Many people want to have bigger muscles. They do this by packing in protein, lifting heavier weights and hitting the gym harder like there’s no tomorrow. However, it is possible that we don’t get the muscle gains that we wanted. One of the most common reasons is that we lack the proper protein. This can be quite frustrating for people who have worked so hard, because all the effort and money expended can’t provide the desired results. In reality, we want to build muscle mass, we need to provide our body with the necessary construction materials; especially protein and fat.
The easiest way to do this is consume meat; because it could provide us with much of the necessary nutritional requirements. There are many kinds of protein, but the best type of protein for muscle building is leucine. It helps to improve protein metabolism in our body. Saturated fat is something that we usually want to avoid, but during muscle building period; we need it at healthy amounts. It will help the production of testosterone, needed to build our muscle. Unsaturated fat should also be obtained at proper amount and it is important for hormone transfer. There are some types of minerals that we need to consume. Selenium is a natural antioxidant and it can help to protect our newly build muscle cells. Zinc is essential for good protein synthesis; with saturated fat; it is also useful for boosting testosterone production.
When we want to obtain leucine and other muscle-building protein types; we should consider eating tuna and venison. Beef, ostrich, chicken and turkey also provide decent amount of protein for building muscle mass; around 22 grams of protein per 100 grams. However, tuna and venison provide us with the highest amount of leucine and other beneficial protein. Lamb seems to have the least amount of protein, so at about 17 grams per 100 grams; so eating it will give us the least result.
Saturated fats are things that we need to avoid; but our body still needs it at limited amount or more when we need to build muscle. As long as we don’t over consume fat, we should still be at good conditions. Tuna, chicken and turkey have low saturated fats; except for poultry skin. Beef provides us decent amount of saturated fat and it should be able to boost our testosterone level. It means that we will have enough muscle-building hormones. We should also try to obtain enough unsaturated fat; especially from mackerel and salmon. This type of fat will help the absorption of any fat-soluble vitamin. Lifting heavy weights in gym will cause plenty of micro-tear and other damages in our muscle. Some amount of free radicals will also be produced. It means that during muscle building sessions; we need to obtain enough antioxidants. Vitamin A, E and K should be able to support our system. In this case, mackerel and salmon could provide us with plenty of unsaturated fats; while mackerel, ostrich and tuna are rich in selenium.