Can you lose fat and build muscle together?
Logic would say NO, but YES, you can achieve both of these together with Body Recomposition!
Body Recomposition is when you take steps to lose fat and build muscles simultaneously. It’s like changing the composition of your body in a way that it has less body fat and leaner muscles. (1)
Losing fat isn’t necessarily about losing weight; it’s about kicking out the additional body fat and putting the muscles in their place. Not only exercise but eating certain foods can also help you out in doing so.
Hook your eyes till the end of this article to find out what kind of nutrition can be advantageous in body recomposition.
5 Best Foods To Build Muscles And Lose Fat
Here we have put together the 5 top foods to help you achieve your goal.
Eggs
Eggs are a good source of healthy proteins, fats, and essential nutrients like vitamin B, calcium, iron, etc. These proteins in eggs are home to amino acids that are important for the health of your skeletal muscles. Moreover, the eggs promote fullness and control your appetite for many hours. (2,3)
So eating eggs helps increase muscle mass and reduce calorie intake and additional fat.
Salmon
Salmon contains multiple nutrients like proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B, phosphorus, selenium, etc. (4)
The omega-3 fatty acid lessens the level of cortisol in the human body. It will help in reducing the body’s fat storage. Also, this component of Salmon plays a vital role in muscle health, increasing muscle mass and preventing loss. (5,6)
Moreover, the adequate amount of proteins in Salmon maintains your body’s muscle mass and protects bone health.
Quinoa
Quinoa provides nutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates, fibers, magnesium, phosphorus, etc. Quinoa is known to have all nine essential amino acids that are not produced by our body. (7)
The dietary magnesium in Quinoa prevents muscle mass, strength, and power loss.
Quinoa can lower the levels of triglycerides, thus helping in weight loss. Furthermore, eating Quinoa keeps you fuller, reducing cravings and shedding the extra fat from your body. (8,9)
Chicken Breast
Chicken breasts contain many nutritious elements like proteins, vitamin B6, niacin, potassium, etc. (10)
The consumption of protein-rich chicken breasts contributes to muscle mass and strength gain, allows for muscle mass preservation, and limits any muscle loss during aging. (11)
Eating chicken in balanced and healthy meals can significantly reduce body weight by cutting out the extra fat. (12)
Full-Fat Dairy
It’s been a while since scientists discovered that full-fat dairy protein has all the essential fats required by our body. These products build muscle mass without putting on extra body fat. (13)
Greek Yogurt is an excellent example of a full-fat dairy product. It contains proteins that double the percentage of standard yogurt. The consumption of Greek Yogurt promotes muscle mass growth, thereby increasing strength. (14)
Also, these dairy products enhance the feeling of fullness and keep your body away from unnecessary cravings.
Final Takeaway!
People usually focus on doing workouts only to accomplish Body Recomposition. However, a variety of available foods, along with the exercise, can take you to your final destination.
So, try eating those mentioned above 5 best foods and build muscle mass while saying no to extra and unhealthy fat.
References:
- Barakat, Christopher & Pearson, Jeremy & Escalante, Guillermo & Campbell, Bill & De Souza, Eduardo. (2020). Body Recomposition: Can Trained Individuals Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?. Strength & Conditioning Journal. Publish Ahead of Print. 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000584.
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171287/nutrients
- Puglisi, M. J., & Fernandez, M. L. (2022). The Health Benefits of Egg Protein. Nutrients, 14(14), 2904. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14142904
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173686/nutrients
- Madison, A. A., Belury, M. A., Andridge, R., Renna, M. E., Rosie Shrout, M., Malarkey, W. B., Lin, J., Epel, E. S., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2021). Omega-3 supplementation and stress reactivity of cellular aging biomarkers: an ancillary substudy of a randomized, controlled trial in midlife adults. Molecular psychiatry, 26(7), 3034–3042. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01077-2
- Molfino, A., Gioia, G., Rossi Fanelli, F., & Muscaritoli, M. (2014). The role for dietary omega-3 fatty acids supplementation in older adults. Nutrients, 6(10), 4058–4073. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6104058
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/168917/nutrients
- Welch, A. A., Kelaiditi, E., Jennings, A., Steves, C. J., Spector, T. D., & MacGregor, A. (2016). Dietary Magnesium Is Positively Associated With Skeletal Muscle Power and Indices of Muscle Mass and May Attenuate the Association Between Circulating C-Reactive Protein and Muscle Mass in Women. Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, 31(2), 317–325. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.2692
- Navarro-Perez, D., Radcliffe, J., Tierney, A., & Jois, M. (2017). Quinoa Seed Lowers Serum Triglycerides in Overweight and Obese Subjects: A Dose-Response Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Current developments in nutrition, 1(9), e001321. https://doi.org/10.3945/cdn.117.001321
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171477/nutrients
- Carbone, J. W., & Pasiakos, S. M. (2019). Dietary Protein and Muscle Mass: Translating Science to Application and Health Benefit. Nutrients, 11(5), 1136. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11051136
- Navas-Carretero, S., Cuervo, M., Abete, I., Zulet, M. A., & Martínez, J. A. (2011). Frequent consumption of selenium-enriched chicken meat by adults causes weight loss and maintains their
