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Smoothies & Shakes That Help You Gain Weight

A weight-gain shake or smoothie should contain approximately 750 calories and just two of these a day mean that you are consuming an additional 1500 calories. The estimated average requirements of a man's daily calorie intake is 2550 calories, while a woman's are slightly less at 1940 calories per day. In order to put on weight, the body requires more calories than it uses to function, anything more than this is stored as fat. People who are underweight may wish to drink weight-gain shakes to increase their body mass index (BMI). Bodybuilders require additional calories to burn as energy in training, while still using a considerable amount to build lean muscle.

  1. Milk Whey Protein

    • Whey protein is made from curdled milk when, in the process of making cheese, the protein is separated. High in amino acids, this protein-rich ingredient is popular amongst people wishing to gain weight, as it is rapidly absorbed by the body. Adding milk whey protein to your shake can promote bone formation, while giving it a richer flavor, making it taste more pleasant and bumping up the calories. Per each 29-gram serving there are 120 calories, 18 of which are from the 2 grams of fat and one from saturated fat.

    Sugar Content

    • It depends on whether you are aiming to build muscle or whether your body's total sum of fat is lower than average. There are two type of sugars in smoothies and shakes. The first is glucose, which is quickly metabolized into the system and can technically provide the quickest calorie absorption. Secondly, there is maltodextrin, which is a form of sugar from carbohydrate that is slower to digest. Exceeding a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein in your smoothie can result in gaining fat, which is desirable to those underweight, but less so to the bodybuilder.

    Calorie Level

    • Be aware of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), this is the number of calories your body burns per day while at rest. In addition to this, calculate the energy expended from the type of energy you exert throughout the day -- everything from loafing around the house or to an extreme weightlifting workout. Once you have established your daily calorie requirement to suit your lifestyle, you can work out how many extra calories you need to gain muscle or fat.

    Types of Fat

    • Unsaturated fats are better for you because they are easier to digest than saturated fats. You can tell the difference between the two because cholesterol-laden, saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are not a health essential. Unsaturated fats come in two groups, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, and include health benefits as they contain omega 3, 6 and 9. There are two types of fat in the body -- yellow fat and brown fat. Yellow fat is stored more toward the surface of the body and is less active and more likely to accumulate in women around the hips and thighs, and on the abdomen in men. The active brown fat inside the body contains mitochondria which produces a thermogenic effect, which in turn burns energy.

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