Five to Forget
By Team FLEX
*Reprinted with the approval of Peter McGough, Group Editorial Director, FLEX and Muscle & Fitness Magazines
No single food can completely derail your gains, but regularly overindulging in bad foods is among the worst things you can do when bodybuilding. A doughnut here or there won’t kill you, but eating a dozen doughnuts in a sitting may wreak havoc on your conditioning. Here’s a list of items to avoid in mass quantities.
Although liquor can be relaxing, frequent or large quantities can harm your physique. Alcohol can increase the loss of testosterone to estrogen, as well as increase the amount of fat the body makes and stores.
The worst types of fats are trans fats (also called hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated). Many fried foods are made with these fats, which are unwanted calories and are unhealthy by all accounts.
Sodas are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, one of the worst types of sugars. But juice? Although juice does contain nutrients, it also has too many calories from simple sugars (particularly fructose). A small glass with breakfast won’t destroy your physique, but be careful about drinking too much.
Simple sugars after your workouts can help replenish muscle glycogen stores. At other times of the day, though, sugar tends to increase insulin levels too much, encouraging bodyfat storage.
Breads and pastas made with bleached white flour increase insulin levels and encourage bodyfat storage. These results are desirable after a workout, but the whole-grain versions are much better at other times of the day, since they provide more fibre and have a less dramatic effect on insulin levels.
