Carbohydrates, extra protein and essential minerals are the basic components of a body building diet; and though subject to large debates, an athlete's nutritional schemes also includes lots of supplements, or the so-called super food. Furthermore, fat is another important part of a body building diet, therefore, here are some guiding principles for those who practice weight training.

If you don't adjust the meals to the proper body requirements you won't get the much wanted results, and balance is the key concept of a body building diet; should you eat only carbohydrates the amount of accumulated energy will be nil. On the other hand, having protein without the carbohydrates, you won't be able to process the nutrients.

Therefore a combination of all the main nutrients and the right quantity of each makes the perfect body building diet and ensures muscle size increase. To express the best body building diet in percentages would be to say that you need 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein and only 20% fat. When it comes to the level of calories that a body building diet should include, here are also some general recommendations that are worth following.

Specialists say that athletes should alternate low and high calorie intakes; according to a nutritional plan, one should have two weeks of low caloric food, followed by another two of high caloric level. During the more intense periods of activity, the diet has to be adjusted to the precise needs of the moment.

The carbohydrates consumed as part of a body building diet should not overpass a specific level, since the more carbs you eat, the more insulin the pancreas secrets. An abundance of carbohydrates results in extra weight, so there is quite a thin line that could be passed. Insulin will use the amino-acids in food to strengthen and repair the muscle cell, therefore a body building diet should include a well-determined amount of carbohydrates.

The same conversion into fats appears when you overdose the protein intake, since proteins are actually the ones responsible for the building of tissue and muscle size. During a weight training program, the body building diet needs to be under constant monitoring.

Thus, the body metabolism is stimulated with every protein intake you have, not to mention that proteins are also responsible for the releasing the energy resulted from the processing of carbohydrates. Last but not least, another equally important element of a body building diet are fats. Without their presence in the food, joints wouldn't receive proper lubrication, the hormonal production would stop and a whole chain of chemical reactions would be interrupted.

Keep in mind that a healthy metabolism needs fats too, all cells in the body include some fat; without it there is no testosterone production. Remember this is the hormone that is responsible for the increasing the muscle mass. Follow a body building diet and results will appear shortly!