Image credit: Oceano Mare
To build muscle & lose fat, you need a variety of proteins, veggies, fruits, carbs, and healthy fats. Eating protein helps building & maintaining muscle. But it also helps fat loss: protein has a higher thermic effect than carbs/fats.
Eating fats also helps fat loss: your body holds fat if you don’t eat fats. Fruits & veggies contain vitamins & minerals, necessary for recovery from your workouts. And carbs fuel your muscles so you feel full of energy at the gym.
Lots of you struggle to get these foods. Sometimes because you’re too busy or sometimes because you just lack information. This list will help you — 20 super foods you need to build muscle & lose fat.
1. Whole Eggs. Cheap & rich source of protein: 7g/egg. The yolk contains most nutrients: half the protein, vitamins A/D/E and cholesterol to naturally increase your testosterone levels.
Don’t worry about cholesterol in eggs. Dietary cholesterol isn’t bound to blood cholesterol. Read this, this, this & this. If you have bad cholesterol, lower your body fat rather than throwing the yolk away.
2. Fish Oil. Reduces inflammation (joints/skin), lowers body fat and increases testosterone levels. You need 9000mg EPA/DHA per day. Since you’ll probably struggle to get that from eating fatty fish, consider a fish oil supplement.
3. Wild Salmon. One of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids that also gets you 20g protein per 100g serving. Farm raised salmon is, however, omega-3 deficient: it’s corn/grain fed. Go with wild salmon.
Image credit: wintercove
4. Berries. Strong antioxidants that prevent cancer, heart & eye diseases. Any kind works: cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. Buy fresh or frozen berries and mix with oatmeal.
5. Yogurt. Contain bacteria that improve your gastrointestinal health. Don’t buy frozen yogurt or yogurt with added sugar and fruits at the bottom. Get plain low fat yogurt. Eat it with berries & flax seeds.
6. Flax Seeds. Source of fiber, protein & omega-3. Grind the flax seeds to get the most out of them. Take 1 tbsp with yogurt & berries before going to bed. Stay away from flax oil: it’s unstable and contains no fiber.
7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 70% monounsaturated fats that protect against heart diseases and cancer. Add 1-2 tbsp olive oil to your salads. Buy Extra Virgin Olive Oil: it contains more polyphenols and tastes better.
8. Mixed Nuts. Contain mono- & polyunsaturated fats, proteins, fiber, vitamin E, zinc, potassium, magnesium, etc. Mixed nuts are caloric dense, great if you’re a skinny guy who wants to gain weight.
Anything works: almonds, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts, … Peanut butter also works as long as you buy natural peanut butter without added salts/sugars.
Image credit: Inside_man
9. Red Meat. Protein, vitamin B12, heme iron, zinc, creatine, carnosine and even omega-3 if you eat grass-fed beef. Eat steaks & hamburgers from top round or sirloin. Read Dr. Lonnie Lowery’s article on Meat.
10. Broccoli. High in cancer-fighting phytochemicals and anti-estrogenic indoles. Broccoli is also high in soluble fiber and low calorie, helping fat loss. Eat other cruciferous vegetables for a change: cabbage, bok choy, cauliflower, kale, …
11. Spinach. One of the most alkaline foods. Spinach prevents muscle & bone loss, but also cancer and heart diseases because of its high nutrient profile. Try one of the spinach recipes I shared a while back.
12. Turkey. If you don’t believe saturated fat is good for you, try white turkey. The leanest beef has about 4.5g saturated fat/100g, while white turkey has close to 0g (that why it’s so dry). Eat turkey with spinach & quinoa.
13. Quinoa. South American “king of grains”. Quinoa is higher in fiber & protein than rice or oats, tastes a lot better and is gluten free. Buy the whiter grain, it’s better quality. Eat it post workout with meat & spinach.
14. Oats. Reduce cholesterol, provide you with low-gi carbs for energy, and high in soluble fiber. Try this post workout shake of whey & oats.
15. Tomatoes. High in lycopene, which prevents cancer. The lycopene in tomato paste is 4 times more bioavailable than in fresh tomatoes. Have pizza or pasta with tomato sauce & olive oil post strength training.
Image credit: gingerbugjones
16. Oranges. Vitamin C to fight diseases, magnesium to lower blood pressure, anti-oxidant beta-carotenes, etc. Quit drinking processed orange juice which often has added sugars. Eat oranges or make your own orange juice.
17. Apples. Pectin in apples helps weight loss by increasing satiety. Apples are also the strongest antioxidiant after cranberries (eat the peels). Unfortunately apples are one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits. Go organic.
18. Carrots. Their huge vitamin A content improves eye-health, especially night vision. Carrots are also rich in fiber, low calorie and taste good, even raw.
19. Water. Your body holds water if you don’t drink enough. Drinking prevents water retention, helps muscle recovery and prevents dehydration from strength training. Get a brita filter and drink 2 cups of water with each meal.
20. Green Tea. Strong antioxidant and natural diuretic. Green tea also speeds up fat loss, prevents cancer and improves blood sugar & circulation. Drink green tea in the morning instead of coffee. Real green tea, not the teabags.
Putting it All Together. Eat proteins, veggies, fruits & fats every 3 hours. 2 cups water with each meal. Carbs post workout only. Junk food 10% of the time. Get stronger in the meanwhile and you’ll build muscle & lose fat.
Mehdi, in #2 you recommend 9000 mg fish oil daily — is that correct? I take a daily supplement capsule that’s only 1000mg, and try to eat tuna and other fish several times a week. But 9000mg a day sounds like a challenge….
@DK
Fish oil sup I use is also 1000mg. I take 9 caps per day (3 morning, 3 post workout, 3 pre bed). You should go with at least 6g.
Your observation on eggs is dead on. I eat six every morning, plus whatever I get in foodstuffs during the day. Most tell me my cholesterol must be through the roof. In reality, my cholesterol is great. So do not believe the egg/cholesterol hype - it is false.
Hi Mehdi, carbs post-workout only? How about pre-workout? For energy at gym, as you said.
If you can find it, Bison/Buffalo meat is an excellent substitute for beef from cattle. Bison is actually more healthy than turkey or chicken. It is extremely low in fat and cholesterol. (About 5g less fat than chicken per 100g serving.)
http://www.buffalohillsbisonmeat.com/nutritional_information.php
A grocery store near me stocks this stuff (flash frozen) and there is a farm close by that sells it fresh. It tastes just like regular old hamburger. You can also get Bison steaks at some restaurants (Ted’s Montana Grill being my favorite.)
If there a reason why fish oil is in, and flax is not? Usually it’s one or the other, or both.
Thanks!
How long does the brita filter last?
Good post very interesting I need to get used to eating fish I guess.
You’re mistaken Mehdi. 1000mg fish oil capsules containts (most of them) 180mg EPA & 120mg DHA. So in order to consume 9000mg EPA & DHA you should eat 30 capsules.
I really like eggs for breakfast and occasional dinner. I have been using egg beaters/egg white b/c they are healthier and allow me to eat larger portions. They also contain good amounts of protein but lack the nutrients you mentioned in real eggs.
Question, which is better? The larger portion with more protein egg white or the more nutritious real egg? Thanks.
Wild salmon often has far less fat overall than farmed salmon.
I love smoked salmon, but the farmed one can sometimes get directly greasy, while the wild one has a completely different texture… Even if you don’t care about the extra fat in your diet from farmed salmon, it’s worth varying it just for the difference in taste.
(and of course smoked salmon works great with eggs)
Nice article but
“Wild Salmon” ?
All the Salmon we eat is raised in aquaculture, no matter what the package might say ;).
4. Berries - what about berry juices such as Cran/Apple or my favorite Cran/Raspberry?
11. Spinach - I find full baby spinach leaves much more palatable in a salad rather than cooked shredded spinach. Is this the same thing?
Great article!
Don’t want to be splitting hairs here, but carrots and night vision is a myth: http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/carrots.asp
Medhi, excellent posting.
My only query is the 9g of omega 3. The jury is still out when it comes to supplements? but I’m sure that this is obtainable from dietary sources without too much difficulty, oily fish is cheap and everywhere.
David
hmmm timely post. I was getting bored with my diet. Its been like 2 months. I got result with that diet. Now that I got this list I can tweak little to make it interesting. Thanks alot Mehdi.
However I got same question as Markus
“carbs post-workout only? How about pre-workout? For energy at gym, as you said.”
If it would be post-workout only then it would be 3x a week.
Excellent post Mehdi.
The only suggestion I’d disagree with is that of a Brita Filter; tap water in most areas has magnesium and calcium minerals which are actually beneficial to someone’s health.
A very nice article that says it all. You probably don’t need to write any other article about nutrition in your blog.
Mehdi, what about
1) milk - drink tall glasses with every meal. Post workout No need for protein powders
2) beans - very cheap, easy to prepare and satisfying
3) cheese - hard cheeses, and goat cheese
Also I tend not to eat fresh things, but I am always blending drinks. Sometimes they are weird like celery, carrot and raspberries, but I find i get more nutrition in that way.
BTW: great newsletter. Especially the ones on motivation and food.
@Tom: If you’ve never eaten wild salmon you’ve missed something. The difference in taste and texture is huge, largely due to the large variations in fat content. The color is usually also very different - the red color in farmed salmon is usually artificial, since the feed used in aqua culture doesn’t give the “right” color, and they rarely get anywhere close to typical hues of wild salmon.
You might believe the packaging lies, but once you’ve actually had wild salmon it’s trivially easy to spot and taste the difference.
If i eat fish does that mean i also get fish oil as well or are they taken as supplements?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Mehdi,
Strawberries != berries?
To be truly pedantic:
“Technically” a tomato is a berry. Even more of a true berry than a strawberry.
Fantastic article! I take 6g of fish oil daily
@Markus/hemram4u
Carbs post workout is fine. You’re getting carbs from veggies/fruit anyway. Remember the title is building muscle & losing fat. I’d recommend different things if your goal would be to gain weight for example.
@Derek
Flax oil is unstable, it goes rancid quickly (check date when you buy some, only lasts for like 8 weeks).
@Young athlete
Brita filter lasts about 6 weeks.
@Blaz86
It’s 9000mg fish oil, not EPA or DHA correct.
@RJ
I’d go for whole eggs. Read the links provided in the egg paragraph, and make up your own mind.
@Ben
Watch out with processed fruit juices, they often have added sugars. Eating berries is a safer bet. Baby spinach leaves is fine.
@David
If you can get EPA/DHA needs from diet, do it. From my experience most people will have a hard time getting to required amounts.
@1st time reply
I’m not a big fan of milk, unless it’s for gaining weight quickly. Not a big fan of cheese neither. Beans are ok yes. Thanks for the kind words.
@nomercy89
Look on nutritiondata.com how much epa/dha you’re getting from eating fish, compare with the 9g fish oil recommend in this article. Most people will not get 9g from diet.
@Rissam
Strawberries are fine too.
I eat about 7 out of 20 every day. I’ll have to work out how to put some of the others in.
Thanks for clarification Mehdi!!
I am going to hit grocery store tonight
Where is the quark?
Great article as always.
A guy of 180 lbs will have to consume 180X18=3240 calories a day.
Assuming 180 g of protein (720 calories) that leaves 2520 calories for carbs and fat. What should be the ratio between carbs and fat?
When you are talking about carbs do you mean grains, starches? Does it make a difference if these are whole grains?
@ Mehdi: When talking about Nuts you mean raw not roasted right?
@ 1st time reply: You’re talking unpasteurised, whole milk right?
@ Rob : There are no where near high enough levels of mag. or cal in tap water. You get those primarily in (organic) vegetables & fruits. However there is plenty of chlorine though which creates carcinogenic compounds when it reacts with organic matter & the taste is nasty too.
Good article, although I disagree with a number of things:
1. Fish oil - You don’t need this, it’s all about getting the omega 6 - omega 3 ratio correct. Ideally you would want anywhere between 1:1 - 4:1 in favour of n6. So fish oil usage depends on your diet overall. There is no set number for everyone.
2. Why plain low fat yoghurt? Opt for the full fat, low carb greek strained yoghurt. Fat is not bad, this includes saturated fat.
3. There is no need to eat every 3hrs, that’s a myth and has been backed up with numerous studies that shows it has no added benefit when comparing iso-calorific diets. Eating once a day would be stupid, thrice would be more beneficial as periods of intermittent fasting help to improve insulin sensitivity.
Good stuff otherwise
Hi Medhi,
Thanks for the great article as always.
A nutritional question about whole eggs:
The eggs we have over here vary drastically between the amount of protein in each egg. Caged eggs are about 4g protein/egg, Free range about 4.5-5.5g/egg and organic is about 7.3-7.7g/egg.
So I assume that the eggs mentioned in the artcle are organic eggs?
I catch a couple dozen 20lb+ wild salmon every year, so I always have an insane amount of it to eat.
Thanks for the list. I had a bowl of oatmeal w/ cinnamon and raspberries for lunch. So delicious!
My biggest problem is running out of these delicious goodies so fast. Making daily grocery store trips really isn’t my thing. But I will definitely add a few of these to the list.
What kind of carbs would you suggest after workout? I usually add honey to the protein shake but it gets really sweet if used too much.
When you say “real green tea, not the teabags” what exactly do you mean? I don’t even know of any other green tea besides the sugary bottled drink.
Red meat is one thing, but beef? I don’t know how you can recommend beef when there are superior alternatives like bison and ostrich.
@Mikeone356
Just focus on eating proteins/veggies/fruits/healthy fats every 3 hours. Eat as much as you want so you don’t get hungry. Carbs (grains/starches) post workout only. No need to count calories that way, you’ll get what you need.
@Zassec
Raw nuts, not roasted, always unprocessed, whole foods.
@Hibiki Joji
Much depends on the size of the eggs you use too.
@Philip
Quinoa & oats, but also rice/pasta/breads. I often eat home made pizza post workout for example.
@elVarouza
Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea there are lot of different kinds of green tea, cheapest/lowest quality is the “gunpowder”.
Does it matter what form we eat eggs in? i.e., boiled or as omelette (fried in oil)
Hi,
Why do you hate teabags? I don’t see any difference. If you don’t eat the leaves that is
Hi Mehdi,
Nice article! And nice site also! This site is what finally made me take the step to start training again after almost ten years with hardly any exercise at all.
Check this out:
http://www.side2.no/helse/article1997759.ece
It’s from Stronglifts! I guess this means your site is becomming mainstream, eh?
About the green tea, how about adding sugar to make it sweet green tea? Is it good or bad?
Cheers
Eggs certainly are a high quality source of protein. Another option for people on the go is Whey Protein Powder. Mixes up with milk to make a quick, high quality protein shake for breakfast and supposed to be an even higher quality protein. I prefer whey protein isolate which has the highest bioavailability, however, you have to get enough carbs with it or it goes to waste since your body needs carbs to process the protein and the isolate doesn’t hang around long.
@Sridhar
No it doesn’t matter, just vary it.
@WilliF
A box of green tea will last a lot longer and is cheaper per serving. You also have control over what you’re drinking (less processed, never know what they put in teabags, especially the flavored once).
@Michael
Sugar has zero nutrients value. Green tea tastes good as is, you don’t need any sugar.
Regarding some of the comments on green tea. Tea bags are fine as long as they contain the whole leaves. This is usually the case with all green organic teas. If you have the time, obviously brewing loose leaf tea is the best way. This is something I plan to do eventually.
Personally, I prefer Japanase Matcha Green Tea (aka green tea powder). It’s expensive, but it’s more potent, plus I get a good deal on it.
I also take green tea extract.
My work place has organic green tea bags, so I drink that there.
Hey Mehdi. is it okay to get pre-ground flaxseeds from supermarts?
Thanks.
dre: pre-ground flaxseeds would be useless from a supermarket. You must consume them within 10mins of grinding. Your best bet therefore is to buy yourself a grinder