Useful Muscle Building Foods to Add To Your Diet Routine

When it comes to making "top ten" lists regarding muscle building foods, I'm not exactly the biggest advocate. But it is good to know what these foods are. You need to be eating quality sources when you're trying to work on your body and your muscular composition. It's more than what you eat. It's the timing of what you eat as well. Food does in fact impact your ability to build muscle and add muscle. Some people want to make it all about protein. And protein is important, but you can't build muscle without fats and carbs as well.

For starters, let's examine a few musclebuilding foods you'll want in your home.

First, there's yogurt. This easily digestible dairy source is full of protein. Not only is it a great protein source, it has healthy bacteria which aids in digestion when eating other foods. If I were making a must-have list of muscle building foods, this would definitely be on my list. Pair some yogurt with some delicious fruit and this will stave off cravings for sweets. I enjoy yogurt and fruit to start my day every morning. Love ice cream? Yogurt has that same cool temperature and smooth texture.

Eggs: Eggs have the highest protein digestion rating of any natural protein source. Another one of the must have muscle building foods. Scramble them up for a very quick, easy breakfast PACKED with protein. Take half a dozen eggs and slip them into a bowl. Whisk them into a frenzy. Add veggies and possibly some onions or salsa and you are set to go. It's rather amazing that, for the amount of protein you get, the fat content is right about where it should be. The body needs some fat to make foods absorb more gradually, thereby eliminating drastic blood glucose elevations.

Chicken Breasts: Yes, we all know animal flesh has a lot of protein in it, but chicken has it all beat hands down. Chicken is the top muscle building foods in the animal product department. Chicken breasts are so versatile. You can make an amazing assortment of foods with chicken breasts. They are a terrific thing to keep on hand. Chicken fajitas and enchiladas are two of my very favorites. Chicken fajitas cannot be beat for perfect muscle building meals.

Rice, Potatoes, and Yams: Carbohydrates sure have taken a beating in recent years. Stop listening to people saying, "all carbs are bad!" These sources actually provide essential nutrients that make protein do its job better. Rather than chewing up your protein sources, which you need for building muscle, your body will eat up the carbs you take in. This means you're spending WAY more money on protein just for daily energy, when that's the carb's job! Carbs are especially crucial for naturally skinny hard gainers. If you're trying to gain muscle and you tend to be slender, then you really have to ramp up your carb consumption.

Better Nutrition requires post-training consumption of simple carbs and fat-free meals

Basically, post-workout is the time for carbs that break down quickly. Remember, do NOT eat or drink fatty foods following your workout. You want the muscle to quickly absorb the nutrients during this period of time and fat will slow down this process.

The rest of the day, consume fat in your diet

Consume moderate amounts of fat throughout the day, NOT following your workout. The problem with eating fat-free meals is that your body tends to absorb those meals at a faster rate than your body can use them. This can lead to that high sugar "rush" (elevated blood glucose), which ultimately results in a sudden and dramatic loss of energy. Proper fat intake at proper times of the day can help you avoid this. This fat will help you slow your absorption rate and you won't have that spike and crash you will get otherwise.

Summary: Obviously there are a lot more musclebuilding foods than what I mentioned here, but this is a great start.