A list of 22 healthiest foods to gain muscle mass faster.
Building muscle is a fantastic way to improve your overall health, and has been scientifically shown to help you liver a longer life.
Muscle growth also improves your mental health, boosts your immune system and can protect the joints from weakening with age.
In order to build strong and healthy muscle tissue, you need to be eating the right foods rich in amino acids and other key nutrients.
These provide the raw materials and enzymes that the body uses to build muscle fibre and connective tissues.
In today's video we will share with you a list of the best 22 foods in the world to gain muscle mass faster, and the fastest ways to build muscle.
1. Eggs
Consume 3 whole eggs after a workout to rapidly speed up muscle growth. Eggs are rich in protein, vitamins and natural fats. They contain all 9 essential amino acids that the body uses to build muscle fiber. Only consume pasture raised, organic eggs as these contain more nutrients.
2. Olive Oil
Extra virgin olive oil should be a staple part of the diet for anyone who wishes to build muscle. It is rich in healthy monounsaturated fats which boost muscle protein synthesis, helping your muscles to recover and grow after weight lifting.
3. Cottage Cheese
We build the most muscle tissue whilst we sleep, as we recover from our training. Eating cottage cheese at night time helps to release amino acids into the blood and muscles through the night. It is packed with casein protein which digests slowly for muscle growth and also provides compounds that boost your immune system.
4. Bell Peppers
Eating 1 bell pepper per day is enough to meet your Vitamin C requirements. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps you to make anabolic hormones for muscle growth such as testosterone. It also helps to form collagen for faster growing muscles.
5. Salmon
Wild caught salmon is one of the most balanced foods, with the perfect amount of fat and protein. The omega 3 fatty acids in salmon boost protein synthesis for bulking up muscles. Omega 3 is also anti-inflammatory which speeds up the muscle growth process.
6. Bone Broth
Bone broth is by far one of the best drinks you can consume when building muscle. It is the richest source of collagen and amino acids in the world. Drinking this reduces inflammation and speeds up recovery time after a workout.
7. Fenugreek Seeds
Adding fenugreek seeds to salads helps your muscles to grow at a faster rate. They contain saponins which help to regulate hormones like testosterone for muscle growth.
8. Apple Cider Vinegar
Drinking 1-2 tablespoons of ACV in a glass of water with meals, is one of the best ways to absorb more nutrients by strengthening the stomach. This naturally boosts energy levels, muscle growth and reduces aching and pain from workouts.
9. Avocados
When building muscles, the body needs certain minerals and vitamins. These feed the enzymes that convert your food into muscle. Enzymes are the bodies "factory workers" that convert food fuels into tissues. Avocados provide an enormous amount of potassium, which helps the cells to absorb protein. The healthy fats in avocados also boost 'growth hormone' which triggers muscle growth.
10. Kale
Many professional athletes consume only 80-120g of protein per day and have very large muscles. Surprisingly, the body doesn't require enormous amounts of protein. The best muscle builders eat lots of leafy greens such as Kale on a daily basis. This is packed with plant-based nutrients that help the body to synthesize protein for muscle growth.
11. Beef
A healthy red meat which is also a rich source of Vitamin B6 and B12. Beef is excellent in the development of healthy muscles and provides energy to the body. It is also very high in iron which supports blood cells in transporting oxygen around the body. Iron can stimulate cell growth, especially in muscle tissue.
12. Shellfish
Shellfish like oysters, crab and mussels are rich in minerals including Zinc. This boosts the testosterone hormone which is very important when building muscle. It acts with nuclear receptors in DNA which triggers protein synthesis and increases growth hormone.
13. Mineral Water
Avoid alkaline waters as these can cause problems with the Ph levels of the blood. We recommend consuming BPA free mineral water preferably from a volcanic source. This water is loaded with trace minerals that are essential for hydration and gaining muscle mass.
14. Beef Liver
We recommend consuming grass fed beef liver to supercharge your gains and boost muscle mass. Liver is loaded with Vitamin A and other essential nutrients needed to build muscle tissue. It is also an amazing source of protein and CoQ10, which reduces muscle fatigue during exercise.
15. Blackberries
Dark berries provide important antioxidants that the body needs to grow and repair tissues. The darkest berries like blueberries and blackberries provide anthocyanins.
These are anti-aging phytochemicals which help blood flow to the muscles, enhance metabolic performance and reduce muscle fatigue.
16. Chicken Breast
All body builders are familiar with chicken breast as a source of protein, but did you know that eating conventional meat can cause inflammation? Switch to grass fed, pasture raised chicken as this contains much higher amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, to help your muscles grow faster and with less pain.
17. Walnuts
Walnuts are a great source of plant protein, and nutrients that improve brain health. Iodine and selenium in walnuts also helps to balance thyroid hormones when exercising, for promoting an overall clean, lean and healthy body. Pecans and pistachios are also excellent.
18. Greek Yoghurt
Greek yoghurt is a fermented dairy product which contains double the amount of protein than regular yoghurt. This feeds friendly bacteria in the gut which have many health benefits, for better digestion and absorption of amino acids and fibre.
19. Lime
Freshly squeezed lemon juice and lime juice are rich in citrates which helps to flush the muscles of lactic acid. This detoxifies the blood for better athletic performance and higher energy levels. Drink this in water each day to supercharge your body for faster muscle growth and recovery.
20. Turmeric
This ancient spice helps your body to tap into its fat reserves for energy by supporting a healthy pancreas. This is one the most powerful anti-inflammatory spices for reducing pain after workouts, and building muscle faster.
21. Nutritional Yeast
This is the healthiest source of the Vitamin B complex, which helps the breakdown of protein and carbs in the body, to make energy for muscle cells. Consuming this increases muscle repair and prevents cramping and aching. B Vitamins also reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone) which can cause muscles to breakdown if left unchecked.
22. Leafy Greens
Be sure to load up on leafy greens every single day to rapidly build up your musculature.
Studies show that swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, arugula, beet tops, bok choy, Brussels sprouts and other cruciferous vegetables are essential for building strong muscles.
These greens are loaded with potassium and trigger enzymes which convert protein to muscle, and prevent muscle breakdown with time. They also detoxify the liver and protect the cardiovascular system with exercise.
As you can see, a healthy diet is very important when it comes to building muscle quickly and naturally.
Now we will take a look at some other important points which you need to be aware of if you want to seriously boost your muscle gains.
The Protein Myth
Building muscle isn't all about protein, in fact the body doesn't need large amounts of protein for muscle growth.
Eating around 0.8 -1g of protein per pound of body weight each day is more than enough to stimulate muscle growth.
The key to building muscle is consuming a nutrient dense diet, and meeting all of your macro and micronutrient daily requirements, and performing resistance training.
We recommend avoiding whey protein, as this is very unhealthy for the liver. If you do use a protein powder, organic whole egg protein is the best.
Resistance Training
When you exercise using weights and gym equipment, you add stress to the muscle which causes micro tears in muscle tissue.
The body then uses the vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins from your diet to repair and grow larger muscles.
Recovery
Muscle growth only takes place during recovery, so it's extremely important to take days off to allow the tissue to repair and grow.
Over training will only damage the muscles and make it harder for your body to build them back up.
Sleep
We build the most muscle whilst we sleep, and recover from our exercise. This is why sleep is incredibly important when it comes to gaining weight.
When we sleep our pituitary gland releases Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which stimulates growth, cell reproduction and cell regeneration in the entire body, including the muscles.
Chronic Stress
If you suffer with chronic stress, or anxiety then you may find it a slower process to gain muscle.
High stress in the body releases a hormone called cortisol, which is destructive to muscle tissue.
Women in particular in menopause or post menopause tend to lose muscle tissue because of high cortisol levels.
This is also common in men, you will notice that the leg muscles become thinner over the age of 50. This is also caused by high cortisol.
Finding ways to manage stress is essential, we recommend improving your sleep by consuming nutritional yeast mentioned earlier.
Along with Kombucha Tea and a herb called Rhodiola.
Nutrient Dense Diet
Loading up on leafy greens, healthy fats and various nutrients is important. These foods are the real builders of protein, as they feed the important enzymes in the body.
Enzymes are the "factory workers" which convert food based protein and amino acids, into body muscle.
Insulin
Insulin is another important factor when it comes to building muscle. If you have too much insulin, your cells may reject energy and protein.
For this reason, you should aim to keep sugars and processed carbs out of the diet.
These can cause insulin resistance which blocks energy from going into muscle cells, therefore slowing muscle growth.
Fasting
Intermittent Fasting is a simply diet trick which involves eating all of your calories in an 8 hour window during the day. This spikes (HGH) human growth hormone which rapidly boosts your muscle growth.
HIIT
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the best form of activity to rapidly boost this hormone, and will also help you to sleep peacefully at night, furthering growth hormone secretion even more.
Summary
There is a lot to think about when it comes to growing muscle and gaining muscle mass. Simply remember to bulk up on salad rather than refined carbs, and keep your protein intake moderate.
Perform regular resistance training, and keep your stress levels down by allowing yourself extra time for sleep and recovery.
In our other videos we go into more detail on building muscle, including the best minerals, vitamins and tools.
Be sure to select our "Muscle Health* playlist at the end to learn more.
CONVERSATION