The following is a small list I just put together of the best foods for muscle growth. When it comes to building muscle and having a lean physique I usually recommend avoiding the following:
- sugar
- artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame K)
- artificial colors (really bad for you)
- fried food (hydrogenated oil)
- nitrates (usually found in meats)
- soy food
- alcohol
- artificial preservatives
- caffeine
That is the first step to a better physique. It’s counterproductive if you are going to consume the garbage above and then try to build muscle mass. After that is exercise. Once you stop putting krap into your body then all that is left is the good stuff. Protein, grains, fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, and super foods.
Superfoods are great. I call them super foods because these are foods that you can eat to help you increase muscle mass. Muscle mass is increased by lifting weights and eating a diet higher in protein and higher quality foods. Supplements come AFTER (most of the time). So many people turn to supplements to increase muscle first BEFORE superfoods. But if you look to get a superfood into your body once or twice a day you are going to see better results. Here is a list that I have put together and you should try to have one of these per day. Keep in mind I left out of this list common things that you should know about like lean protein, vegetables, grains, eggs…those things are common sense. Consuming higher levels of protein is common sense. I tried to make this list contain more unique foods that are out there that you may never think of.
The Best Foods For Muscle Growth
Sweet Potatoes (One of the Big 3 Bodybuilding Carbs)
I love sweet potatoes because they are jammed with nutrients and vitamins. Not only that but they are low in sugar and will not cause a big insulin spike like maltodextrin or dextrose. Sweet Potatoes are complex carbs and when you get them they are broken down into glucose. Sweet potatoes contain iron which help with blood production. Want a better pump? Start consuming sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes contain vitamin A and C, two importaant nutrients to help with muscle recovery. If you cannot eat sweet potatoes, you can get them in powder form here.
Pomegranates (Pre Post Workout Anti-Estrogen Bonus)
I have written extensively about pomegranates. I love them. You can use them for post workout nutrition. I love the anti-estrogen benefits. Right now you can eat them or get the juice. I’m trying to secure a powder but that is proving to be difficult, maybe one day.
Sea Cucumber (Cytotoxic Bodybuilding Food)
Weird food, but if you can consume it, it’s very good for you. They contain a boatload of nutrients including vitamins and minerals, and anti-oxidants. The sea cucumber is cytotoxic, which means it kills cancer cells. They also contain compounds called triterpene glycosides, which have anti-cancer, anti-fungal, and immune boosting properties. Additionally, sea cucumber is very high in chondroitin sulfate which will help out the joints. Without question, sea cucumbers are a superfood jammed packed with bodybuilding benefits. Be careful when buying this product, from what I have been told by someone that is sea cucumber expert, there is a lot of low-quality sea cucumber powders being sold on Amazon.com
Tumeric Powder (Perfect 10 Bodybuilding Powder)
I like to call this the perfect 10 bodybuilding powder because not only does it help with things like inflammation and has nootropic effects, but I did find some studies about its pro testosterone effect and anti-estrogen effect.
Here’s the link on the testosterone study.
Here is the link on the anti-estrogen study.
You just cannot go wrong with tumeric powder. If you cannot consume tumeric powder, then simply get the curcuminoids from AFI supplements.
Hawaiian Spirulina (Anabolic Energy)
Spirulina is a super absorbable plant protein that is a complete protein rich in iron, anti-oxidants, minerals, and GLA. This product is made in Hawaii and comes from a small company. The most interesting study I found on spriulina was one that showed that it increased muscle protein synthesis greater than casein.
Here is the study.
Secondly spirulina can help you have more stamina.
If you are going to use spirulina I would only suggest getting the one made by Nutrex. They are the manufacturers located in Hawaii.
Fertile Egg Powder (Killer Anti-Catabolic Agent)
A few years ago I worked to create the world’s first fertile egg powder. What is fertile egg powder and why did I create it. Because fertile egg powder contains naturally occurring follistatin which in turn lowers myostatin. Myostatin “prevents, slows, stops, hinders” in layman’s’ terms muscle growth. I like the product a lot and if you get a chance to try it you can. Keep in mind this product is not going to act like an anabolic steroid or SARMs. It’s natural so the effects I feel are more anti-catabolic than anabolic. But it is loaded with nutrients that are perfect for bodybuilding and muscle growth. Recently the company that holds the patent on it, Myos Rens, published a new study showing it helps increase muscle mass in old people. You can check out the study here.
Now if you want to try this product you can do two things. One you can easily visit a farm and get fertile eggs. What is a fertile egg you ask? Well, it is one that will hatch a chicken if incubated. These eggs are the ones that contain follistatin. If you own a farm you’re in luck, just run out to the hen house and grab some eggs. If you can try to drink them raw because heat will kill the follistatin. Raw eggs can contain salmonella so you have to be careful. But just warning, HEAT will destroy the follistatin.
If you cannot get fertile eggs you can buy the Myos Rens product called Yolked. It is for sale on Amazon.com.
You can buy it here
Pro Tip: If you want to up the game you can eat quail eggs. Now I have never tested quail eggs for follistatin levels, but quail eggs are chicken eggs are steroids. They contain 6 times more phosphorus, 9 times iron, 10 times protein than a chicken egg. So I am guessing that quail eggs contain more follistatin. If I’m wrong no harm no foul.
In conclusion, I hoped you enjoyed my list of the best foods for muscle growth. these products above pack some serious punch. If you incorporate them into your life I think you’ll really enjoy the results. But always remember the supplement industry is filled with snakes and cheats, so always make sure that you buy high quality product, and never look to cut costs by buying from some obscure source. As always if you are unsure if a product is good quality or not and whether you should buy it or not just send me a text 732-901-9600 or hit me up with an email. [email protected] and I”ll do my best to help you. I’ve only been in teh supplement business for 20 years, so I kinda know what I’m doing :).
Alex Rogers is a supplement manufacturing expert. He has been formulating, consulting, & manufacturing dietary supplements since 1998. Alex invented protein customization in 1998 & was the first company to allow consumers to create their own protein blends. He helped create the first supplement to contain natural follistatin, invented whey protein with egg lecithin, & recently imported the world’s first 100% hydrolyzed whey.