Olidhealth.com – Building muscle and keeping the body fit is the thing that men should do. It is not just to improve the appearance, but also to maintain proper body function. Being healthy is important to support your daily routine for working, especially for men who tend to have more physical activity than women. Moreover, physical exercise is one thing to keep your muscles stay tune. However, high-protein food also is needed to replenish that energy and support your workout longer. Some of these nutritious foods could boost your stamina, improve muscle mass, and strengthen muscle gradually. Here are foods that are good enough for men to overcome their limits.
Eggs
As bodybuilders, this high nutrition food is crucial to improve their muscles. Moreover, one typical large egg (50 grams) has 6.2 grams of protein and 5 grams of total fat [1]. Some essential amino acids such as leucine are also present in a fair amount. This amino acid contributes to muscle gain.
Eggs also contain essential minerals such as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and many more. Potassium is important to help relieve muscle soreness and improve muscular function [10]. Furthermore, Choline is the higher content vitamin form in eggs besides vitamin B2 and D. Choline has a significant role in muscle tissue to improve muscle growth and enhance glucose intake to be converted to energy.
Moreover, Eggs possess ‘good’ cholesterol to lower other ‘bad’ cholesterol and regulate metabolism [2]. However, it may spike up total cholesterol levels within the body. Consuming 3 whole large eggs backed with some training would improve muscle gain and make it stronger.
Meat
Considering meat as muscle builder food is a good choice since it is packed in nutrients and minerals. Iron, sodium, and potassium are essential minerals to gain blood cells, improve muscle contraction, and regulate body fluid [10]. Meat also contains unsaturated fat that acts to lose unnecessary fat and gain muscle mass in a certain way. Moreover, this food also has a creatine compound that could boost energy in the muscle, improve endurance and stamina during a workout [3]. However, it is not all kinds of meat that is good. Lean meat is the best part to be consumed than other parts of the meat. Why? Because too much fat is also not good for health.
For example, in 50 grams meat serving, contain 5.7 grams of protein and 13.6 grams of total fat if it is not trimming first [4]. Keep in mind, high fat is related to fatty acids and cholesterol. Although this nutritious food has benefits, if your exercise can’t keep up with fat intake, you would gain less muscle and more fat within the muscle.
How to process it is also an important step to find the best benefit from this food. Cooking with steaming, stewing, simmering, or slow cooking method is good to maintain its nutrient since it uses a low temperature. On the contrary, Avoid cooking with high-temperature methods like deep-fried or grilling because it would produce a harmful substance that is bad for health.
Salmon
Salmon is considered healthy food for muscle building while being consumed raw or cooked. In Japan, this food is commonly served as sushi with a delicate taste. Moreover, It contains 17 grams of protein and 9 grams of total fat in 85 grams of salmon serving [5]. There are also minerals like potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium that are the top four minerals within salmon. However, this nutrition fact can vary depending on how to obtain it. Salmon that come from farms are more nutritious and have higher fat than wild ones.
Furthermore, salmon notably contains omega-3 fats that have huge benefits to reducing the risk of cardiovascular and heart-related disease. As well as improving blood vessels, this good fat also helps to build stamina and promotes muscle strength by smoothening blood flow. Based on some research, consuming omega-3 fat foods could build muscle mass and enhance glucose metabolism as energy fuel [6].
Consuming this nutritious food raw is relatively safe both for men and women since it has more beneficial effects as a stamina booster. However, we recommended cooking it first to eliminate harmful bacteria that could be laid in raw salmon.
Poultry
Eating poultry products could improve your muscle health since they have nutrients like other kinds of animal meat [3]. However, various poultry products have different nutrition, especially in protein and fat. For example, in 100 grams chicken serving contain 32 grams of protein and 3.3 grams of total fat, while other poultry like a turkey in the same amount has 20 grams of protein and 7.7 grams of total fat. Meat with less fat and more protein is more beneficial for muscle growth. Although chicken meat has a lot of protein to bulk up your muscle, There is also mineral like potassium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, and magnesium to build up your muscle efficiently.
Chicken meat also contains several vitamins such as niacin (vitamin B3) and pyridoxine (Vitamin B6). This vitamin contributes to muscle growth, relieve muscle cramp, and even speed up muscle recovery. Moreover, niacin also helps to convert food into energy and increase stamina capacity [7].
Stew this food with a veggie such as a carrot or potatoes makes it more beneficial to be consumed. However, try to cook it with a low to mild temperature method since it could destroy its nutrient if too hot.
Milk
If you have intense muscle soreness, milk could have a solution to reduce it. Studies suggest that milk could serve as a recovery drink and prevent dehydration during workouts. Moreover, in 1 cup milk (250 grams) there are 8 grams of protein and 2.6 grams of total fat. So, it is also beneficial to improve muscle strength and regain stamina faster since it helps maintain glycogen levels within the muscle after a workout.
There are so many proteins fortified milk as supplements for bodybuilders and athletes. In fact, Milk naturally has high in calcium and other essential minerals to support body function such as strengthening bone and improving muscle tissue health [8]. However, we suggest don’t consume it before you hit the gym, because it would make you feel sluggish and sleepy.
Tilapia
Have you ever tried tilapia as a post-workout diet? You should consume it since this fish is a nutritious food for men to replenish their energy and help build muscles. In 100 grams tilapia contain 20 grams of protein and 2 grams of total fat. This fish also commonly have high potassium and also possession of other minerals like other fish food [10].
These fish have omega-3 fat that is good to promote muscle building and health [6]. However, it also has omega-6 fat that may have less benefit if too much of it. You can consider this food as an alternative meal if you feel bored with your regular meal.
Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta cheese is the best quality whey product to improve muscle growth. This food is also the finest food to be consumed after a workout since it helps boost protein synthesis and improve muscle growth, based on some research [3]. Moreover, it is also good to maintain blood pressure. In addition, with just 130 grams ricotta cheese serving, you can obtain 10 grams of protein and 14 grams total fat. Furthermore, It also has 9 grams of carbs and is high in essential minerals like calcium and potassium.
It is easy to obtain this highly nutritious food since it can be produced at home. Are you serious? You just recook milk with medium heat and the whey will be separated from the fluid. Strain it with cloth and be ready to be served. Adding little salt during cooking makes it better. You should try this to make it for muscle building and it may be increasing your stamina.
Crab
For men who seek to improve muscle mass and strength, this crustacean food is one of the keys to making it happen. According to health research, roughly 85 grams of crabs contain more than 15 grams of protein and 1 gram of total fats. Moreover, crabs are also good option food for muscle building since they can be ingested easily. It is true that this food rather has more prices than meat and egg, but it is worth trying this nutritious food as an alternative meal to improve your health.
In addition, seafood especially shell creatures usually have high in potassium and calcium (See at meat section for its benefit) [10]. Crab also contains selenium in a moderate amount that has the benefit to produce happy thoughts. This mineral is related to the dopamine hormone and eating this food also could improve mood-boosting. Crabs are commonly served as hot pot along with other seafood and veggies. However, there are also other ways to cook this shelled food. For instance, crabcakes are a good choice to eat up this food in a tasty way.
Mussel
It looks like a regular green shell but mussel flesh contains a ton of benefits for men to gain muscle strength. In nutrition fact on 85 grams serving, Its contain protein more than 10 gram and total fats less than 2 grams. Mussel is also like other kinds of shell food that have high minerals like calcium and iron.
Mussel is known to have anti-inflammation agents like zinc, iron, selenium, and chondroitin sulfate. According to athletes and bodybuilders, food with anti-inflammation properties could reduce muscle pain and soreness after exercise. Omega-3 fat also exists within the flesh mussel that could improve muscle building [6].
Shrimp
Shrimp may be considered as the best nutritious food to gain muscle mass because of its balanced nutrient. For instance, 17 grams of protein and fat with less than 1 gram in 85 grams of shrimp serving is an amazing portion (highest protein ratio than other seafood). Moreover, zinc is also present in this food followed by magnesium, calcium, and potassium [10].
In addition, shrimp also contain leucine is known as one of three branched-chain amino acids to build muscle mass, maintain blood sugar levels, and induce hormone production. Other nutrients like vitamin B12 and omega-3 fat also exist in this food (see in the salmon section to find its benefit) [6] [7].
Though this beneficial food is pricey, it’s worth consuming it occasionally between your routine meal. Stir fry shrimp with a low heat with oil olive and finish with lemon juice making it good to improve your health.
Spinach
Men tend to have more meaty food since it looks manly, but that practice leads unbalanced diet that disturbs the entire body’s metabolism. Consuming this green leafy vegetable could be a good choice since this nutritious food contains fiber and vitamin sources to improve stomach health. In 100 grams serving of spinach, It contains 3 grams of protein and free fat compound. Spinach also contains minerals such as iron and potassium to enhance blood cell production and maintain blood fluid [10]. It also has high in vitamins like vitamin A, betaine, and choline. In addition, spinach also has a special compound to gain muscle strength.
Some people believe that this veggie contains glutamine that is good for boosting muscle building. Moreover, octacosanol is also presented in spinach to provide endurance and stamina during workouts. Eating this veggie with oil olive as salad can improve your health especially to enhance your muscle like popeye.
Cucumber
Is consuming cucumber and exercising could have ripped muscle? Of course, it could. There are essential components in this nutritious food that help you strengthen your muscle called silica. This compound is important for helping connect muscle tissue, helps in calcium absorption, and enhances bone and skeletal muscle health.
Losing some weight also can be done by consuming citrulline food such as cucumber and watermelon. Moreover, citrulline has a beneficial effect for men to reduce blood sugar, promote heart health, and improve erectile dysfunction. Although cucumber isn’t a good source of protein but its water content help regain body fluid after exercise. This cucurbits food can be added as a garnish in your meal since it is convenient in every kind of dish.
Tomatoes
Generally, this stamina food could help you improve muscle performance but some people may underestimate its power. Tomato has high lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin as an anti-inflammation agent and a component of vitamin A to relieve muscle cramps. Moreover, vitamin C and mineral-like potassium also exist within tomatoes to help the body function [9] [10].
There is also a special compound called tomatidine that is abundant in green tomatoes. This compound is used to maintain blood level and pressure, preserve muscle strength, and induce muscle growth. Tomatidine also can be found as a supplement for bodybuilders.
Eating tomatoes every day is safe since their watery content helps digestive function. Some experts say that tomato juice is good as after-workout food to recover muscle tissue.
Broccoli
Broccoli is a good nutritious food source for men to gain some muscle mass and even improve muscle strength. What is a special thing that this veggie can do? You would regret it if underestimate its power. Diindolylmethane (DIM) is present in broccoli that is beneficial to control estrogen and testosterone for gaining muscle mass. This compound in supplement form is sometimes used by bodybuilders to balance their muscle growth.
This green veggie also contains some antioxidant agents like sulforaphane. This compound also serves as an anti-inflammation agent that can relieve joint aches and prevent chronic diseases such as arthritis. Putting some broccoli into your daily meal could reduce ‘bad’ fat that builds up in your body and gain muscle mass instead. In addition, don’t forget to exercise will improve muscle strength faster.
Beetroot
Beetroot could be used as a game-changer to improve stamina. This red veggie contains high anthocyanin that is used as an antioxidant to fight free radicals and enhance nitric oxide levels within the blood vessel. Along with the increasing nitric oxide, it could improve muscle performance, lung function, smoothen blood flow and regulate blood sugar.
Moreover, beetroot also has minerals such as iron, potassium, and magnesium that are used to improve muscle building and promote red blood cell production [10]. This veggie is also high in fiber but it would be slowing food absorption. You can consume this food by blending it to reduce its fiber and increase its benefit to boosting your stamina.
Sweet Potatoes
The main forte of this root plant is high in carbohydrates and no cholesterol. Generally, carbs are stored within muscles as glycogen and it is used as fuel during a workout. Some nutritionists suggest eating this food since it can boost stamina without gaining fat.
Moreover, sweet potatoes contain sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium that have the benefit to maintain and improving muscle health [10]. This nutritious food also has a fair amount of vitamins such as vitamin C, betaine, and choline that are important to support muscle growth [9] . Its safe to consume this food every day but too much of it could inflate gas production within the stomach.
Apricot
This yellow fruit is good for men who want to gain muscle strength. Apricots contain a fair amount of choline that is used to boost stamina and improve muscle building. Moreover, it is also has high in iron, magnesium, and potassium to control bodily fluid and improve blood circulation [10].
Apricots can be found in fresh or dried ones. Both of them have their benefit so it depends on your preference to take them. The fresh ones are good in water sources and rich in vitamin C [9]. However, the dried apricot is also good with its concentrated nutrient. In spite of that, This magnificent fruit contains huge benefits for your health besides it is used to boost your energy. Check it to know other benefits of apricot that are good for preserving your health.
Banana
If you have limited time to get lunch before exercising, It’s time to get a banana. The reason is it easy to be ingested and has a load of carbs, fiber, and potassium. During exercise, muscles need glycogen as fuel to get energy. Carbs from this nutritious food could replenish it and could extend your exercise. Potassium is also good benefit to enhance muscle performance and control bodily fluid to stay hydrated [10]. Men should eat bananas to improve their power as gorillas do.
Avocado
It is odd to take avocado to improve muscle strength and enhance stamina. However, recent studies find that this greeny fruit could do that. This fruit contains plant-based fat that is good to maintain muscle health. Moreover, it also could induce testosterone hormone to build up some muscle mass. As for additional information, avocados are also high in vitamins and minerals to keep up the body to stay healthy. You should try to eat this nutritious food by blending it to make smoothies to gain its benefit for your muscle.
Berries
Berries could be alternative snacks after a workout or energy supply during your activities. Besides its tasty, this nutritious food also has a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammation called anthocyanin. This compound helps reduce inflammation in muscles and smoothen blood flow.
Moreover, some variants of berries also have enough carbs to replenish glycogen within the muscle. This reason makes berries could improve muscle strength and build up more stamina to be burned into energy.
Some people believe that blueberries are used for muscle building after a workout. Furthermore, you should try other berries, especially edible ones to experience their benefit for your health.
Dates Palm
We are amazed looking at people in the middle east region who have good strength despite they living in a harsh environment. Their resilience may come from their typical fruit called dates palm. This food is a good sugar and carb source to maintain their strength. As additional information, Sugar contributes to muscle contraction and relaxation during activities. Having a diet with natural sugar is fine to improve muscle performance.
Moreover, dates palm is also high in nutrients and minerals to keep up body needs. Choline also presents in date to help gain muscle strength. This dried fruit also has a betaine compound that contributes to extending muscle endurance and gaining muscle mass. Furthermore, This high nutritious food has a fair amount of branched-chain amino acid that is good to improve muscle strength. These amino acids are commonly used as a protein supplement for bodybuilders and athletes.
Consuming 4-5 dates palm before the workout is recommended by some expert since it doesn’t spike blood sugar and serve as an energy battery to extend your stamina. If you know, the benefit of dates palm is more than you can imagine. Check it to find out more about it.
Quinoa
Meat and eggs naturally have all nine essential amino acids to build up muscle and bone. However, there is another source that has these kinds of this protein called quinoa. Basically, this food comes from seeds but people presume it is a grain product.
Why do some people call it super grain and the best food for stamina? It is because of high nutrition within them. One cup of quinoa (200 grams) contains 9 grams of protein, 43 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of fat and it is considerably higher than other grains in the same amount. Moreover, quinoa is also has rich in minerals such as magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, and potassium to promote muscle health [10]. This nutritious food is a good choice for men as a grain substitute to improve their muscle health and enhance their stamina.
Brazil Nut
If you are a runner or athlete who has intense exercise, you may want to add this nut into your dietary meal. Brazil nuts have the benefits to reduce muscle pain and enhance endurance.
It’s all thanks to minerals such as magnesium and selenium that are relatively high in brazil nuts. Moreover, Selenium also could help produce testosterone hormone that is important to gain muscle. Furthermore, this nutritious food is also high in phytoprotein and low fat that good to maintain body mass. Feeding up your body with this food in a moderate amount may have benefits for your health.
Mushroom
There are variants of mushrooms you can try to promote your health, especially for enhancing stamina and strength. For example, cordyceps mushroom is a good option to improve blood flow and enhance muscle building.
Some experts suggest that this mushroom is also good to boost stamina since its acts like caffeine. It also has an anti-inflammation agent to reduce muscle strain during workouts and speed up microtear recovery within the muscle. Moreover, this herb has a special benefit for males to induce testosterone hormone to gain muscle mass.
Besides cordyceps that have huge benefits despite their small figure, there are also good nutritious foods for men such as shiitake, lingzhi, lion’s mane, and Chaga. White button mushroom as well is a good choice for building your muscle and are relatively low prices than other mushrooms.
How to consume mushrooms depends on their properties. For instance, Cordyceps is good to brew as herbal tea while button mushrooms can be cooked normally with other ingredients to enrich the flavor. Be careful to consume mushrooms since they will become inedible if you don’t know how to process them. See another article to pick the right edible mushroom to be consumed.
Chocolate
This information may be too good to be true if chocolate could help build muscle growth, but yes, it is true and backed with some studies. Chocolate contains an active compound called epicatechin that could improve muscle mass indirectly.
This is how work epicatechin within our body according to some research. Firstly, it inhibits hormones that slow muscle growth such as myostatin. Secondly, it supports hormone that enhances muscle growth like follistatin. Controlling both of these hormones could improve your muscle mass and strengthen it.
We suggest taking dark chocolate over regular chocolate because it might have less benefit for you. Some studies find that daily intake of dark chocolate in a fair amount could improve stamina, endurance, and enhance muscle strength.
Ginger
This herb is good as a post-workout drink since it has anti-inflammation compounds such as gingerol and shogaol. These active compounds could reduce muscle soreness and pain up to 25%, based on some studies. Ginger also has the function to improve the digestive system and enhance nutrient absorption that conducts to boost muscle building. Moreover, ginger also contains minerals like magnesium and zinc to improve blood flow. This nutritious food can be served as herbal tea. Adding honey and lemon is the best to fill up glycogen and build up your muscle after exercise.
Pistachios
Are you eating nuts as a snack after a workout? That legit move to improve your muscle-building especially to take pistachio as your food. Some studies suggest that this special nut has vast nutrition value to speed up recovery and enhance muscle strength.
For example, pistachios are amino acid sources like arginine to increase nitric oxide within a blood vessel to smoother blood flow. Minerals such as potassium and copper exist in this nut to regulate body fluid and improve iron absorption to strengthen muscle [10]. Moreover, taking adequate pistachios also reduce the risk of muscle injury during exercise. Changing your snack with this food may improve your muscle steadily.
Soybean
Soybean is one of the common vegetable protein source food that can be obtained easily and at relatively low prices than other kinds of food with the same value. Because of that, this nutritious food is good for men to enhance their muscle strength and stamina by improving muscle mass and building up muscle growth.
Some studies believe that soybean can increase body weight as better as casein does (animal-based protein in milk). This food also supports muscle building with 9 essential amino acids within it. There are also have many variants of soybean that you can try as an optional meal to build muscle. Tempeh is considered as vegetable ‘steak’ for vegan and also has multiple benefits to our health. If meat isn’t your thing, go get this food to fulfill your dietary needs.
Coffee
Rejoice for coffee drinkers because this drink could improve stamina and muscle performance based on some research. Caffeine in coffee could have more beneficial effects besides it help your eyes stay awake. Studies suggest that this compound could preserve muscle strength at a later age.
Coffee also has benefits to burning unnecessary fat, boosting stamina by pushing muscle limit pain, and eliminating oxidative stress by the antioxidant compound. Consuming coffee in a daily diet also could relieve muscle pain after a workout since it could reduce the nervous system to receive pain.
Herbal tea
This kind of food may boost your stamina in different ways since it doesn’t have any fat or carbs to provide energy. There is herbal tea like chamomile that is good as a pain killer after an intense workout. Moreover, green tea is the best herbal tea to strengthen muscle and also aid muscle recovery.
There are many combinations of herbal tea that may have benefits to improving your muscle health such as flaxseed tea (contain omega-3 fat) [6], fenugreek tea (rich in mineral and tryptophan), rosemary tea (enhance concentration and muscle endurance), and many more. You can see other types of herbal tea to relax your muscle and mind after working out in another article.
Conclusion
For men, muscle health is as important as their life to keep their appearance and stay healthy at a later age. To improve it, additional food may be needed to promote their health. These nutritious food provide some beneficial effects to enhance muscle strength, improve muscle growth, promote stamina, and even relieve muscle pain. For instance, meat and egg are top food that is good for muscle. However, soybean and spinach also have good vegetable-based protein to provide enough nutrients to enhance muscle performance.
Although food can help it, some exercise is also needed to keep up stamina and muscle strength. Without it, your body will feel sluggish and gain weight in bad posture. consuming this food along with daily exercise make your body stay tuned.
Reference
[1] https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/748967/nutrients – Nutrition data of large eggs
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6470839/ – Benefit and function of eggs in general
[3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316047095 – Chicken, beef, and whey benefit consumption after a workout
[4] https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/323121/nutrients – Beef frankfurter nutrition
[5] https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173688/nutrients – Salmon nutrient by USDA
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4663562/ – Omega-3 fats improve muscle building
[7] https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/113/4/781/6123957 – Several vitamin B complexes to improve physical performance in adult
[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683260/ – Calcium benefit for bone and muscle
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3665020/ – Vitamin C and E for reducing oxidative stress during exercise
[10] https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-020-00614-z – Potassium in muscle performance