Natural Weight Gain Supplements

Many trainees turn to expensive supplements that promise the world and deliver little to nothing, but gaining weight actually requires the right amount of calories for your metabolism and fitness goals. If the nutrition is not there, no supplement will help you reach your goal. However, there are natural inexpensive supplements that can help, when combined with proper nutrition. In some cases, some supplements can replace some meals to help you gain weight fast.

Weight Gainers

Weight gainer products pack a lot of muscle-building and weight-gaining nutrition into convenient shakes. Most weight gainers on the market taste pretty good and mix instantly in water or milk. Obviously you cannot live off of shakes, but you can replace one to three meals with weight gainer shakes to avoid the hassle of constantly preparing and storing food throughout the day. Another great time to take a weight gainer shake is immediately after you work out. The only down side to these products is that they can be expensive. You can easily spend 40 to 60 dollars on less than 15 servings of a name weight-gainer product.

Protein Powders

Trainees want to gain lean weight and not fat, and muscles are made of proteins, so many think that you must take in large amounts of protein to reach your goals. The benefit of protein supplementation tops out at about one to 1.5 gm per pound of body weight, according to "Optimum Anabolics." Muscles cannot grow bigger and stronger without protein, but your body cannot store excess amino acids, which are simply eliminated. Protein powders do provide a convenient means of getting extra protein after workouts, between meals and before bed. Fast-digesting whey protein is your best bet after your workouts. Another stand-out protein is casein, a slow-digesting protein, that inhibits muscle breakdown. Use a 50/50 blend of whey and casein for meal replacements and a casein-rich protein shake before bed. Other protein powders include egg white, soy, pea, brown rice and hemp protein.

Carbohydrate Powders

Carbohydrates are the missing link that separates a weight gainer from a protein powder. By mixing carb and protein powders, you can essentially make your own weight gainer at a fraction of the price. You may wonder why you would want to supplement with carbohydrates when you can easily get them by starches. Supplemental carbohydrate powders offer weight gain benefits that whole foods cannot easily duplicate. Waxy maize starch, for example, has a very high molecular weight, so it empties very quickly from the stomach and intestines for faster delivery to muscles after a workout. Maltodextrin is a high-glycemic complex carb that spikes insulin post-workout to drive nutrients into your cells for weight gain. Dextrose or glucose is a sugar that also has a large effect on insulin levels. Add 60 to 100 gm or more of these carbohydrates to your post-workout, meal-replacement or bedtime protein shake.