Gaining weight if you are underweight or malnourished can be just as difficult as losing weight if you are obese! However, the important point about gaining weight is that you don’t want to build unhealthy fat, but rather strong, healthy muscles.
The best way to achieve this is to eat nutrient-dense, healthy, yet tasty foods. If you can’t eat much for whatever reason, then the easiest way to gain weight is to use a liquid, elemental shake like Absorb Plus – as it’s much easier to drink your calories than eat them!
If you wish, you can also use a combination of nutrient-dense foods along with Absorb Plus shakes. I did this when I was pregnant and breastfeeding. When I didn’t have time to cook or eat properly, I would have an Absorb Plus shake instead of a regular meal. Or I would take one between meals to get extra nutrition in before my baby sucks it out of me again!
If you want to gain weight, you need lots of protein and good fats. You can also use any type of whey protein or vegetable protein shake between meals or along with your meals and add a tablespoon of flax or udo oil to each shake. Or you can use the raw nutrient shake recipe below.
Then, you can use nutrient-dense snacks (like the muffin recipe I shared below) between meals to give you extra calories – but in a delicious way that doesn’t feel like a chore!
I also give these muffins to my kids to take to school when they get bored of the sandwiches. That’s why they’re as rich in protein (from almond flour – ground almond flour), whole grains, and even vegetables as I’ve been able to make them, so even though they taste like a treat, they’re actually a nutritious meal. For this reason, these recipes are ideal for weight gain, as a replacement for breakfast, or as a late afternoon or bedtime snack.
White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins
- 1 cup almond flour (made from finely ground almonds, available at health food or health food stores)
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour*
- 1 cup unbleached flour*
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1 cup liquid honey
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 3 cups grated zucchini (if your child is picky, peel the zucchini before grating – this way he won’t see any “green bits” in the muffins)
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1/2 cup – 1 cup white chocolate chips or chips
Optional: If you prefer, you can use raisins instead of cranberries. If you prefer, you can simply leave out the white chocolate.
1. In a large bowl, stir together eggs, melted butter and honey. Then stir in the grated zucchini and raisins.
2. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (almond flour, whole wheat flour, unbleached flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt).
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
4. Bake in lined muffin tins at 180°C for about 15-20 minutes. Makes about 20 muffins.
*NOTE: You can replace the 2 cups of wheat flour with 2 cups of gluten-free flour and 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
High protein content thanks to almond flour and no refined sugar!
Chocolate puff squares (gluten free)
- 2 cups puffed millet
- 3.5 cups puffed rice
- 1/2 cup tahini or cashew butter or almond butter or peanut butter
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1. In a large pot, combine butter, tahini (or nut butter), and honey over very LOW heat until melted and well blended.
2. Remove from heat, mix in cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
3. Gently (but quickly) stir in the puffed rice and millet.
4. Press into a well-buttered 8″ x 8″ baking pan. Let cool and then cut into squares.
*Note: Since this recipe doesn’t use marshmallows or sugar, it won’t be as hard as rice krispie squares. But it’s still delicious and much healthier!
I also find that it can be easier to consume the extra calories, so here is a nutritional shake that has also been tested by children and is delicious. For people who don’t want to gain weight, you can simply use this instead of breakfast:
Raw nutrient milkshake
- 1 cup raw milk or organic yogurt (for dairy-free products, use rice or almond milk)
- 1 very ripe banana (black is ideal – means it is “pre-digested”)
- 2 whole raw organic eggs
- 1 raw organic egg yolk
- 1 tsp. Udos oil or liquid unrefined coconut oil
- If necessary, raw honey, maple syrup or stevia to sweeten
Optional: Add 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder or 1 teaspoon hot chocolate mix to make a chocolate shake. Or add nutmeg, cardamom and/or cinnamon for a Christmas eggnog flavor.
Puree the milk and banana in a blender on low speed (or use an immersion blender) until smooth, then add the remaining ingredients and blend for 10 seconds. Pour into a glass and serve with a straw.
There’s absolutely no way you can tell there are eggs in here – it doesn’t thicken the liquid or anything.
*Note: The mixing instructions are to avoid damaging the protein in the raw eggs, which is quite delicate.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s my video showing you how to incorporate more healthy fats into your diet. Regardless of whether you are underweight or overweight, eating more good fats will help normalize your weight. Many experts advocate getting 40% of your calories from good, healthy fats because the cell membrane is made up of 40% fat and research on healthy indigenous people has shown that they consume a lot of fat in their diet (up to 80%). Good, healthy fats include:
Climb higher!
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Original post March 2010. Last updated July 2020.
Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert in natural healing for digestive diseases. She healed herself from widespread Crohn’s disease and has been medication and surgery free for over 25 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcasts, TV and radio shows in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, giving people hope and vision on how to heal their colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using all-natural methods. Her books on natural healing of digestive diseases have been sold in over 80 countries worldwide. Jini is married and has three children, nine sheep, 11 horses, a cat and three dogs.
