subject: Diets For Building Muscle - The Ingredients Needed For Good Results [print this page] One of the best things that you can do when you make the decision to start building more muscle, is to learn what diets for building muscle will work best for you.
The diet that is best for you may change over time as you reach your weight, health and fitness goals and as your health and weight goals change.
It is important to remember that there is no one perfect diet that will be right for everyone, but there are four basic components or ingredients that everyone who is looking to build more muscle, can benefit from and these are the areas that are being covered in this article. Starting with the fundamental component protein.
1.) Protein
Most people are already aware of the fact that your muscles are made up of mostly protein and it is very important that you have a sufficient amount of protein in your daily diet to help promote good muscle health.
Some good sources of protein are Milk (Whole milk, Soy milk or lactose free milk, if you are lactose intolerant), poultry, grain feed beef, eggs, cheeses, tuna, and yogurt.
However in addition to eating more protein, you should also try to increase your muscle growth by increasing your carbohydrates, your calorie intake, dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.
The amount that you increase is going to depend on your current level of activity and your muscle gaining goals. You don't want to increase your intake too much more than what your body will use, that can lead to obesity, so you do want to monitor your progress and adjust your consumption based on your exercise or activity level and your energy needs.
2.) Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates or (Carbs) - carbs are important and very helpful in promoting increase muscle growth because they can be stored and used by the body for energy. To have good workouts you need lots of energy and carbohydrates can help you meet your body's energy needs. Good sources include pasta, breads, cereals, and sugars (such as fructose, glucose and galactose).
Fat or Calories are also needed for food energy to keep you going throughout your day. Good sources of high calories are health food supplements specifically designed for athletes that want to increase lean muscle mass and body weight without incurring any additional health risk.
3.) Essential Fatty Acids
Essential fatty acids are fatty acids that you need to eat for good health because the body requires. These are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and they can be found in many different foods such as fish, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and other leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and greens. Your leafy vegetables are also high in dietary fiber, iron and calcium as well as a good source of protein.
When you stop and think about it, what is one of the most massive animals on the planet and what do they eat? Well if you said an elephant and plants you are right. That should tell you how important and helpful green leafy vegetables can be in diets for building muscle.
4) Dietary fibers
Dietary fibers to help aide in the digestion and elimination of foods that you eat.
Good sources of dietary fiber include Whole grain foods such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, popcorn and rolled oats. Fruits such as plums, apples, bananas, raspberries, blackberries and pears. Vegetables such as broccoli, greens, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots and many others.
As with everything else your use of these components for building muscle should be used in moderation, even though you want to increase your intake, above what your body is currently getting or is used to, you don't want to over do it.
The old saying too much of anything is not good for you, applies to your diet as well.
The best way to determine what works best for you is to measure where you are starting from ( how much do you weight right now ? how much protein, carbs, calories, essential fatty acids, and dietary fiber are you currently eating ? ) and then gradually increase that amount for the next 3 to 4 weeks and then measure your progress.
If you do get good results, give your body time to stabilize and adjust to the increased weight and then if needed make additional increases. Keep in mind that you do want to continue your activity level so that the increased protein, carbs and calories don't get stored in your body as excess fat that causes you to become over weight.
For most people it does take many, many years to see significant improvements in their weight gains or muscle mass, but by following the above recommendations and modifying your diet to build muscle, you will be able to reach your muscle gain goals much, much faster.
