I remember it like yesterday. I was 17 years old and competing in my first bodybuilding show in high school.
I remember seeing my abs for the first time after only 5 days of dieting. I thought it was the most revolutionary experience in all my existence.
I’d been trying to gets abs by doing countless sit-ups and crunches with little to no success.
After just 5 days, I had momentum. I felt like I could gain pounds of muscle every week given my age and stay ripped.
As you might know, it’s really easy to build muscle during your teenage years and even in your 20’s.
However, once you reach your 30’s, everything becomes harder. Your metabolism slows down, your testosterone gradually decreases each year and your body doesn’t recover as easy as before.
These are all side effects of getting older.
However, there is one topic I’ve felt compelled to talk about that doesn’t get mentioned in the world of bodybuilding, strength or fitness and that’s being too acidic. You might be wondering what the heck this guy is talking about. Let me explain…
Why Being Too Acidic Makes it Harder to Build Muscle & Lose Fat
I’m sure you’re probably thinking the reason you can’t see gains is because of your genetics, age etc.
The one thing many forget or completely ignore is what happens when your body is too acidic.
You might remember from back in the day during school when you studied about the Acid & Alkaline PH Scale. If not, I’ll give you a quick lesson. The acid and alkaline chart or scale goes from 1 to 14. Neutral is 7 which is right in the middle. Ideally, we’d like to be slightly above 7 and somewhere in the 7.55 range.
The higher the number, the more alkalized your body is and the better. In this state, it becomes easier to build muscle and maintain optimal testosterone levels.
The lower the number, the more acidic your body is and the worse off you are. In this state, it becomes harder to build muscle and your testosterone levels drop. You can always use a 10 second trick to boost your testosterone.
Now, what’s interesting is there are many environmental factors that cause us to become acidic. Here are my top 3 factors that cause us to become too acidic and a solution to each problem.
Factor #1: Eating Acidic Foods
This was something I didn’t realize until I was in my mid to late 20’s. I used to be able to eat practically whatever I wanted and not gain a lot of fat nor get heart burn. However, once I was about 26 years old, certain foods would give me heart burn.
Things like pasta with red sauce or anything greasy like French fries really throw gasoline on the heart burn fire. Once I began to experience heart burn, I realized something had to be done. So I began researching and quickly realized the root cause of the problem.
Now, I could always take pills or over the counter drugs, but that is a short term solution. My body is telling me something. It’s telling me to stop consuming these foods. That’s when I realized how important fruits and vegetables were. I mean fruits and vegetables are on this Earth for a reason!
Now, in the world of bodybuilding, you are often told that too much sugar is bad for you and will make you fat. So even though fruit is healthy, I would avoid fruits or eat them every now and then. Fruits and vegetables provide vital nutrients our bodies need for energy, protecting our immune system and maintaining optimal testosterone levels.
Below is a quick chart of some alkalizing foods and the other chart is acidic foods.
Alkalizing Foods
These foods will not only alkalize your body but are also low in pesticides which means they are really good for you to eat. Here’s what is considered the Clean 15. They are fruits and veggies that can alkalize your body and are low in pesticides.
Acidic Foods
Here is a picture of a popular food item that is loaded with grease and can cause you to become acidic.
Solution: to avoid becoming too acidic from the foods you eat, I’d suggest eating 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
Now that you know which foods are alkalized and acidic, let’s jump in to the next factor.
Factor #2: Drinking Lots of Alcohol & Smoking
An occasional drink is definitely not going to hurt you. While I don’t recommend it, a cigar or cigarette here and there won’t do too much damage either. However, when you make drinking and smoking a habit, it can really cause your body to become acidic and breakdown.
Not to mention the other health side effects like liver and lung problems later on in life. That’s why I feel it was important to mention these topics. You are free to do as you wish, but realize that by drinking and smoking often, it can cause your body to become acidic and lower your testosterone levels in the long run. Now, let’s jump in to the final topic.
Factor #3: Stress
We all have experienced stress at one point or another in our lives. Some of us experience it daily. It’s almost impossible to avoid. Dealing with work, kids, finances etc. can all cause stress.
While a little bit of stress is okay, experiencing it to the point where you can’t sleep at night or have so much anxiety can be a real issue for our testosterone levels and muscle gains. Without getting too scientific, our bodies become catabolic and break down over time making it harder to build muscle and lose fat. I consider being catabolic a bodybuilder’s worst nightmare.
So in a nutshell, I’d do as much as you can to avoid stress because of how acidic it can make your body.
Conclusion
I hope this article has provided value and given you some information you can take with you to protect your testosterone levels and muscle gains. As I mentioned earlier, I used to think following a strict bodybuilding diet was okay for my health.
While there are many things that are great about a bodybuilding diet, there are a few things I feel should be changed when it comes to the foods we’ve been told to eat to build muscle and lose fat.
You can always watch a video on a short 10 second trick to boost your testosterone naturally or you get find over 100 foods, herbs, spices and lifestyle hacks.
I’ve given you a detailed list of some foods to eat, as well as some lifestyle factors that can help you remain alkalized and in amazing health. If you found this information useful, please feel free to share it with a friend or family member so that can benefit from this health advice.
Want More Men’s Health Related Articles Like This One? Check Out More Articles on My Blog Below…
What Are Normal Testosterone Levels?
7 Testosterone Boosting Foods (Do You Eat These Daily)
Can Certain Vitamins Boost Testosterone Levels?
Is There Such Thing as a Best Testosterone Booster?
Written by: Anthony Alayon
