If you are a weight trainer or high energy athlete, you probable eat more oily fish than other people do, fish like trout, mackerel, salmon, sardines, and tuna because you are more aware of the benefits of fish protein and essential fatty acids than other people who don’t participate in physically stressful exercise. In addition, these kinds of fish are rich in EPA/DHA, essential fatty acids which have the scientific names of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. EPA/DHA is considered an omega-3 polyunsaturated fat found in cold water fish that enhances brain functioning by facilitating neurotransmitters, along with contributing proper nutrients to the retina and to overall eye health.
Since bodybuilding is meant to optimize hypertrophy of muscles and maximize stamina, a weight trainer will adhere to a stringent diet plan supplemented with recovery drinks, protein tablets and fish oil. Fish oil is an essential fatty acid which is especially important to bodybuilders because fish oil assists in delivering the right quantity of EFA’s which complement the vitamins and minerals in protein and whole grain foods. The World Health Organization has reported that adults should include .3 to .5 grams of DHA/EPA to their diet each day to maintain healthy amounts in the body. However, a bodybuilder should incorporate one to two grams of fish oil (DHA/EPA) each day into their food intake, depending on their weight and body mass proportions. A healthy body builder who weight approximately two hundred pounds should swallow eight fish oil supplements with each supplement containing 1, 3000 milligrams of fish oil.
After each workout session, your body will experience an immense amount of cell damage and muscle tissue inflammation. Fish oil contains the polyunsaturated fats that are required in order to rejuvenate those injured cells along with relieving joint and muscle inflammation. Fish oil is also correlated with benefitting your immune and cardiovascular system, and may be implicated in a faster and stronger recovery during a workout session, facilitate blood flow, and increase career longevity, if you happen to be or want to be a professional body builder. In research studies, individuals who began taking fish oil supplements report that previously sore or inflamed joints began feeling better after a few days of DHA/EPA supplements.
Other research involving fish oil and other omega-3 acids has shown that these essential fatty acids may assist in destroying cancer cells by preventing them from “eating” linoleic acid, besides turning on the DNA which is required for eliminating cancer cells and also for preventing cancer cells from clinging to non-cancerous cells, which is why cancer is so proliferous in the first place. In addition, animal research has correlated fish oil and DHA/EPA with eradicating different types of tumors. Human studies have also revealed the supplementation of essential fatty acids effectively reduces triglyceride amounts, which is the type of fat that clogs heart arteries. And, if you happen to be feeling a little down emotionally for one reason or another, adding omega-3 may lessen your anxiety and reduce insomnia. Some bodybuilders will suffer from certain conditions due to a deficiency of EFA’s, such as dry skin, decreased energy levels, aching joints, and loss of hair. The all-important growth hormone testosterone also requires the assistance of essential fatty acids in order to facilitate muscle growth and bulk.
Bodybuilders and high-intensity athletes are also rapidly beginning to discover the anabolic advantages of prostaglandin. Originating and created from components of essential fatty acids, prostaglandin has been discovered to be very important to your physiological response to physical stress by assisting your body in building muscle bulk, burning fat and reducing salt and water retention which causes puffiness. Prostaglandin also manages the relaxation and contraction cycle of smooth muscle tissue. Sometimes erroneously referred to as a hormone, prostaglandin is actually an autocrine which plays the role of messenger molecule, and is not manufactured in just one area of the body but at several, which technically classifies it as something other than a real hormone.
Every muscle cell contains prostaglandin receptors and each muscle cell constantly manufactures prostaglandin. If a muscle cell cannot make enough prostaglandin for one reason or another, it will die off. Elevated levels of cortisol are the major cause of reducing prostaglandin synthesis and eventual loss of muscle energy which also decreases the amount of protein synthesis This makes it one of the most important regulators of muscle mass development due to the fact that those cells that require more quantities of prostaglandin produce it in order to feed themselves and neighboring muscle cells. Unlike testosterone which has to travel throughout the body, prostaglandin is considered an endocrine “autocrine” and actually is eradicated once it hits the bloodstream, which signifies that it is incapable of being utilized like an anabolic steroid.
Essential fatty acids such as omega-3 seem to be extracted and absorbed from food better than a supplement. A study done in Norway found that out of 70 volunteers who ate salmon, cod, and cod liver oil, the individuals who consumed the salmon instead of cod liver oil showed a more elevated amount of omega-3’s in their blood. After two months of these daily servings of salmon and cod, the group ‘s essential fatty acids levels had increased 130% and their DHA had risen 45%, as compared to those who had taken cod liver oil, which resulted in their EFA only rising to 106% and their DHA peaking at 25%.
Once again, EFA’s are one of the most important dietary components of any bodybuilder or athlete. They are powerful inhibitors of obesity and will enhance your body’s response to insulin by fostering leptin secretion, a hormone which tells your brain to stop eating when it “feels” satiated. Sometimes bodybuilders become so involved in their weight training that they may fail to recognize symptoms of being deficient in omega-3, symptoms which may include inability to concentrate, joint pain, tiredness, and itchy, dry skin which may exhibit eczema-like conditions. If this happens, start keeping track of what you are eating each day and pay particular attention to foods containing essential fatty acids. A good dose of flax seeds and salmon may be all you need to alleviate any of these symptoms. So make sure you include servings of foods containing EFA’s if you want to continue to perform and look like a pro!
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