only the best, you should ask the advice of a medical practitioner to know which particular product is best for you. While it is still best to get what your body needs from good food sources, intake of dietary supplements surely is the next best. Lastly, bear in mind that what ever product you choose to use is never effective substitutes for a well-maintained diet.

Supplements should be ingested as what they are: simply as supplements to fill in the missing nutrition gaps.

On the other hand, you should make sure to always follow your daily usage in the right dosage as written in the supplement label. This can help lessen the risk of taking much that may occur if you ingest more than your body can safely handle.

Making Your Nutritional Protein Shake

Once you have decided on the ingredients for your shake you are ready to start. It couldn't be simpler and if you can make toast you won't have a problem. It's a good idea to think about the order in which you will add your ingredients into the blender. Always add your main liquid source first so that everything else you add afterwards is easily blended. Following this, add your protein powder and give your blender a quick 'burst'. Now you are ready to add the rest of your ingredients and blend until you get the right consistency. At this point you may want to add a little more liquids to tweak your shake's thickness. Throw in five or six ice cubes to make your shake more refreshing.

Now you can let your imagination invent all sorts of bodybuilding and dieting concoctions that make your supplement shakes a great deal tastier. Don't forget to share your creations with friends at the gym and people across the world through the internet. You will also discover many ideas other people come up with to inspire you further.

Benefits of Protein Drinks

proteins drinks, especially shakes, are available in a variety of flavors such as vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. protein drinks are also available in other flavors such as fruit punch, orange cream and grape.

Bodybuilders and athletes find proteins are more compatible for their digestive systems as protein is lactose free, as well as being lower in calories, sugar and carbohydrates. protein can be found in a variety of other protein shake and protein drink blends. For instance, protein is also included in Pure Gro's blend of 5 different proteins including egg protein, milk protein, soy protein and calcium caseinate protein. You can also use protein in many of your favorite cooking and baking dishes to ensure that your body is getting sufficient daily intake.

protein drinks are a delicious and nutritious way of increasing your daily intake of protein, making sure you get all of the essential amino acids into your body daily and helping maintain your immune system at peak working order.

You can make your own protein drinks using protein powder and any number of combinations. Purists mix it with bottled water, putting nothing unknown into their bodies for a variety of personal reasons. Others mix it with any of a number of juices, orange or grape to arrive at a flavor they like. Still others use it in a fruit smoothie type of drink, mixing the pure powder with bananas, peaches, blueberries and other fruits plus milk or water, producing a thick, sweet mixture that fills the stomach, removes that hungry feeling, satisfies the bodies need for amino acids and tastes good.

There are many diets that recommend using protein powder as one of several herbal, mineral ingredients including enzymes to digest the powder even faster than the body can digest it on its own.

Customize A Protein Shake

1. Select the base of you drink, basically the liquid you want. A good selection or "bases" are water, milk, soy milk, skim milk, flavored water additives (such as crystal lite) or fruit juice.

2. Add whey protein powder. Typically you'll have Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry. Add a fruit or two to the mix for more flavor and a boost of vitamins and antioxidants. Bananas, Mixed Berries, Mango, Strawberries and blueberries will work well. Add any supplements you feel you may need such as Vitamin C, Glutamine and Creatine.

3. Mix in blender for 25 seconds, adding a few ice cubes to make it thicker, then blend for another 25 seconds.

4. Experiment until you find something (or somethings) you like. Then kick back and enjoy.

* Some people have their own special ways of personalizing their shakes, ask around for some good ideas.
* Its best to have your protein 30 mins before or after your workout.
* Be brave, even though mixing chocolate, banana, mango and blueberries may sound bad, some people actually find the taste quite refreshing.

Try not to add any sugars. You will have enough sweets with fruits or even the protein powders.

Nutritional Vitamin Supplements

It's about time you placed your life at a premium. A good life isn't just about the quantity of life, it's also about the quality of life. Think about it: you don't want to be
bedridden or a vegetable for the remaining years of your life. You want to be able to live long enough so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and your life up close and not on the bed. Of course there are several ways to keep you healthy, the two main things being a healthy diet, and of course, exercise. But there's nothing wrong with going the extra mile for your health. That can be achieved with the right nutritional and dietary supplements that helps keep your body fit. Supplements make sure that your body has enough of the vitamins it needs to keep functioning at the optimum. Vitamins are natural organic compounds so there's no danger of consuming supplements that are synthesized and artificial. Everything is pulled from mother nature -- plants, specifically, which are basically the only living creatures with the ability to manufacture their own food. We cannot, so we must rely on outside sources to keep ourselves healthy. Of course, we must exercise caution and exercise awareness of what we are taking in and how our intake affects our body.

For vitamins there's a recommended dietary allowance which differs according to age and state of health. For example, a pregnant woman might be asked to take in
specific vitamins to make sure that the fetus develops as healthy as possible with the least possible complications. Also, vitamin deficiencies occur from a nutritionally
imbalanced diet. Let's face it, in a world of processed foods, it's hard to keep healthy. Vitamin supplements help curb the nutritional imbalance. To know if you are eating well enough, and to pinpoint the specific vitamins your body lacks, the best way is through a blood test. For most people, nutritional supplements that you take everyday and that come with all the basic vitamins and minerals is good enough. There's no need for a blood test to do this. For others, however, there may already be bodily symptoms that express a certain deficiency. It's always good to be reminded that an ounce of prevention is definitely worth more than a pound of cure. And prevention can be as simple as swallowing pills packed with vitamins. There have been millions of cases of heart disease and cancer that could've been prevented by a simple vitamin.

There is really nothing that can replace a healthy diet as good as -- well, a healthy diet. Healthy meals of organic fruits and vegetables will definitely cost less in the long run, besides. However, nutritional supplements still play an important role aside from giving you "very expensive urine." The human body requires at least 40 essential micronutrients which a healthy diet alone cannot supply. Of course, too much of a good thing is -- bad. You actually might just end up producing "really expensive urine." It can help prevent cancer and heart disease, but too much of it will not only turn you a shade of yellow or orange, but in some cases can give you liver disease. So make sure to consult a physician to get the best combination of nutritional supplements that will best augment your body.