Nutrition And Needing To Gain Weight

There are individuals who need to gain weight for various reasons. Sometimes a person needs to gain muscle for bodybuilding reasons, or a person may need to gain weight because of illness or because they are recovering from an injury or surgery in which they lost weight. Individuals can be underweight as a result of an eating disorder, chronic diseases, or because they had previously been too concerned with being "thin" and lost too much weight. Sometimes the elderly become underweight because they have lost sense of taste, or smell or because they are unable to make meals or get transportation to stores to buy food. Some people are underweight because they lack the knowledge about how to eat appropriately or they lack the funds to buy enough food to eat.

To be healthy your weight and height should be proportionate. Your doctor can tell you if you are underweight for your height.

To gain weight you will need to eat an appropriate amount of calories each day and perform appropriate exercises.

Communities are becoming more aware of the problem of individuals not being able to afford nutritious foods or to be able to have the mobility to get to the store or to prepare the foods. Communities are helping the elderly and the poor by developing food programs and meal delivery programs as well as transportation programs to help those who need a helping hand so that they can eat better.

If you are underweight you have an increased risk for dying from diseases such as heart failure and cancer. If you are an elderly female and are underweight you have an increased risk for becoming frail, and more prone to osteoporosis. A male who is underweight may have an increased risk for erectile dysfunction.

Extra calories should not come from junk food because those calories are not nutritious ones. You need nutritious calories in order to have a healthy body.

If you eat a diet that is rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids such as tuna, salmon, flaxseed, and walnuts and also include protein such as lean meats, fish, poultry, nuts, seeds and legumes and include carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains you will find that you can gain weight and be healthy too.

Those who are underweight may find it easier to eat five or six smaller meals more frequently throughout the day than to try to eat 3 larger meals.

If your doctor advises it, you can drink protein powders and nutritional supplement drinks such as Ensure as in-between meal snacks, if you need more calories.