At American School of Natural Health (ASNH), we understand that not all people are looking to lose weight. Some people want to or actually need to gain weight but stay healthy while doing so. Smaller, frequent, high calorie, nutrient dense meals with an accompanying high nutrient, high calorie beverage is best for weight gain.

Avoid having smoothies or soups before or instead of meals. Liquid foods should be consumed as between meal snacks or after the main meal so as not to reduce the appetite.

Smoothies are an excellent way of increasing the absorbability of food and nutrients as they are already pulverized, the requirement for chewing is reduced. The ‘full’ signal in the stomach is largely due to receptors of bulk (think fiber and poorly chewed foods), so reducing bulk by blending into a liquid often means you can consume more – this works well for weight gain when smoothies are high calorie – it does not work if smoothies are water based and low calorie.

Be sure to choose high fat/protein liquids to base smoothies on such as nut milks and coconut cream.

Add a tablespoon or two of healthy fats such as avocado, extra virgin olive oil, full fat natural yoghurt, almond or other nut butters to smoothies and meals to boost calories and nutrients. Favor organic wherever possible to bump up nutrients and minimize toxic load.

A variety of tastes keep the appetite stronger, so have a variety of different flavors and alternate the soup/smoothies regularly. A savory meal with a sweeter ‘dessert’ smoothie will often be more appetizing than two savory or two sweet type offerings.

Add coconut milk to soups to thicken them. Clarified butter or ‘ghee’ can be a great to add nutrients and calories – add to soups, baked vegetables and spread on whole meal breads.

Snack! A tub of raw nuts or some full fat hummus, guacamole and dehydrated nut/seed crisp breads can add significant calories.

Avoid the ‘empty calories’ of white flour goods, soft drinks and sweets as these rob the body of nutrients and can spoil the appetite for better quality foods.

Aim to have good quality protein with each meal – oily fish, eggs, sheep and goats’ cheese, nuts and seeds, legumes but with accompanying fats such as avocado, or ghee and some whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa or rye bread for B vitamins and a healthy dose of carbohydrate energy.

Savory smoothie ideas include blanched kale, cucumber, coriander, ginger root, a pinch of Himalayan salt, pepper, a glug of olive oil and an avocado with a little filtered water. Sweeter smoothie ideas include frozen bananas, berries, medjool dates, honey, cashews and coconut cream.

We hope this information will help you get an idea of how easy it is to gain weight and stay healthy. For information regarding other topics relating to natural health, consider taking one of our natural health courses or programs. Learn how you can achieve optimal health and show others how they can achieve this as well.