#HealthBytes: Top 5 food items to gain muscles
In a health (read appearance) conscious society, where everyone is obsessed with losing weight and getting as slim as life permits, there are many who would like to gain a bit of healthy weight. If you're clinically underweight, or just want to gain some healthy weight, your food choices become crucial. Here are 5 food items that can help you gain healthy muscle weight.
Eggs
Eggs are one of the world's favorite breakfast foods, and for good reason. They supply enough energy and nutrients to keep one from thinking about food until everyone around has started rushing for lunch. With just one whole egg, you get 75 calories, 5 grams of fat, and roughly 6 grams protein, plus the essential B-12 vitamin. So, go boil some now!
Soy food items
All soy-based food items are great sources of protein, so much so that their protein content is high enough to compete with their non-vegetarian counterparts. From soybean to soy milk, tofu to soy nuts, there is plenty of protein-packed soy food items to choose from. So, include some of them in your daily diet to build muscle strength.
Nuts and nut butters
Nuts, nut butters, and other seeds are great protein-rich options. With just a handful of nuts (25-30 grams), you get 5-7 grams of protein, depending on the type of the nut or seed variety. Further, they are also rich in fiber, healthy fats, iron, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. However, keep your intake limited to avoid getting fat.
Dairy food items
In addition to being great sources of calcium, dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt etc.) also contain decent amount of protein in them. One cupful of milk will give you about 8 grams of protein, while a cup of low-fat yogurt contains about 13 grams of dietary protein. Paneer is another great option- just one ounce of it provides nearly 7 grams protein.
Oats/Oatmeal
Not complete protein, but as compared to other grains (wheat and rice), oats are a good source of high-quality protein. A half-cup of dry-oats (ie. 120 ml) will supply you with nearly 6 grams of protein and 4 grams fiber. They also have decent amount of magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and folate. Above all, who doesn't love delicious oatmeal for breakfast?
