Superfoods are more nutrient-dense than other foods.
Proper nutrition is critical for anyone looking to build a well-developed physique. Superfoods, like goji berries and acai berries, with their abundance of nutrients and low-calorie content, can significantly benefit your body compared to other foods and help you achieve your fitness goals more swiftly. Moreover, including various superfoods in your diet offers unique advantages. In this post, we have curated a list of ten superfoods specifically for weight loss and muscle building.
10 Superfoods for Fitness
Here’s a breakdown of 10 superfoods to support and enhance your fitness journey:
Matcha
Matcha is a kind of green tea that is rich in amino acids because of how farmers cultivate it. They keep it shaded, which causes a boost in chlorophyll production, leading to more amino acids. Matcha is also rich in antioxidants, which help with inflammation.
Matcha is rich in caffeine and aids weight loss like other forms of green tea. It decreases bad cholesterol levels and suppresses blood glucose accumulation, promoting lipid metabolism (1). If lowering your body fat mass, reducing your BMI, and narrowing your waist circumference is part of your fitness goal, matcha is a great superfood to include.
Berries
Berries are rich in vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. They also contain flavonoids, which reduce your risk of a heart attack, and antioxidants to help with inflammation (2). Examples of berries you could take on your fitness journey include acai berries, goji berries, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
Besides their high nutritional content, berries like goji berries offer other health and fitness benefits. For example, acai berries have a high amino acid content. In eastern medicine, goji berries treat high blood pressure and diabetes.
Spirulina
Spirulina is chock full of nutrients and great for your fitness journey. A single tablespoon of dried and grounded spirulina contains 4g of protein, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, iron, copper, potassium, magnesium, and manganese while only adding 20 calories and 2g of carbs.
Spirulina is rich in antioxidants; studies show it can reduce blood cholesterol. In addition, research shows that spirulina increases muscle strength (3). It also increases oxygen intake while exercising, which is great for muscular endurance.
Spinach
Spinach is a dark green, leafy vegetable and one of the most alkaline foods. It contains an abundance of carotenoids alongside essential minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium. Spinach is also high in fiber and water content, which is great for digestion.
For your fitness journey, the carotenoids in spinach are anti-inflammatory. The calcium in this vegetable also prevents bone and muscle loss. You can enjoy spinach in smoothies, salads, soups, or stir-fries.
Lucuma
Lucuma is considered the gold of the Incas because this Southern American fruit is a remedy with many benefits. It’s excellent for your cardiovascular health and is rich in antioxidants. Lucuma is also very nutritious and offers a rich soluble and insoluble fiber blend.
Research shows that lucuma can lower blood sugar and pressure (4). It’s sweet and comes in powder form, which you can easily add to your health drinks. You can substitute sugar for lucuma in your recipes and get a similar rich taste with more nutrients and 75% less sugar.
Eggs
This one is for our muscle builders; eggs are a rich and cheap source of protein, getting about 7g per egg. This, alongside many essential minerals like iron and choline, makes it one of the healthiest foods despite the controversy with its high cholesterol content. Eggs also contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are two potent antioxidants.
The cholesterol in eggs isn’t anything problematic. If you’re dealing with bad cholesterol, the answer is to lower your body fat. Multiple studies on people who ate 6-12 eggs a week didn’t find an increased risk of diabetes or heart disease (5). Eggs could increase your good cholesterol and help prevent heart disease.
Seaweed
Seaweed is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. But for fitness, we’ll focus on one mineral that you won’t find in many other foods: iodine. Seaweeds have the unique ability to absorb iodine from the ocean.
Iodine is essential because it supports the function of your thyroid. This is where the hormones that deal with growth, cell repair, and energy production are made and released. Seaweed also contains the amino acid tyrosine, which your thyroid also needs.
Avocado
Did you know that avocados are a type of berry and so technically get labeled as a fruit? They’re full of vitamins, minerals, beta-carotene, and omega-3. While many people associate fat with negativity, your body does need fat to function, and avocados contain healthy fats.
Avocados are high in vitamin K, which is great for bone health, and they also have a lot of fiber, which is essential for good digestion. Research also shows that avocados contain phytochemicals that can help to prevent cancer (6).
Teff
Teff is a fantastic superfood for training while on your fitness journey. It’s a grain that has one of the highest protein contents. Teff is also rich in lysine, speeding up muscle repair.
Teff is native to Ethiopia and is rich in fiber and other minerals like calcium and zinc. It’s gluten-free and comes in grain form or powder form as flour. Add two or three tablespoons to your post-workout shake to reap the full benefits of this superfood.
Quinoa
Quinoa is the final superfood on our list and quickly replaces oats and rice. Not only does it taste better, it’s richer in protein and antioxidants and easy to prepare. Quinoa is also gluten-free.
The high fiber content of quinoa will play a key role in keeping you feeling full, which is vital for weight loss. This trial on 29 patients who took quinoa for 28 days showed reduced BMI, better satiation and fullness, and other significant benefits (7).
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References
- Xu, P., Ying, L., Hong, G., & Wang, Y. (2016). The effects of the aqueous extract and residue of Matcha on the antioxidant status and lipid and glucose levels in mice fed a high-fat diet. Food & function, 7(1), 294–300. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5fo00828j
- Skrovankova, S., Sumczynski, D., Mlcek, J., Jurikova, T., & Sochor, J. (2015). Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Different Types of Berries. International journal of molecular sciences, 16(10), 24673–24706. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms161024673
- Gurney, T., & Spendiff, O. (2022). Algae Supplementation for Exercise Performance: Current Perspectives and Future Directions for Spirulina and Chlorella. Frontiers in nutrition, 9, 865741. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.865741
- Pinto, M.daS., Ranilla, L. G., Apostolidis, E., Lajolo, F. M., Genovese, M. I., & Shetty, K. (2009). Evaluation of antihyperglycemia and antihypertension potential of native Peruvian fruits using in vitro models. Journal of medicinal food, 12(2), 278–291. https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2008.0113
- Richard, C., Cristall, L., Fleming, E., Lewis, E. D., Ricupero, M., Jacobs, R. L., & Field, C. J. (2017). Impact of Egg Consumption on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes and at Risk for Developing Diabetes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Nutritional Intervention Studies. Canadian journal of diabetes, 41(4), 453–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2016.12.002
- Ding, H., Chin, Y. W., Kinghorn, A. D., & D’Ambrosio, S. M. (2007). Chemopreventive characteristics of avocado fruit. Seminars in cancer biology, 17(5), 386–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcancer.2007.04.003
- Abellán Ruiz, M. S., Barnuevo Espinosa, M. D., García Santamaría, C., Contreras Fernández, C. J., Aldeguer García, M., Soto Méndez, F., Guillén Guillén, I., Luque Rubia, A. J., Quinde Ràzuri, F. J., Martínez Garrido, A., & López Román, F. J. (2017). Efecto del consumo de quinua (Chenopodium quinoa)como coadyuvante en la intervención nutricional en sujetos prediabéticos [Effect of quinua (Chenopodium quinoa)consumption as a coadjuvant in nutritional intervention in prediabetic subjects]. Nutricion hospitalaria, 34(5), 1163–1169. https://doi.org/10.20960/nh.843
