Which Muscle Building Food Do You Need to Build Muscle Fast?
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Having the right muscle building foods is essential to maximize your efforts in the gym and to obtain the body that you want.
Every day you bust your rear in the gym to build muscle. But there is more to packing on lean muscle mass than moving weight. You have to eat right and get the right types of foods for building muscle. All nutritional requirements must be met. If you want a well defined, muscular body, your real goal should to lose fat but to build muscle.
As we discuss throughout this site, building muscle mass requires three key elements: lift heavy weights, get sufficient rest, and eat muscle building food.
What are the Muscle Building Foods?
Some foods to build muscle are obvious. Have you ever heard the saying "like builds like?" Other than water, muscle tissue is composed primarily of protein. The building blocks of protein are amino acids.
When we eat quality protein, it breaks down into amino acids which the body can absorb and use to build and repair muscle tissue. Eating protein helps to make muscle tissue, so red meats, chicken and fish are an excellent way to help build muscle mass. Animal proteins are complete and contain all the essential amino acids we need to build muscle fast. Essential amino acids are the amino acids that cannot be made by the body and must come from outside food sources.
While there is nothing wrong with plant proteins, there is no plant source that has a complete amino acid profile. As a result, it takes more effort to eat combinations that will have all the amino acids needed. However, animal proteins are not without its concerns.
The problem with red meat is fat and cholesterol. We must have some fat in the diet but too much is harmful. The way to reduce these concerns is to choose your meats wisely. Instead of fatty prime rib, we need to choose leaner cuts with fewer fat calories and less saturated fat. For a rich, red meat flavor without so much fat, you can also try elk or venison or ostrich. All are much less fatty than beef products and are excellent foods to build muscle.
Good Sources of Fat Help Build Muscle
It is better to replace these bad fats essential fatty acids from sources like mackerel and salmon. Not only are these fish rich in protein, making them an excellent muscle building food, the fish oils add vitamins and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants prevent tissue damage, decrease inflammation, and hasten repair and muscle building. Olive oil also has properties more desirable than meat fats.
Other Food Sources for Building Muscle
Eggs and low fat dairy products are other good sources of protein and egg whites can be used alone if cholesterol is a big concern.
Add to these foods for building muscle whole grains and legumes (peas, beans and lentils, for example) to provide more protein and slowly burning complex carbohydrates. Seeds and nuts also offer health benefits and a healthier form of fat, though you must be careful with the high calorie content of some nuts.
Protein bars and shakes are a good solution when too busy or while working out. Whey and soy protein powders are two of the most popular protein powders. Our article, Soy Versus Whey Protein – Which is Better?, offers an in depth discussion on the virtue of both protein sources.
Finally, high protein, muscle building foods work best when eaten divided into six or more meals every two or three hours while awake. Eating large, infrequent meals signals your metabolism to slow, and you may start to store excess fat. Think many small meals, and don’t skip meals.
Get the right muscle building foods, lift heavy and get enough rest and you are sure to build muscle fast.
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