Just one tablespoon of peanut butter has four grams of protein, making it a good source of protein for building muscle. Peanut butter is also a good source of monounsaturated fat and antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals that will help your body stay healthy and function properly.
Peanut butter is a staple food in the diets of many bodybuilders. Although it's nutrient dense and packed with healthy fats and protein, it's also very high in calories. The amount of peanut butter you should eat depends on several factors, such as your goals and your current level of performance.
Peanut butter contains about 35 grams of monounsaturated fat per 100 grams, so two heaping tablespoons would provide a 100-pound bodybuilder with his daily intake of monounsaturated fat.
What happens when you eat peanut butter before going to bed? Your muscles will be supplied with protein all night long. You'll be promoting muscle growth and preventing muscle breakdown. Trace elements support your regeneration.
It's simple: to build muscle mass, your body needs a calorie surplus. Nutritious protein sources like peanut butter help you build muscle twice over, because the protein helps build muscle mass and the high nutritional value provides your muscles with the calories they need.
When trying to gain muscle, you should intake around 0.5-1.00 grams of protein for every pound of bodyweight you have. Two tablespoons of peanut butter can easily bump your protein up at meals. Nuts are not only high in protein, but also fiber.
Peanut butter should be used as part of a bulking diet, as opposed to a cutting diet because of it's calorie density. Peanut butter can be used for building lean muscle – if you are in a slight calorie surplus. Whenever bulking, your goal should be to gain lean muscle, with minimal fat gain.
Peanut butter has many nutritional benefits. Eating a small amount of peanut butter as part of a healthy snack before bed may help improve sleep quality and prevent overeating and weight gain the following day. Peanut butter is a nutrient-dense, high-calorie food containing vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber.
Just one tablespoon of peanut butter has four grams of protein, making it a good source of protein for building muscle. Peanut butter is also a good source of monounsaturated fat and antioxidants as well as vitamins and minerals that will help your body stay healthy and function properly.
It's Rich in Protein
As mentioned above, oats will allow for the energy needed in the gym and the protein helps repair the muscle tissue. It's always a bonus when you can get protein from carbohydrate dense foods. For vegan bodybuilders, adding oatmeal to your diet is essential as protein sources can feel sparse.
In addition to helping build muscle, avocados contribute to reducing body fat. Avocados contain beta-sitosterol, a lipid that helps regulate stress while promoting the proper functioning of our body.
With the carbs to fuel your workout and the building blocks of muscle itself, bananas can actually be a great fruit to include in your muscle growth nutrition plan. Bananas vary in size, but will typically contain about 100 calories each.
And, peanut butter has a natural sleep-inducing chemical, too. “Peanuts contains tryptophan, the same amino acid that's in turkey — and we all know how tired we are after that big Thanksgiving dinner”, wrote The List.
Banana with peanut butter.
Galloway recommended pairing a banana with peanut butter before bed, as bananas also contain magnesium which can support good sleep.
Maintains Your Calm and Combats Stress
Consuming peanut butter before bedtime will make you feel tranquil and less stressed. It inhibits the hormone cortisol, which is related to stress.
Advocates of enjoying a spoonful of peanut butter before bedtime like to highlight its nutritional value, especially its protein content (8g in two tablespoons). Consuming protein before sleep may support overnight muscle protein synthesis as well as giving a jumpstart to your morning metabolism.
More specifically, almond butter tends to be a popular choice among bodybuilders. Almonds contain the highest about of calcium of any nut, and they also pack quite the punch of magnesium and vitamin E, nutrients that are essential for optimal muscle growth.
It also contains heart-healthy fats, and essential minerals to compensate for your daily requirement. If you're a bodybuilder or athlete, you can include peanut butter recipes for breakfast, have it with fruit, or whole wheat toast, add it to smoothies as well.
Peanut butter contains high levels of zinc which is known to play a role in hormones and has been found to increase testosterone levels naturally over the course of four weeks when consumed regularly.