what to do when being underweight is the issue! page

[primalTatoolover]

Hey mark, i love everything you've done here its a great resource but i find that in general most topics pertain to losing weight and id just like your opinion on those who because of digestive issues and whatnot have issues gaining weight? especially when considering the amount of carbohydrates you recommend...as gaining weight is so difficult for me do you still believe that more then 150grams of carbs puts me in the insidious category? at 23 years old/6foot/140 pounds i dont see myself gaining any extra weight just because i ate 200g of carbs! thoughts?

[Yvonne PHX]

Have you read Mark's blog post on this subject? How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle | Mark's Daily Apple

I hear you! Not only do I not gain weight if I eat 200 grams of carbs, I feel like crap if I don't. I just try to make sure those carbs are from healthy sources - an apple or a pear and not a piece of bread.

[iniQuity]

Have you read Mark's blog post on this subject? How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle | Mark's Daily Apple

I hear you! Not only do I not gain weight if I eat 200 grams of carbs, I feel like crap if I don't. I just try to make sure those carbs are from healthy sources - an apple or a pear and not a piece of bread.

This.

When I'm wet, I grab a towel and dry off, when I'm dry and want to be wet I don't grab a towel...

All folks looking to gain weight should just do the opposite (within the context of the primal blueprint, of course) than the folks that are trying to lose weight.

[yodiewan]

If you have poor digestion, fixing it would probably help your attempts to gain muscle. I had kinda crappy digestion growing up and was super-skinny. It eventually improved when I changed my diet and I've added a decent amount of muscle since then (I'm sure the increased focus on weight training helped too, haha). I think bone broth and kimchi/sauerkraut have helped my digestion a lot.

But yes, higher carbs are good for more active, lean people. I've definitely had better results with higher carbs.

[primalTatoolover]

yeahh i want to increase my carb intake but from what ive seen for good carbs ive only got sweet potatoes,quinoa and once in awhile white rice...yams and squash seem good too...i just dont want to give myself a darn food allergy from eating the same carbs all the time!

[WhiteLionBakingCo]

Do you have celiac disease or some other sort of allergy that's preventing you from absorbing nutrients? You can't go wrong with eating primal but like everyone is saying here, you need to increase the healthy carbs.

[girlarchitect]

...i just dont want to give myself a darn food allergy from eating the same carbs all the time!

What? I've never heard of this. It sounds weird - most people eat within a pretty limited range of foods.

Does this happen to people? Is there scientific documentation for this?

[primalTatoolover]

not necessarily girlarchitect but it does become a bit more possible especially since i never used to eat those foods much before and suddenly eating large amounts day after day does raise the risk of becoming sensitive..but its not 100 percent im just being cautious..im paranoid haha

[Captain Archer]

Are you allergic to berries? Great source of carbohydrates.
Are you allergic to bananas? Again great source.
Are you allergic to milk? Again great source.

If you are not allergic to the listing above here is what I would suggest:
5 bananas + 5 cups of berries + 1 gallon of milk + whey protein to get your 1g of lbm protein.
Should give you quite the carb boost.

[IcarianVX]

Are you allergic to berries? Great source of carbohydrates.
Are you allergic to bananas? Again great source.
Are you allergic to milk? Again great source.

If you are not allergic to the listing above here is what I would suggest:
5 bananas + 5 cups of berries + 1 gallon of milk + whey protein to get your 1g of lbm protein.
Should give you quite the carb boost.

And a sustained insulin spike throughout the day, unless you are suggesting he eat that all at once right after LHT. That is the ONLY time you should ingest an assload of carbs for muscle growth. It's not the total number of carbs, but the timing that allows for muscle growth.