From tuna steaks to baked salmon to shrimp kebabs, seafood has some serious muscle-building protein in them to keep you feeling inspired to get your dose of this vital macronutrient. If you’re on a diet for gaining muscle and looking at gaining muscle the healthy way, ready your fridge with a selection of seafood as part of your rotation to what you should eat for gaining muscle.

When asking yourself what is the best food for gaining muscle, steaks and eggs are usually what comes to mind, but when you want to switch things up in your diet (as you should be doing anyway) throw in some fish, clams, shrimp, and squid in there too.

Be careful, though - you'll want to make sure you're buying sustainable seafood. ASC certified companies sustainably farm seafood, and MSC certified companies sustainably source seafood from the wild.

Incorporating seafood into your diet is a great way to boost your health, protect your brain, get plenty of minerals and vitamins, and yes get your fix of muscle-building and hunger-satisfying protein.

How much protein is in seafood?

Protein does a great job at turning off our hunger hormones and keeping us nutritionally satisfied till our next meal. It helps build muscle, promotes healthy weight, stabilizes blood sugar, and boosts our energy levels. Without protein, enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters would be dysfunctional as protein is needed to make and them.

Fortunately, protein is easy to come by. If you’re allergic to eggs, have an aversion to red meat, and don’t want to eat chicken as your only source of protein, know that apart from vegan sources of protein, seafood is another great healthy option.

According to the USDA, below are the approximates of protein content you can get from various seafood, with squid and tuna ringing 50 or more grams of protein per 6 oz serving!

• Salmon: 6oz serving= 38 grams of protein
• Trout: 6oz serving + 40 grams of protein
• Sardines: 6 oz serving=42 grams of protein
• Tuna: 6 oz serving = 50 grams of protein
• Cod: 6 oz serving = 30 grams of protein
• Shrimp: 6 oz serving = 41 grams of protein
• Squid: 6 oz serving= 56 grams of protein
• Mussels: 6 oz serving= 40 grams of protein
• Crab: 6 oz serving= 30 grams of protein
• Oysters: 6 oz serving= 12 grams of protein

With the average woman needing approximately 46 grams of protein a day and the average man needing 56 grams (0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight), it’s clear that eating seafood can easily help meet our daily protein requirements.

Whether you’re a body builder, a star athlete, on a strict paleo, keto, or even on the Mediterranean diet, seafood applies to all not only as a delicious source of protein, but an overall nutrient rich quality source of food that fits into clean and healthy eating habits.

Sustainably sourced and organic salmon, pollock, hake, scallops and clams are available at select Healthy Options stores.

Products You Might Be Interested In

	Selva Shrimp Raw Peeled Tail On 1KG Indulge in sustainably raised Selva Shrimp black tiger prawns. These shrimps are raised naturally without the addition of artificial feeds or chemicals.
	By 360 Atlantic Salmon 280G Atlantic salmon is fatty and high in omega-3s, and is typically moist and flavorful.