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The Best Foods to Eat to Get Stronger

Developing a healthy eating routine is an important aspect of gaining strength and maintaining energy throughout the day. Whether you are a body builder or lead an inactive lifestyle, eating the right amount of proteins, vitamins and minerals will help your gain strength and boost energy levels.

  1. Eggs

    • Eggs are one of the most important foods you can eat to increase muscular strength and overall health. Eggs are simple to prepare and provide the highest amount of biological value to humans of any food available. The biological value of food is a scale that is used to determine the percentage of nutrients in the food that are your body can utilize. For eggs, your body can utilize 93.7% of given nutrients, compared to 84.5% of utilizable nutrients in milk. A high biological value is important because foods with high biological values aid in protein synthesis. Eggs are also a good source of vitamins B and A and provide iodine, phosphorus, zinc and iron.

    Vegetables

    • Vegetables play a vital role in building muscle and helping you gain strength. Consuming a wide variety of vegetables provides your body with vital vitamins and minerals, including calcium, folic acid and vitamins C, D, E and A. These essential vitamins and minerals aid proper muscle contractions, red blood cell production, control of inflammation, mediation of cortisol and cholesterol synthesis. Vegetables also help promote a healthy blood pressure level due to high potassium contents. Potassium is an electrolyte that regulates blood pressure. Some high-potassium vegetables include leafy greens, key beans and sweet potatoes. Vegetables will also aid in fat loss and provide greater energy efficiency and an overall rise in energy levels by boosting energy usage in muscles.

    Lean Meat

    • Lean meats such a chicken, turkey, ostrich, fish, lean beef and venison all contain significant amounts of protein and provide high biological values. The high protein content will help you build and re-build muscles after strenuous exercise or weight-lifting, and most contain little fat. Certain types of fish, such as salmon, sardines and tuna, contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which are also essential to those who are trying to gain strength and build muscle. When you eat lean meats, you can also expect to consume a wide variety of nutrients such as zinc, iron, calcium, selenium and phosphorus.

    Low-Fat Dairy Products

    • Low-fat dairy products such as cottage cheese, skim milk and low-fat yogurt are high-protein foods that are rich an calcium and are available year-round. Yogurt also provides the body with live bacterial cultures that aid digestion and promote a healthy digestive tract. Most dairy products have high biological values and contain healthy amounts of iodine, phosphorus, vitamin B, potassium and zinc. A person who does not have allergies to dairy products should make low-fat dairy products a part of his daily diet.

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