Unexpected Foods that Build Muscle

Although there are some unexpected foods that build muscle, the basics of building muscle remain the same: increase your quantity of quality protein taken on a daily basis and workout with weights or perform body weight exercises to strengthen and develop your musculature. Avoid bad foods (junk food) that offer no nutrition and spike your insulin and make sure your caloric intake is sufficient to meet your needs without being too high to cause fatty weight gain.

Unexpected Foods that Build Muscle

These fundamental rules override anything else (for natural muscle gain, at least…). That is not to say however that other foods don’t offer benefits at the micronutrient level and for variety and optimization of muscle gains you might want to look at these unexpected foods that build muscle.

1. Apples. Apples provide us with a whole range of health benefits. They can also help in muscle growth because they contain a higher level of ursolic acid than other foods. Ursolic acid can help to concentrate the level of IGF-1 in the blood. IGF-1, or Insulin-like Growth Factor-1, consists of 70 amino acids and is most prevalent during the years of puberty. It promotes protein synthesis and encourages the body to burn fat as a source of energy. Best of all from the point of view of muscle gain is that IGF-1 causes our cells to split (hyperplasia). With a nutritious diet and regular training those extra cells can then be developed in size and strength. Once we reach adulthood our muscle cell number is otherwise fixed.

2. Ginger. Again, like apples, ginger offers a diverse range of health benefits. With regard to building muscle, the first thing to note is that ginger helps to burn calories. Fair enough, this isn’t building your muscle as such, but in order to look ripped you need to lower your body fat percentage and ginger will help you achieve this. It can also help reduce muscle soreness by as much as 25%. This aids in recovery and allows you to hit the gym harder. Best of all, it is a strong anti-estrogen food and tests on lab rats have shown that it increases their testosterone production level by double. You may need to look at a supplement here to get the full benefits (unless you really like eating ginger…).

3. Holy Basil. This herb is great for improving the circulation of testosterone in our bodies. Testosterone is obviously vital in making significant strength gains but unfortunately it can become bound up in times of stress. Holy basil helps to unbind that testosterone and make sure it is circulating in our bodies at a higher rate. Holy basil is therefore also great if you are going through a stressful period.

4. Green Tea. Regular readers will already know that this comes up a lot. I have previously mentioned that green tea is just about the best thing you can put into your body for innumerable health benefits. It can help us in our quest for a better physique by increasing our testosterone level for one to two hours. Taken before a workout therefore a cup of green tea can grant us the ability to lift more for longer while also reducing muscle soreness and promoting a quick recovery (allowing you to lift more for longer…and so the cycle repeats itself).

Protein for Building Muscle and Burning Fat

Using protein for building muscle and burning fat is an important consideration for an athlete . A training program is necessary to build muscle and, to a lesser extent, to burn fat. However, any training program used in conjunction with poor daily nutrition is not going to give you the results you are looking for. You cannot out train a poor diet.　You need to be eating the right food at the right time to optimize your results.

There are three macronutrients necessary to base a healthy diet on: carbohydrates, fats and protein. In this article I will look at protein for building muscle and burning fat.　Protein is found throughout the body: in muscles, skin, bones. It was recognized by ancient Greeks as being the primary building block of the body and it is necessary for, among other things, muscle growth and repair. More fundamentally protein is created from twenty-two standard amino acids (there are in total more amino acids than this, but these are the ones that constitute protein). Of the twenty-two standard amino acids, nine are known as essential amino acids while the remainder are non-essential amino acids. An essential amino acid cannot be synthesized by the human body and they must therefore be ingested as part of one’s daily diet. Protein itself cannot therefore be created by the human body and must be taken in as part of a regular diet.

Protein for Building Muscle and Burning Fat

A fundamental point then is to recognize that in order to build muscle you need to be taking in protein regularly (a portion with each meal preferably). Losing weight is possible, easier even, without protein but it must be remembered that your weight loss in that case will include a loss of muscle mass (losing weight and losing fat are not the same thing). You should also consider that if you are successful in building muscle your overall weight may well increase (depending on where you are starting from and even if you are also burning fat). Your aim is to build muscle AND burn fat. For this result then using protein for building muscle and burning fat is necessary.

An interesting and relevant point is that of the three macronutrients, protein requires the most energy to digest. Known as the thermic effect, digesting protein raises your metabolism higher than either carbs or fats during the digestive process. (This should not be confused with burning fats, carbs or protein once they are digested). Raising your metabolism and keeping it raised it considered a primary method of burning fat. Eating smaller meals more often is also a good way of ensuring your metabolism remains strong while others advocate consuming protein before sleeping to ensure that your metabolism keeps ticking over.

The best sources of protein include fish, turkey, chicken, lean beef, eggs (preferably egg whites. Eggs are something you may wish to experiment with. The egg yolk is a good source of protein and various nutrients but also containｓ cholesterol), Greek yogurt and whey protein (found in protein shakes). The actual amount you take in is also something you are going to have to figure out by yourself. The commonly accepted amount is 1.0 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of total body weight for people who are seriously exercising on a regular (5-6 days a week) basis. So if you weigh 200 pounds you want to be consuming 200-300 grams of protein a day. Hard gainers though may struggle here just to consume that quantity and it should be remembered that excess protein will either be turned to waste or stored as fat. Everyone’s digestive system is different and one’s kidneys and liver (used to process protein) will function at different levels for different people. This is why drinking plenty of water is important: protein is difficult to fully digest and makes the digestive system work hard. Water smooths this process. These figures are guidelines only and are for athletes engaged in vigorous activity intending to build muscle. At the other end of the scale an adult should be looking at around 0.8 grams of protein per pound of weight for maintenance.

One of the best times to take protein is following a work out. Again, there is all kinds of science suggesting different windows of opportunity for optimal muscle growth but aiming to eat a source of protein within an hour of a workout is a good place to start. As with all other areas, experiment for yourself and find out what works best for you.

In summary using protein for building muscle and burning fat can be an effective approach to take towards building lean muscle and getting ripped. Protein is a primary component of our body (as are therefore the standard amino acids) and we need to replace it on a meal to meal basis. This will promote muscle growth which in turn will lead us to burning more fat. By making the body work to digest protein we will also burn fat. Protein keeps our metabolism high and allows us to reap the full benefits of training for muscle growth.