Six foods that can help support muscle growth and maintenance, especially when combined with resistance exercise:
- Eggs 🥚 — provide high-quality protein and all essential amino acids.
- Chicken or other lean poultry 🍗 — protein-rich and versatile for meals.
- Fish 🐟 — provides protein; fatty fish such as salmon also supplies omega-3 fats.
- Greek yogurt 🥛 — a convenient source of protein and calcium.
- Beans and lentils 🫘 — provide protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and minerals.
- Milk or cottage cheese — rich in protein, including slowly digested casein in dairy foods.
The key for building muscle
Food helps, but progressive resistance training + enough total protein + adequate calories + recovery are what drive muscle gain. For older adults, maintaining adequate protein intake is particularly important because muscle becomes less responsive to small protein doses with age.
A useful approach is to include a protein-rich food at each meal, rather than trying to get all your protein at dinner.
If someone has kidney disease or another condition requiring dietary restrictions, their appropriate protein intake should be discussed with their healthcare professional.
