As a culture obsessed with fat, we have often demonized the term as universally unhealthy. Foods that contain high amounts of fats are often avoided in favor of supposedly healthier alternatives. But, while the term itself might come laced with some negative connotations, fatty foods aren’t always bad for your health. In fact, many meal plans to gain muscle are full of different fatty foods. This might sound counterintuitive, but healthy fats can actually produce more muscle and reduce unhealthy fat within the body. Even so, not every fat is good for you or will help you produce more muscle mass.

Healthy, unsaturated fats can be found in foods like:

• Avocados
• Olive oil
• Olives
• Flaxseed oil
• Seeds
• Nuts (cashews, macadamia nuts, etc.)
• Natural nut butters

There is no doubt that these foods provide an added boost the muscle-building process. But, that doesn’t mean you’ll have to eliminate saturated fats entirely from your diet. Most of these fats are plant-based and, if you want to get the most out of a high protein meal plan, you’ll need to include some meats. You’ll find plenty of saturated fat in your regular diet. Saturated fat is not inherently bad either and can produce some beneficial effects for many active bodybuilders. For instance, saturated fats help increase testosterone and improve brain function. Of course, consuming these fats at an excessive rate won’t be ideal for muscle growth.

What you should focus on is getting a few servings of these beneficial fats in your system every day. Nuts and seeds are incredibly simple to add to your diet because they are small, convenient, and easily transportable. They, along with many other healthy fats, also pack a powerful punch in the weight room. Indeed, if you add these foods to one of your meal plans to gain muscle, you can expect to see any of the following:

• Enhanced testosterone activity (important for maintaining anabolic state)
• Elevated growth hormone secretion
• Reduced muscle breakdown
• Increased fat-burning hormones
• Elevated metabolic rate (important for fat reduction)
• Maximized cellular energy production

All of these results will help you build muscle at an increased rate. This is why you want to ensure that your diet contains enough of these vital unsaturated fats to produce positive muscle growth.

For best results, a healthy diet should include about 25 to 30% fats. The bulk of these fats should, of course, be composed of the healthy unsaturated variety. This is especially important for bodybuilders aiming for a high protein meal plan. In the rush for high protein food products, you might forget about all the other necessary foods for your weight training regimen. Without these healthy fats, you might not get the most out of your workout experience. In fact, if the muscles in your body are not given proper and holistic nutritional elements, then all your work might be for naught. So, make sure to include healthy fats in your diet to optimize muscle growth and minimize unhealthy fat in the body.

Image source by healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu
Written by Steve Gregg. Steve Gregg is a fitness expert from Miami, Florida. He has a degree in nutritional medicine and is a regular contributor on the topics of health, diets, and meal plans.