Healthy Weight Gain When Following A Paleo Diet
There are plenty of people who rather than trying to lose weight are in fact trying to gain it. But rather than gaining fat these people are aiming to gain muscle mass. These people are lucky as they have a lot more options open to them that can help them to achieve these goals especially as they are healthy.
However, for others, the reason for them trying to put on weight can be because of something more serious. They may suffer from Celiac disease or are trying to recover from another illness or have been suffering from anorexia.
It doesn’t matter why a person wishes to put on weight the great thing about the Paleo diet is that we can use it to address these, even though it may prove somewhat tricky. Doctors often will not consider suggesting a patient follows this diet because it doesn’t contain enough calories to help with a healthy weight gain.
Okay, the doctors are right, to a point. If you are someone who lifts a lot of weights then you will find following this diet won’t help. However, for all others wanting to gain weight including those wanting to build muscle naturally or to help recover from chronic disease will find following a Paleo diet can help.
So How Can This Diet Help With Healthy Weight Gain?
Here are a few steps worth considering:
Step 1 – Improve The Way Your Stomach Functions
Whether you are attempting to build more muscle or wanting to recover from a condition that has caused you to lose weight. The first step that needs to be taken by you is to ensure that your stomach works effectively. It is important that your body benefits more from the nutrients and calories it absorbs rather than what you eat.
If you think eating more food will help you, think again. For example, a person who suffers from Crohn’s Disease will find that absorption of macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates, and fat is difficult. This is the reason why so many people with this condition find it hard to maintain a weight considered to be healthy even when they are eating enough.
Improving how your stomach functions are long and can often be quite a frustrating process. However, by eliminating foods like grains, legumes, and dairy from the diet can help to reduce the irritation to the gut.
Step 2 – Eat More Healthy Fat
After you have worked on improving the way your stomach functions now is the time to focus more on how to get sufficient amounts of calories into your body. There are plenty of people who say that Paleo food is calorie poor, but this isn’t right. There are plenty of healthy foods you can eat as part of this diet which are calorie dense and perfect with assisting with a healthy weight gain goals.
The problem you will be faced with is actually that eating too many natural whole foods can prove difficult, especially when you are looking to put weight on.
By increasing your intake of fat you are helping to put weight on. You may not realise it but each gram of fat you eat contains 9 calories, whereas each gram of carbohydrate or protein you eat only contains 4.
The kinds of fatty foods that are acceptable to be eaten as part of a Paleo diet include fatty meats, nuts and seeds, oils, coconut (including various coconut products) and avocados. For example, rather than eating broccoli replace it with avocado and instead of a piece of fish go for some pork shoulder instead. Another easy way to get extra healthy fats into your diet is to stir-fry some vegetables in some coconut oil rather than steaming them.
Step 3 – Increase Your Intake Of Carbs
This is a very important step to remember when you want to gain weight in a healthy manner. It is especially important to increase your carb intake when recovering from a serious illness or eating disorder. You need to replenish your carbs as they help to improve your health more quickly.
The kinds of carbs that you should include into your diet that are especially healthy include not only sweet potatoes but white ones. Also, you’ll find yams, plantains and other root vegetables can help. When it comes to fruit then the best ones to be eating are bananas not only are they provide you with a good source of carbs, but also contain a lot more glucose. This is better for you when exercising than the fructose you find in most other fruits.
Step 4 – Include Foods With Good Levels Of Micronutrients In Them
But don’t think that eating plenty of vegetables will help you achieve this. You need to look carefully at what each one contains. One vegetable that should be included in your Paleo diet to put weight on is avocado. As well as containing plenty of good fat and lots of calories, this food is a good source of certain micronutrients. The kinds it contains include Vitamin C, E, and K and all the B types (except for B12). Also, it contains plenty of phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, and magnesium that the body needs.
Other foods which contain high levels of nutrients in them and which are accepted as part of a Paleo diet include liver pate, fatty fish and bone marrow.
If you keep the steps above in mind then putting on weight won’t prove such a problem. Plus it will be a healthy weight gain.