Besides eating balanced diets regularly, a body builder needs to add supplements to the diet to fully cater for all body\'s nutritional needs. There are some nutrients like minerals and proteins that are not easily available in natural meals that may be accessible to a body builder. Others are only found in limited quantities in their natural food sources. As such although naturally nutritious foods are the key to body building dieting, appropriate supplementation is called for to augment the needs of a body builder.

One of the most mistakes that body builders live with is lack of a proper balance between food and supplements. Either one eats natural foods and takes supplements forgranted, or one takes excess supplements to replace foods in the diet. None of the two can stand in for the other and none can be replaced with the other, if optimal growth in muscle mass and strength is to be achieved and achieved quickly.

Imbalances of food ands supplements are rampant in body building mainly because of ignorance in which most body builders are submerged deep under. Consuming food by itself is not adequate to fully cover all nutritional needs of a body builder, especially if such a body builder is in the intensive levels of body building training. If we consider the term \"balanced eating\" as it is defined by several nutritionists the meaning construed isn\'t the same as that of the term \"balanced eating\" as it is defined by muscle building elites.

Optimally, balanced feeding as defined by the body building elite refers to a skillful balanced blending of some lean proteins, starchy foods, fibrous complex carbohydrates, minute amounts of safe fats and absolutely no sugars. The rationing and or proportional divisions of these nutrients usually vary according to individual characteristics and body building objectives. Some body builders are hyper-sensitive to carbohydrates and therefore need to keep the starchy carbohydrates at their barest minimum. Others must limit their consumption of proteins or else they puff up like balloons. Still others, the daily diet is merely potatoes and white or brown rice and little of everything else.

Supplements become more important for these individuals who have to limit the intake of natural foods in the diet for specific healthy reasons. From another angle, individual differences occur due to metabolic distinctions. How individuals metabolize their food is individualistic as genes are. Foods and supplements should be taken in consideration of how different foods affect the individual\'s metabolism. The modern rule of thumb recommended in balancing the diet in a proportional ration is to eat a diet constituting 50% carbohydrate calories, 35% protein calories and 15% fat calories. The 50c-35p-15f regimen should be monitored and adjusted if need be. If these rations are not achieved in the foods, then supplements should respectively argument the dietary needs.

Remember that supplements aid in sealing the little holes and or shortcomings of a body builder\'s diet. Supplements only supplement, they accompany, they complete the puzzle, and they fill in gaps. They should never be taken as replacements of the dietary requirements in natural foods. Misuse has lead to most natural body builders fearing supplements like they do steroids which is wrong. A multitask, protein powder, carbohydrate powder, beef liver tabs, sodium powder and other supplements usually work wonders especially for recuperation, intense training, and defining physique features. But they should serve as supplements not the diet.