Delicious Calorie-Dense Foods You Should Be Eating for Weight Gain

Calorie-dense foods (Image via Pexels/Jane Doan)

Calorie-dense foods are usually packed with healthy fats, animal and plant proteins, full fat dairy, and starches.

In this article, we have curated a list of a few best calorie-dense foods that will help you gain weight in a healthy way.

Calorie-Dense Foods for Weight Gain

For some people, adding muscle and gaining weight can be a difficult task. However, simply adding certain calorie-dense foods can make your weight gain more effective and healthy.

Here are five calorie-dense foods for weight gain:

#1 Potatoes and Starches

Starchy foods like potatoes are among the easy, high-calorie foods, along with being cost-effective options for adding calories. Other healthy sources of starchy carbs include sweet potatoes, buckwheat, quinoa, corn, squash, legumes, beans, and winter root vegetables,.

Besides helping you increase weight, starchy foods also aid in building muscle glycogen stores, which fuel sports and athletic activities.

#2 Rice

Rice is one of the most convenient high calorie foods that can help you to easily increase weight. You can easily gain a high amount of calories and carbs from a single serving of rice.

If you do not like eating bland rice, there are certain ingredients you can mix with the cooked rice with for better taste. These include scrambled eggs, broccoli, cheese, butter, and Parmesan cheese. You can also add sauces such as alfredo, pesto, or curry to rice, which will help boost calories and taste of the dish.

#3 Milk

For decades, milk has been used as one of the bulking foods that can be easily incorporated into your diet. Milk provides a healthy balance of calcium, fats, proteins, and carbs, along with other vitamins and minerals.

Milk is an excellent source of both whey and casein protein, which help in adding muscles. Studies have shown that the combination of casein and whey in milk can lead to greater mass gain.

#4 Red Meat

Red meat is among the best calorie-dense foods that help in building muscle and gaining weight.

The presence of leucine in red meat help in stimulating muscle protein synthesis along with adding new muscle tissue. Moreover, red meat is a great source of natural dietary creatine, one of the best muscle building supplements.

Overall, both fatty and lean meats are a great source of protein, but fatty meat provides more calories that can help you gain weight more effectively.

#5 Whole Grain Bread

Whole grain bread is also a good source of carbs which can help increase weight. You can create a balanced and healthy meal by pairing whole grain bread with protein sources like cheese, meat, and eggs.

Most Calorie Dense Foods

Examples of most calorie-dense foods to gain weight include whole grains, granolas, nuts, sweet potatoes, tofu, meat, milk, whole grains, and beans.

Low Calorie Dense Foods

The healthiest low-calorie-dense foods include peas, lentils, fish, poultry, lean meats, low fat dairy products, fat-free dairy products, and egg whites. These foods are low in calories and fat while being rich in protein.

The aforementioned delicious and best calorie-dense foods can help you with weight gain. If you want to gain weight, experts recommend that you eat more calories than you burn.

Weight lifting training is also important for weight gain, as it helps in ensuring that the additional calories from foods and snacks are used to add muscle rather than adding fat. You can make a meal plan of the foods you enjoy the most, which will make it sustainable in the long term.