Anabolism is an important physical state during which muscles and tissues in your body get energy for growth and repair. Anabolic state is completely opposite to catabolism, a physical state that does not require any kind of energy. Catabolic state actually provides the energy sources for the former to take place. The catabolic process breaks down larger food molecules into smaller energy packets. The human body oxidizes these tiny energy packets and utilizes most of the energy released to carry out anabolism.

To understand the anabolic state, consider a small piece of food entering the human body. This food item will break into smaller pieces through the digestion process. The muscles, that have recently undergone physical exertion, will absorb these small pieces of food and utilize them to repair and build muscles. This rebuilding process is called anabolism. Balance of catabolism and anabolism is essential for a healthy body.

Striving for the Anabolic State

As stated above, for your body to experience an anabolic state, it must consume a healthy source of energy. Balanced diet and supplements rich in helpful nutrients are the best sources of energy required by your body to reach an anabolic state. However, when you do not consume enough food, your body undergoes catabolism, and begins to utilize protein present in muscles to meet its energy requirements. This ultimately causes damage to the body muscles and tissues, and as a consequence not only your muscle mass reduces but you also lose weight and may suffer from overtraining. In extreme cases of self starvation, your body starts using healthy fat deposits as well for its survival.

Exercise and Anabolism

Besides a balanced diet rich in useful nutrients, exercise is also very important for anabolism. When you exercise, tiny tears appear in your body muscles. These tears repair later on, increasing the mass and strength of the muscles. This repairing process is deemed to be the anabolic state. However, if you do not consume enough food before and after an intense workout session, the catabolic state may overcome anabolism. Always consume nutrient dense foods, especially those rich in proteins, before and after physical activity to counteract the catabolic state.

Benefiting from Anabolism

Most people believe that an anabolic state only helps build bulging muscles all over the body, but its benefits are much more than muscle growth only. Besides resulting in muscle growth, it also helps you maintain the shape of your body and a healthy bone density.