In my last article, I talked about how I gained 12 pounds of muscle naturally in two months with a few simple lifestyle changes. But when it came to diet, I’ll admit, I was pretty vague. So now I will get more specific on the different types of food I included in my diet, and when the best time to eat them is, to gain weight naturally.

First off: proteins. Proteins supply energy and provide the structural components necessary for growth and repair of tissue. They make up most of the body weight after water and they are the building blocks of organs, muscles, nerves, blood, skin, enzymes and hormone, the heart, organ, and even hair and nails.

But I’m sure you all already knew protein was important for putting on weight. What you may not know is what the best proteins are (they cannot be found in a bar or in a can of chemical-laden liquids), so let me shed some light on the oh-so-confusing subject of protein.

First off, I ate three servings a day of animal proteins. Only animal proteins - chicken, beef, turkey, fish, eggs and dairy — are complete protein sources because they contain all eight of the essential amino acids. Without animal proteins in the diet, one can become deficient in many important minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. Animal protein is also rich in minerals, and vitamins B6 and B12.

But when it comes to animal protein, you must be careful. Due to improper cattle-raising techniques, steroids and antibiotics, commercially-raised animal proteins can quickly turn into an obstacle to your goals, filling you with toxins that your body will waste time dealing with when it should be building muscle. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 90-95% of all pesticide residues are found in meat and dairy products. Crazy!

So to build hard muscle naturally, you need to eat beef from organic or one-hundred percent grass-fed cattles; eat eggs and poultry raised in a free-range setting or organically fed; and drink organic, whole goat or bovine milk.

But one thing you should not worry about in these foods is the fat content. In fact, if they are organic, grass-fed, and antibiotic free, then the fat actually contains many important vitamins that you need to put on weight naturally. So enjoy the dark meat and full-fat raw milk.

When it comes to fish, wild ocean-caught fish is best. Farm-raised fish can contain many pesticides and their fatty acid profile is not as good as that of wild fish. And don’t worry about mercury; ocean fish that contain the toxic substance mercury also contain alkylglycerols, which are substances that remove mercury from your body.

To put on weight naturally, it’s best to avoid the scavengers and “bottom feeders,” such as clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, snails, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and pork. These are shown to contain too many toxins than you want in your body.

In addition to animal proteins, I also had two to three shakes made with organic, raw hemp protein. Hemp protein may not have as many grams of protein per serving as those 10-gallon tubs of processed and heated whey protein do, but because it is raw and all the enzymes are still alive, your body will utilize much more of it and consequently give you more muscle mass.

Typically, I ate six meals a day, and alternated between an animal protein and the hemp protein. Although there would only be two to three hours between each meal, alternating the protein sources gave my body five to six hours between each animal protein meal, which is harder to digest. Make sense?

So that is the scoop when it comes to the proteins I ate, and how they helped me gain twelve pounds naturally in under two months. Next up will be carbohydrates….but until then, gain weight naturally by buying some fresh organic animal protein and hemp powder, and have a great time gaining weight the natural way!

Copyright 2008, Masszymes Inc. All rights reserved.

chris francis is a serious bodybuilder who has built serious muscle mass fast using the revolutionary new weight-training system, freaky big naturally. get a fr-ee shocking insider report on natural bodybuilding, a muscle-primer program and more at http://natural-bodybuilding.freakygrowth.com.

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