Top 7 Best Foods to Gain Weight for a Healthy Life

If one is on the skinny side and wants to build your body, one must exercise a lot but one must also eat food items that can help one gain weight – as an excess amount of proteins and calories are needed for building the body. Proteins are used in creating new muscles but calories get used during exercises.

While there are lots of food items that can help one gain weight, most of them are full of disproportionate amounts of carbohydrates and fats that remain consumed with little by way of proteins. It is important to maintain a balance in nutrition if one wants to gain weight healthily. The following list contains some such food items that are good if one is trying to maintain a weight gain diet.

List of Food Items to Gain Weight

Let us get started:

1. Peanut butter

The first and one of the most important weight-gain food items is Peanut butter. It is rich in protein and can be a better substitute for dairy-based protein. It is of particular advantage to vegan and vegetarian people who are trying to gain weight healthily while still maintaining their diet.

2. Whey

Lots of professional bodybuilders will swear by whey. Whey is the richest source of proteins. Most proteins marketed for those trying to build their bodies are based on whey. The quantity of whey you consume should be limited. A single or even half glass of whey can be enough for moderate or simpler workouts. One side-effect of whey is that it can often lead to the formation of acne on the skin. If that is the case with someone, they want to go with some other products that can close enough substitutes like milk or plant-based proteins.

3. Soya milk

Soya milk and Soya milk-based products (as long as artificial flavors are not added) are a perfect product for gaining weight – and they can also be adopted by people with vegan and vegetarian lifestyles.

4. Red meats

Lean and thin slices of red meat are a perfect source of protein and an iron-rich diet. The importance of proteins has already been established while Iron is required for the formation of hemoglobin needed by the body to carry oxygen to cells. If the body gets optimum Iron, it can help one feel energetic and help burn calories faster. Women trying to gain weight must be extra careful in eating enough iron-rich food.

If you are allergic to meat, vegan or vegetarian, or just don’t want to eat meat, green leafy vegetables, nuts, Oats, and tofu are some other iron-rich food items that you can try.

5. Homemade protein smoothies

As mentioned earlier, proteins are of critical importance if one is trying to build muscles. Unfortunately, the protein smoothies available in the market contain lots of sugar just to give them a pleasant taste. This sugar content not only reduces the number of proteins you end up taking but is in too excess for a healthy diet.

6. Pulses

Pulses are mostly water and proteins. They can help keep one’s calorie intake in check while adding to your protein consumption. Their water content can also be good for maintaining proper hydration in the body.

7. Green leafy vegetables

The last but not the least important food item to make it to this list of food items that can help one gain weight is green leafy vegetables. Vegetables can’t be ignored by anyone trying to live healthily particularly if one wants to gain weight healthily. They are rich sources of nutrients such as iron and vitamins. The importance of iron has already been established above. Vitamins are needed for the proper functioning of the body. Green leafy vegetables are a good source that people with vegan and vegetarian lifestyles too can adopt.

The above list contains only some of the best food items for those trying to gain weight, the list is too big to be contained here. However, the consumption of these food items should come with an otherwise balanced diet and daily workouts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

There are several questions people ask that relate to the above list of food items. The following are some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) on this topic.

Question: What to do if one is lactose intolerant?

Answer: In that case, you can go for milk substitutes. Some of these like Soya milk and peanut butter are already discussed. Butter based on nuts is delicious too. While Quinoa is the best substitute for whey, soya milk is a close enough option.

Question: What are some of the things to be kept in mind while taking the above food items to gain weight?

Answer: The following are some of the things to be kept in mind while consuming these food items listed in the above list in trying to gain weight:

• The consumption of these food items must be combined with a good amount of exercise.
• Consumption of these food items must stay moderate and in proportion to your exercise regime
• People that have pre-existing health conditions are allergic or on medication, or otherwise have sensitive health should consult an expert before making any changes to their diet.
• The same pregnant or breastfeeding women may want to make sudden abrupt changes in diets prescribed by physicians.
• Be cautioned that the information in this article is for general purposes only and may not apply to specific cases.

If the reader has any other questions, they should feel free to ask them in the comments below.

The Bottom Line

One can easily wrap up the above discussion by concluding that there are good options for vegetarian, vegan, and non-vegetarian people as well as for those that maybe have allergies to some foods or be lactose intolerant if one is trying to gain weight and also willing to exercise hard.