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7 Muscle Foods for Men

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD
WebMD Expert Column

Want to look buff in your swimsuit this summer? Building abs and sculpting muscles starts in the kitchen before you ever hit the gym. Achieving muscle growth is a formula based on adequate calories, fluids, protein, and muscle-fatiguing strength training.

Drinking plenty of fluids, eating the right energy-rich foods along with weight lifting -- all timed to fuel workouts and repair muscle tissue -- will help you sculpt your muscles.

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Nutrition Game Plan

A balanced dietary intake as recommended by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines is a good foundation for meal planning. In general, eating a well-balanced diet with enough calories to support exercise is the prescription, according to the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) position paper on nutrition and athletic performance.

The ADA and ACSM recommend getting enough calories including adequate fat and protein, with an emphasis on five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, plenty of whole grains, cereals, beans, legumes, and enough fluid for optimal hydration.

Muscle and Food

Fueling your workouts takes a combination of healthy carbs and protein.

Protein is important to build and repair muscles. Carbs provide the energy to fuel fitness.

You can’t eat protein and expect it turn to muscle. "Pull protein into muscles with exercise,” says Christine Rosenbloom, PhD, RD and editor of ADA’s Sports Nutrition Manual, due out later this year.

Experts recommend these muscle-friendly foods:

Fruit and vegetables - are the foundation of all healthy diets, providing fiber, vitamins, minerals, and fluids. Vegetables contain small amounts of protein.
Low-fat dairy - provides high-quality protein, carbs, and essential vitamins such as vitamin D, potassium, and calcium. Rosenbloom and Clark recommend chocolate milk as a good workout recovery beverage. If you are lactose intolerant, you may tolerate yogurt with active cultures.
Lean meat - This is a great source of protein, iron for oxygen transport to muscles, and amino acids including leucine, which Rosenbloom says is thought to be a trigger for muscle growth.
Dark-meat chicken - Boneless skinless chicken is good, but go dark and increase iron by 25% and three times the zinc for a healthy immune system.
Eggs - The 2010 Dietary Guidelines says an egg a day is OK but don’t throw out the yolk. “Eggs contain all of the essential amino acids and half the protein is in the yolk with other import nutrients like lutein for eye health,” Rosenbloom says.
Nuts - Unsalted raw or roasted are a good source of protein that also contain vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and healthy fats.
Beans and whole grains - These quality carbs contain small amounts of protein for energy and muscle repair, along with fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.