Some people claim to know the best foods to build muscle… but based on what? In this post, we cover a new assessment method to determine the quality of each food for muscle gain using a very easy formula…
The TBS Assessment Method
What Do You Need to Build Muscle?
Muscle building is complicated, and one of the key factors is nutrition. The food you eat will provide the nutrients you need to recover, and build muscle over time
To build muscle fast and efficiently, you need to be on a calorie surplus. This is, eating more than what you burn throughout the day.
If you keep a calorie surplus of 500kcal/day, you will gain muscle over time, while minimizing the amount of fat you put on.
Not all foods are suitable for this purpose. Basing your diet on broccoli and salads will make it very hard to be on a calorie surplus.
Now the question arises; what does a food need to have to be suitable for muscle gain?
High Calorie Foods
The most important aspect of a diet for muscle gain is the amount of calories you put in. Including high calorie foods in your diet is the best way to accomplish such goal.
Not all foods provide the same energy per weight. Depending on its nutritional matrix, the calorie density will differ.
While x grams of veggies will fill you up, those same x grams of cheese won’t be even set the start of the meal.
High calorie foods can help you include more calories into your diet, and build muscle over time.
Protein
Protein is the most important macronutrient when it comes to muscle building. It provides the amino acids required to repair, maintain, and build muscle.
Athletes and fitness practitioners need higher amounts of protein in their diets than the general population. This is due to the high extent of muscle damage and the need of building more muscle mass.
To build muscle, you are interested on foods containing large amounts of high quality protein. Dairy products, meats, eggs,… but also soya, chickpeas, or nuts.
Easy Digestion
During a muscle gain diet, you have to eat a lot. Big meals every 3-4h, constantly feeding your body to achieve the calorie goals of the day.
The worst you can do in this case is to include foods your stomach doesn’t tolerate well. Foods with high amounts of FODMAPS, non-digestible fiber, and other nutrients that may slow down your digestions.
Foods low in fiber are specially recommended for this purpose. It will help your stomach when it comes to digestion, and you won’t be at risk of suffering a long and painful stomachache.
The TBS Food Assessment Method for Muscle Gain
Searching through the net, we couldn’t find any reliable method to assess foods for muscle gain. Other than protein assessment methods, there was no common consensus of what a good food for muscle building….
Noted the task, and done! What you will see in the next minutes is our own food assessment for muscle gain: The TBS Food Assessment Method for Muscle Gain
Food Assessment Ranking
The TBS Food Assessment Method for Muscle Gain is based on the macronutrients and calories provided per 100g basis.
We identified the factors affecting muscle gain, and used them to create a ranking of the best foods for muscle gain.
Using this method, one can simply identify the best foods for muscle gain. Easy to implement and use.
The Formula
The formula consists on two terms including the most important factors to build muscle; protein and calories
In the first term, we compare the amount of protein per calories of product. This will give an insight on how much protein is the food in question.
The second term assess the macronutrient composition of each food. The more fat and carbohydrates compared to protein, the more energy it will provide to build muscle and achieve the calorie surplus.
Lastly, both terms are multiplicated by DIAAS (Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score), a method assessing the protein quality based on their amino acid composition and availability.
Limitations of this Method
The DIAAS plays a big role in this assessment method for muscle gain. If the DIAAS of a food is unknown, the TBS Food Assessment can’t be done.
This food assessment method is not suitable for all foods. First, one must know the DIAAS score, and then translate it into the TBS Assessment Method.
However, it gives you great insights on what are the best foods to build muscle. The higher the score, the better it will be.
Conclusion
The TBS Food Assessment Method for Muscle Gain is an easy and useful method to quickly identify the best foods to build muscle.
However, it cannot be applied if the DIAAS is unknown, and the extent of use will depend on the research done around DIAAS.
