The first article I ever wrote about nutrition was an article for the Fall, 2004 issue of Wise Traditions called “Vitamin A: The Forgotten Bodybuilding Nutrient,” in which I argued that bodybuilders should eat nutrient-dense foods rich in vitamin A such as liver and cod liver oil in order to boost protein utilization and testosterone production.
John Meadows agrees, and he's more jacked than I'll ever be.
Here's what he looks like with his shirt on:
Meadows is a “retired” bodybuilder who has won almost twenty state, regional, and national titles over the course of his career. Just recently, he decided on a whim to get back in the game and compete in the Mr. Ohio championship.
Meadows got pumped up and shredded down with beef liver, raw and cooked whole eggs, red palm oil, and other great foods, with a few handy bodybuilding supplements thrown in. He won Mr. Ohio in his weight class, and took second in the overall competition.
Here he is on the stage:
To reward himself, he splurged on ice cream and milk shakes for a few weeks after the show and gained at least a percent or two in body fat. Yet when he went to Ohio State to have his body fat determined, he measured in at 4% using calipers and 6% under water. They routinely measure the body composition of elite athletes but told him that he had the distinction of being the leanest guy they'd measured yet.
Meadows has for some time now been a big fan of the fat-soluble vitamins. “If people only understood the unbelievable value of things like beef liver and red palm oil!” he wrote to me. Indeed!
John runs the site MountainDogDiet.Com.
I'm happy to have unearthed a few studies back in 2004 suggesting these foods might help a bro get pumped. But compared to John I'm very fat and very skinny, so if you want any help making the beef liver and palm oil work its magic, I'd hit up his site and shoot him a message.