Weight Gain Myths and Mistakes

There are many myths surrounding weight gain. A a simple search on the internet on weight gain shows up thousands upon thousands of results – some are based on supplements, some on myths and techniques that promise to make you bigger and stronger. You may wonder – do they work? Well in most cases no. It is not that easy, you cannot simply pop a pill and gain weight. Gaining weight, is a matter of being realistic and working hard over a period of time. Let’s look into some of the myths and mistakes that surround weight gain.

Do you need to take supplements to gain weight?

One of the most prevalent myths in the weight gain industry is that you need to take supplements in order to gain weight. This is a myth. You can get everything that you require from food sources to gain weight. So many people are keen for the quick fix that they believe everything that supplement marketers tell them. One of the most alarming issues with supplements is that they do not have scientific research to back up their suggested benefits, and there can be real safety concerns about the quality of supplements. Many of the supplements available today have no testing to check what the long term risks are on our health. It is possible that these manufactured supplements can cause serious health issues.

Can you really gain weight quickly?

Another myth surrounding weight gain is that you can do it quickly. If a claim seems too good to be true it probably is! If you find that a supplement or product claims that you can gain a large amount of weight in a short time it will be a myth. You simply cannot put on weight that quickly! For most people an increase of 200 – 500grams a week is realistic – if you see a claim like “gain 5kg in 2 weeks” you know that it’s not possible!

Do you need to eat truckloads of protein?

Another myth that is popular around muscle and weight gain is that you need to consume large amounts of protein. This is untrue. Although you need to consume more energy overall you should not overdo your protein intake. Protein should only make up 12 – 15 % of the contribution to your daily calorie intake. For someone who is consuming 2300 calories a day that is 66.75 – 86.25 grams of protein per day. Excessive protein intake can cause major health problems. One of these is stress on the kidneys. The kidneys are responsible for filtering blood and producing urine. If an individual consumes more protein than they require this puts extra strain on the filtering ability of the kidneys. If you have an underlying kidney problem you risk damaging your kidneys further.

Be aware of the material that you read

Be very careful if you are reading information on the internet (except her of course ) or magazines – there is a huge amount of fabricated information out there. Remember that you can gain weight by eating real food and that you really do need to give it some time.

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