Every one should know the significance of frequent eating to keep your body nourished for best muscle growth. But would you ever suspect that eating a meal, even an apparently healthy one, could also be bad for you? Recent research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests this is so. The good news is that it’s also likely to turn every meal into a healthy one. The key is antioxidants. Researchers calculated the blood antioxidant capacity of subjects before and after meals in a series of five clinical trials. The higher the AOC, the better one can handle oxidative stress, which has been linked to an increased risk of ailments including cancer, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease. It can also injure muscle tissue and compromise recovery.
Amazingly, researchers found that when subject were given a meal rich in protein, carbs and fat but lacking antioxidants, their AOC plummeted. In other words, only eating a meal without vegetables of fruit raised their oxidative stress. Yet, when they also inspired blueberries, grapes, cherries or kiwifruit, their AOC increased. This means that not only should you eat plenty of vegetables and or fruit with every meal to boost your antioxidant capacity and reduce oxidative stress, but you have to in order to prevent a rise in oxidative stress. Include plenty of antioxidant-rich vegetables and or fruit at every meal. This may seem like a hard task when you put down six to eight meals a day, so think using antioxidant supplements each meal such as vitamin C, beta-carotene and even whey and soy protein, both of which can effectively increase the body’s AOC.