How to gain healthy weight
Mar 21, 2010
IT could simply be out the desire for a plumper look, for medical reasons, say, after losing weight to sickness, or for purposes of competing favourably in physical sport.
By Joseph Ssemutooke
IT could simply be out the desire for a plumper look, for medical reasons, say, after losing weight to sickness, or for purposes of competing favourably in physical sport.
For varying reasons some people desire to increase their body weight. However, it is not easy to purposefully increase one’s weight.
Medical practitioners say it is much easier to lose weight on purpose than to gain it.
Dr Ivan Balala of Mulago Hospital says the most certain way to add onto one’s weight is through nutrition.
He says a proper weight-gain diet is the best approach in any endeavour to gain healthy and lean muscle mass.
Increased calorie intake
Balaba says the first rule for anyone aiming at weight-gain is to consume more calories (energy) than one expends.
“Much of the food we eat is broken down into calories (energy) to run the body’s metabolic system. To gain weight, one needs to ensure that some nutrients remain there to build the muscles as well as for storing as fat to increase on body mass,†he adds.
Balaba notes that most people who find it hard to put on weight simply do not eat enough calories. This means all they eat is used to run the body systems and nothing remains for muscle building and storage as fat.
Frequency and timing
There is need to watch how and when the meals are eaten.
The body can only utilise a maximum amount of nutrients at a time. Therefore, eating so much between long periods is less effective for weight gain because the body will only utilise a certain amount and pass on the rest.
Yet with the aim of building muscles fast, there is need for maximum retention of the nutrients necessary to accomplish that.
Balaba, therefore, suggests eating five to six small meals a day, each meal coming after about three hours so that the stomach has time to digest each meal fully.
He says this also enables the body system to be constantly in the process of adding nutrients to its mass from the constant digestion, causing fast weight gain. However, he warns against inconsistency in the dietary habits while seeking weight gain.
The body is more likely to store fat when it is unsure when it will get its next feeding, so the fat will be turned into calories to run the systems when no meals are taken.
Yet when the body gets used to being fed consistently, it is less likely to store energy as unsightly fat, rather using it for body building.
The need for a balanced meal
However, though it is necessary to increase calorie consumption to gain weight, Dr. Gerald Okello, a dietician at Mulago Hospital, says the body relies on a wide variety of nutrients to attain mass and underlines balanced meals as a prerogative.
Okello says carbohydrates should be eaten as energy-giving foods for the body’s metabolism. However, Balaba says their calories do not directly build muscles or add to body fat, and so they have to work together with proteins and fats for weight gain.
l Foods that are recommended for carbohydrates include whole cereals (like rice), whole grain foods (like bread, posho and millet), potatoes, fruits and vegetables.
Proteins are the body’s primary raw-material for muscle repair and construction.
Without enough in-take of them, consumption of other nutrients will have limited impact on muscle development. Proteins make muscles develop in a lean and proportional shape, as opposed to fats alone which just generate any-shaped mass.
l Healthy protein sources include poultry, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds. Red meat is good if eaten once or twice each week — more red meat contains a lot of saturated fat.
Fats and oils not only combine with carbohydrates to provide energy for the body, they also have more than twice the amount of calories provided by protein and carbohydrates.
They also play great roles in building muscles being the starting point of manufacturing other fatty acids that the body needs to support lean muscle growth.
Healthy sources of fats and oils include fish, flax seeds, olive oil and nuts.
Vitamins are foremost on boosting body immunity and are thus necessary for keeping you healthy so that any gained weight is not quickly lost to sickness.
They also complement the carbohydrates and proteins in both muscle-building and calorie provision.
Dietary supplements
Okello suggests nutritional dietary supplements as important for the weight-gain.
He says if used effectively, these supplements can turn a diet from average to excellent, and can lead to big muscle gains for a person who cannot maintain a solid muscle-building diet.
Protein powders and nutritional supplement drinks are some of the supplements.
But Okello warns that these supplements should be used on prescription by a qualified medical practitioner but not just upon the directives of any drug seller.
Dangers to watch
Balaba warns that some dangers can be faced while on diet to gain weight and advises people on such diets to be cautious.
“Not all fat is good. Therefore, one needs to go slow especially on saturated fat found in foods like whole milk, cheese, hot dogs, sausages, beef and fried foods. High concentration of such fats can lead to diseases such as heart disease,†he adds.
The body mass gained while on diet needs to be exercised through regular work-outs for toning and to keep the overall body in shape, otherwise the weight gain can instead cause disfigurement and obesity.
Okello still warns against just taking any dietary supplements and advises that they need to be recommended by a medical specialist.
“Many of the weight gain drugs on sale by unprofessional medical practitioners have serious after-effects. Even the proper ones need professional prescription for proper gains,†he adds.
IT could simply be out the desire for a plumper look, for medical reasons, say, after losing weight to sickness, or for purposes of competing favourably in physical sport.
For varying reasons some people desire to increase their body weight. However, it is not easy to purposefully increase one’s weight.
Medical practitioners say it is much easier to lose weight on purpose than to gain it.
Dr Ivan Balala of Mulago Hospital says the most certain way to add onto one’s weight is through nutrition.
He says a proper weight-gain diet is the best approach in any endeavour to gain healthy and lean muscle mass.
Increased calorie intake
Balaba says the first rule for anyone aiming at weight-gain is to consume more calories (energy) than one expends.
“Much of the food we eat is broken down into calories (energy) to run the body’s metabolic system. To gain weight, one needs to ensure that some nutrients remain there to build the muscles as well as for storing as fat to increase on body mass,†he adds.
Balaba notes that most people who find it hard to put on weight simply do not eat enough calories. This means all they eat is used to run the body systems and nothing remains for muscle building and storage as fat.
Frequency and timing
There is need to watch how and when the meals are eaten.
The body can only utilise a maximum amount of nutrients at a time. Therefore, eating so much between long periods is less effective for weight gain because the body will only utilise a certain amount and pass on the rest.
Yet with the aim of building muscles fast, there is need for maximum retention of the nutrients necessary to accomplish that.
Balaba, therefore, suggests eating five to six small meals a day, each meal coming after about three hours so that the stomach has time to digest each meal fully.
He says this also enables the body system to be constantly in the process of adding nutrients to its mass from the constant digestion, causing fast weight gain. However, he warns against inconsistency in the dietary habits while seeking weight gain.
The body is more likely to store fat when it is unsure when it will get its next feeding, so the fat will be turned into calories to run the systems when no meals are taken.
Yet when the body gets used to being fed consistently, it is less likely to store energy as unsightly fat, rather using it for body building.
The need for a balanced meal
However, though it is necessary to increase calorie consumption to gain weight, Dr. Gerald Okello, a dietician at Mulago Hospital, says the body relies on a wide variety of nutrients to attain mass and underlines balanced meals as a prerogative.
Okello says carbohydrates should be eaten as energy-giving foods for the body’s metabolism. However, Balaba says their calories do not directly build muscles or add to body fat, and so they have to work together with proteins and fats for weight gain.
l Foods that are recommended for carbohydrates include whole cereals (like rice), whole grain foods (like bread, posho and millet), potatoes, fruits and vegetables.
Proteins are the body’s primary raw-material for muscle repair and construction.
Without enough in-take of them, consumption of other nutrients will have limited impact on muscle development. Proteins make muscles develop in a lean and proportional shape, as opposed to fats alone which just generate any-shaped mass.
l Healthy protein sources include poultry, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds. Red meat is good if eaten once or twice each week — more red meat contains a lot of saturated fat.
Fats and oils not only combine with carbohydrates to provide energy for the body, they also have more than twice the amount of calories provided by protein and carbohydrates.
They also play great roles in building muscles being the starting point of manufacturing other fatty acids that the body needs to support lean muscle growth.
Healthy sources of fats and oils include fish, flax seeds, olive oil and nuts.
Vitamins are foremost on boosting body immunity and are thus necessary for keeping you healthy so that any gained weight is not quickly lost to sickness.
They also complement the carbohydrates and proteins in both muscle-building and calorie provision.
Dietary supplements
Okello suggests nutritional dietary supplements as important for the weight-gain.
He says if used effectively, these supplements can turn a diet from average to excellent, and can lead to big muscle gains for a person who cannot maintain a solid muscle-building diet.
Protein powders and nutritional supplement drinks are some of the supplements.
But Okello warns that these supplements should be used on prescription by a qualified medical practitioner but not just upon the directives of any drug seller.
Dangers to watch
Balaba warns that some dangers can be faced while on diet to gain weight and advises people on such diets to be cautious.
“Not all fat is good. Therefore, one needs to go slow especially on saturated fat found in foods like whole milk, cheese, hot dogs, sausages, beef and fried foods. High concentration of such fats can lead to diseases such as heart disease,†he adds.
The body mass gained while on diet needs to be exercised through regular work-outs for toning and to keep the overall body in shape, otherwise the weight gain can instead cause disfigurement and obesity.
Okello still warns against just taking any dietary supplements and advises that they need to be recommended by a medical specialist.
“Many of the weight gain drugs on sale by unprofessional medical practitioners have serious after-effects. Even the proper ones need professional prescription for proper gains,†he adds.