Lean Mass Diet: 

When planning a lean mass building diet many different things must be taken into consideration. To build new muscle tissue you need to be continuously fuelling your body with foods that provide the right macronutrients (protein, carbs, and lipids). Your body will take what is required from your foods to repair and build your muscles in accordance to your intense workouts. So it is utterly important that one must adopt a strict discipline toward their diet to reach the most optimal results achievable.

The diet must by high in protein: a muscle fiber is actually tiny filaments (myosin and actin) strung together and compacted in a bundle. These tiny filaments are actually made of protein (a sequence of amino acids). To support the muscle growth adequate levels of protein must be ingested through the diet to supply the muscles with more amino acids which will allow for these filaments to grow and repair when damaged from an intense workout. This is what makes the actual muscle larger and stronger; therefore it is important to hold protein in high preference when selecting foods to support lean muscle gains. It is important to obtain a broad spectrum of amino acids, consuming animal meats will ensure this though it is important get your protein from a variety of sources. Protein supplements such as whey provide a convenient source of protein with a broad spectrum of amino acids. Whey is believed to be the most rapidly absorbed protein, which will allow for easy digestion and rapid release of amino for muscle repair. Many whey products are fortified with Branch Chain amino acids which cannot be manufactured by the body and greatly enhance muscle recovery.

The diet must include adequate polysaccharide carbohydrates: the body’s primary fuel source is glucose, a type of carbohydrate. We must keep our bodies levels of glucose stable to avoid running out of energy and slipping into a state of catabolism (breaking down of body tissues). When our diet doesn’t provide enough macronutrients to steadily supply enough glucose for energy the body is forced to break down tissues and create the energy in a process known as gluconeogenisis. Unfortunately the muscle tissue is the first to be taxed, so in order to stop this from occurring we must consume complex carbohydrates as they yield glucose which is absorbed and released into the blood at a steady rate over a period of time. At the same time these carbohydrates should be consumed in coordination with energy expenditure. One can load up on carbohydrates to a certain degree, as much is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver, though when these stores are full and are not being used for energy, they will be stored as fat, which is not desired when lean muscle gains are your goal. Simple sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and to a degree lactose hold and affinity to be stored as fat due to they short acting energy and the influence of insulin levels.