In ancient civilizations especially among the Greeks and Romans, soldiers were fed on a special diet to fuel their active lifestyles. Most traditional societies also provided a special diet for the wrestlers and sportsmen of the time. The key ingredients of these special diets surprisingly, are still ideal for body builders in our modern society.
One key feature of these diets was a high protein content. They who required extra strength and vitality were fed on animal proteins such as meet, blood and eggs. Yet today's body builders have become so expert in diet control, that you will see a body builder intent on accumulating muscle mass and strength eating the eggs without the yolk and declaring a red alert on animal proteins. The fear of gaining weight and more specifically body fat, has driven modern body builders to the extremes of dieting.
Another key feature of these ancient diets was a high fiber content. There were special herbs and vegetables which were cooked to accompany meat chunks in every meal. The high vegetable content ensured that the strong men had a constant and sufficient supply of crucial vitamins, iron and other nutrients and minerals. Today, the closest that body builders come to vegetables especially green vegetables is the onion or a rare kale. They alternatively prefer to take supplements for each of the required minerals and nutrients to maintain a body building program.
The meals were also hyper-packed with carbohydrates. Most of these special diets incorporated regular and sufficient levels of carbohydrates. The energy required to maintain an active lifestyle and undertake performance in their day to day duties was as monumental perhaps as can be compared with the energy required by modern body builders to see through a workout session.
The final attribute that we can derive from these ancient diets was the level of natural contents. Luckily for these fellows, at that time there were no commercially inclined manufacturers of supplements, performance enhancers, steroids and growth hormones. Their meals and dietary intakes were as natural as nature itself. This can not compare even to a decimal status of the modern body building industry. Contemporary body builders are driven by a dependence on dangerous synthetic substances with which they seek to develop strength and mass in their bodies. At most times they succeed, but at the price of their health.
In essence therefore, it is evident that the ancient communities had realized, although without learned nutritionists and dietitians, that the diet is key in generation of muscles and maintenance of a strength-packed body. They had known that a body builder requires extra sources of protein and carbohydrates. They knew the value of natural foods and the benefits derived from green vegetables in both fiber and nutrients. This same knowledge is vital to modern body builders. The fear of body fat has become a hindrance to success in body building.
Ironically, cases of obesity are over 400% higher in modern 'health conscious' societies than in these traditional societies in which value of a diet was more important than the calorie ratios. Diets should help complement body building programs not curtail them. The Greeks knew that. So did the Romans.
Author Resource:-
Dane Fletcher is the world-wide authority on bodybuilding and steroids. He has coached countless athletes all over the world. To read more of his work, please visit either www.BodybuildingToday.com or www.SteroidsToday.com
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 