What are the Best Foods to Gain Weight?

If you are looking for the fastest way to gain weight then you may need to start looking at your diet. Diet is an important part of every weight gain regime and it’s not always about how much you eat but what you eat that counts!

In today’s guide we shall look at what foods you should be eating to help you reach your ideal weight.

How to Use Food to Gain Weight

It may seem obvious, but to gain weight you need to consume more calories than you expend. The more calories upwards of your expenditure the more weight you will gain.

One of the issues people have is that they feel full before they have consumed enough calories. This is caused when you eat the wrong types of food. The key is to find foods that are high in calories but don’t fill you up too quickly. Another way around it is to eat meals more frequently and snack on high calorie snacks such as nuts, seeds and cheese in between meals.

Best Foods to Gain Weight

There are good foods and bad foods when it comes to a good weight gain regime. No matter whether you’re trying to lose or gain weight it is important that your diet is healthy and balanced, which means ensuring you eat something from each of the food groups each day. We take a closer look at good weight gain foods below.

Protein to Gain Weight

Protein is particularly important when it comes to weight gain success. Proteins are made up of amino acids that are essential for weight gain – particularly if you are after muscle gain rather than fat gain.

Not all proteins are an ideal part of your weight gain regime and some proteins are better for helping you put on weight than others.

Fish is one of the best foods to help you gain weight – particularly tuna, salmon, herring, cod, mackerel and trout. Most shellfish is also recommended. Similarly, white meat such as chicken and turkey are great for healthy weight gain.

Non-roasted nuts such as sunflower seeds, almonds and pumpkin seeds are packed full of calories and good proteins, and make great snacks throughout the day.

Proteins to avoid include: ham, salami, bacon, peanuts and peanut butter.

Carbohydrates to Gain Weight

Carbohydrates are the next food group you need to be consuming from daily, and similarly there are good carbs and bad carbs!  Every successful weight gain diet must include a good amount of unrefined carbohydrates.

Good carbohydrates to include in your weight gain regime include: whole meal bread, potatoes, brown rice and fresh and tinned fruit. Try to avoid white bread, white rice and sweeteners such as lactose, glucose, caster sugar and sucrose.

Fat to Gain Weight

Fat is crucial to gain mass and put on weight. Good fats are not only crucial to weight gain but have a whole range of other healthy benefits. There are two main types of good fats you should be adding to your weight gain diet plan: monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.

Monounsaturated fats are typically found in foods such as olive oil and avocados, whereas polyunsaturated fats can be best found in oil fish. The type of fat you consume is very important to your weight gain diet – and fast-food restaurant burgers and fries do not count!

Still want to know more? Check out ‘The Secrets of Healthy Weight Gain’.