Good Food to Build Muscle

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The benefits of a good muscle building program are numerous. Besides an increase in strength you have greater energy, stronger bones, less chance of injuries and less likelihood of contracting some major illnesses. If you add good food to build muscle you will find the benefits increasing many times over. What are some good food choices to build muscle? Following are some sound principles for eating right to build muscle mass.

First, eating 5-6 smaller meals every day is recommended over the traditional 3 larger meals. You want to eat about every 3 hours. You can determine how many meals by dividing the amount of hours you are awake by 3. If you’re awake 18 hours then eat 6 meals. This avoids taxing your digestive system by overloading with protein and carbs at each meal which leads to bloating, poor digestion and excess body fat.

Second, about 35% of your overall caloric intake every day should consist of proteins. The general rule of thumb is to consume about 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight every day. This should be about 40-60 grams of protein at every meal for men and 30-40 grams each meal for women. When choosing your protein source look for high quality proteins such as lean meats, poultry, and fish. For dairy products try cottage cheese, yogurt and some partly skimmed cheeses. Eggs, egg whites, seeds and nuts are also an excellent source of protein. If you need to you can add a whey protein powder to boost your protein intake.

Third, you should be eating about 60-80 grams of carbohydrates at every meal. Carbs provide energy for our bodies. Without enough the muscle building process will slow down because your muscle tissue can be used as energy. You want to be eating mostly complex, high-fiber, low glycemic carbohydrates as opposed to simple carbs found in processed and junk foods. Try to eat mostly whole grains, brown rice, barley, oatmeal, beans, buckwheat and cornmeal along with a good variety of fruits and vegetables.

Fourth, getting the right kind of fats in our body is essential to any healthy diet. About 30% of your caloric intake should be fat. There are 3 kinds of fat, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, and the key is to balance your intake by consuming about 1/3 of each of these in a day. Since most North American’s are lacking in mono (olive oils) and poly fats (fish oils) and get enough saturated then you want to be sure in increase the amount olive oil and fish oil in your diet.

Finally, choose whole foods as much as possible. To optimize your health and muscle gain plan on eating good healthy food at least 80% of the time. By following these tips to eating good food to build muscle you will be well on your way to gaining top health benefits that will promote the best possible muscle gain.

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Source by Wanda St Tremaine