Weight Gainer

[scastleberg]

im looking for a good weight gainer that doesnt leave me with a sour stomach and tastes halfway alright. i've tried Serious Mass that tastes pretty good but the servings are so huge that it makes you feel like crap for a couple of hours. right now im on HeavyWeight Gainer900 and this stuff tastes awful, but it doesnt mess with my stomach like the Serious Mass. or is there something that i could put in it to make it taste better. thanks in advance.

[the one]

nlarge 2 is the best one ive found. if not make yur own. regular protein powder, banana, peanut butter, milk.

[defcon]

I suggest you stop using them, most are loaded with sugar to up the calories. It would be better for you to eat more calorie dense foods if you find it hard to gain weight, most people use nuts, taste good, high in calories, good for you in moderation. If you must take them, then take a look at the weight gainer product that AtLargeNutrition sells.

[geoffgarcia]

HeavyWeight Gainer900 and this stuff tastes awful, but it doesnt mess with my stomach like the Serious Mass. or is there something that i could put in it to make it taste better. thanks in advance.
what flavor?
the chocolate is by far the best tasting weight gainer I've ever had in my life.
In fact its better than any type of chocolate milk or chocolate shake in my life.

[the one]

i wouldnt listen to defcon (depeneding on your situation) i know that its really ahrd for me to put on weight so the exces cals from gainers is good for me, and nl2 isnt that heavy in sugar. if your reallyu in need of mass i say go for one

[thetopdog]

Every wieght gainer is heavy in sugar. The first or second ingredient in all of them is maltodextrin which is probably the worst type of sugar to eat (any time other than post workout) since it (along with dextrose) spikes your insulin the highest.

Try your hardest to get in the extra cals from real food, and only resort to wieght gainers if you have to. But if you're going to be taking in all that malto anyways, you might as well just be eating candy and enjoy yourself

[Optimum08]

:withstupi

[the one]

big difference b/t candy and a gainer with some malto in it.

nl2 = 30grams of sugar, malto is second ingredient.

[defcon]

There is no need for suger loaded weight gainers. Take one handful of nuts at 2 or 3 meals and you add 400-500 calories instantly. Id rather eat some good food like subway and get extra calories if need be, then drink weight gainer.

[the one]

i agree with you totally defcon, but for some of us like me who needs 5,000kcals a day is rough without alittle help from gainers.

[thetopdog]

big difference b/t candy and a gainer with some malto in it.

nl2 = 30grams of sugar, malto is second ingredient.

What's the difference between eating say a Snickers bar, and having a scoop of plain whey, as opposed to taking a serving of NLarge? All it is is whey protien and sugar

[Saint Patrick]

What's the difference between eating say a Snickers bar, and having a scoop of plain whey, as opposed to taking a serving of NLarge? All it is is whey protien and sugar


The snickers and whey will taste better.

[defcon]

The snickers and whey will taste better.

:withstupi Instead of weight gainers you can.. drink a scoop of whey, and eat a choc. bar that has peanuts in it. Its not the best solution, but its way better tasting, and not much worse, if any, then the n2large.

[ecliptic]

nlarge2 is good. I've used it for a while and noticed some good results. Its recommended to take 4 scoops of this stuff.. I usually take 2 pre-workout and 2 post-workout and that seems to be fine. 4 scoops of that stuff at once is too much for me :)

[chris mason]

Ok, let me clarify something, at least with respect to AtLarge's product, Opticen. Our product also contains maltodextrin. That said, our product will not spike insulin levels to anywhere near the degree of candy because of the fact that you are consuming over 50 grams of protein to go along with the carbohydrates. Our protein blend contains casein which attenuates absorbtion of all of the nutrients in the product. Thus, the insulin spike, which consuming maltodextrin alone might cause is avoided.

[Anthony]

Maltodextrin isn't sugar, it's a complex carb. It's high in the GI list, but like Chris said, there are a lot of factors that play into how foods affect insulin.

Nlarge2 is good stuff if you are trying to pack on the pounds.

[the one]

defcon that is horrible advice

[thetopdog]

Maltodextrin isn't sugar, it's a complex carb. It's high in the GI list, but like Chris said, there are a lot of factors that play into how foods affect insulin.

Nlarge2 is good stuff if you are trying to pack on the pounds.

Maltodextrin is a 'complex carb' in the technical sense, but it's no better for you than dextrose (they both spike your insulin by the same amount) which is the simplest carb out there (pure glucose). So don't buy into the ********* that says malto is complex

I have a lot of respect for Chris's knowledge and I guess the Atlarge product is different because it does contain Casein and other things, but I am still very hesitant to consume a large amount of malto at any time other than pre/post workout. I can see a very large difference in fat gain any time I use a lot of malto

And 'the one', why is defcon's advice terrible? What makes malto+whey any better for you (as far as fat gain in concerned) than snickers +whey?

[Anthony]

So what are you saying? Maltodextrin is technically a complex carb, but because it has a high GI rating that it's not really a complex carb? If so, that makes no sense. If I remember correctly, a baked potato is the same as sucrose as far the GI is concerned. But I'm sure you wouldn't argue that table sugar is better for you than potatoes.

Either way, no one is suggesting a diet of pure Nlarge2. It's an easy way to get some extra calories, simple as that.

[the one]

his advice is terrible b/c advising a beginner (or anybody for tat manner) to eat candy bars is wrong. if you dont see a problem with that then keep readin around the site

[defcon]

his advice is terrible b/c advising a beginner (or anybody for tat manner) to eat candy bars is wrong. if you dont see a problem with that then keep readin around the site

If you think that n2large is good for you then read the label. Im not telling him to never use it, but there are easier, tastier, cheaper, and better calorie sources out there.

[thetopdog]

his advice is terrible b/c advising a beginner (or anybody for tat manner) to eat candy bars is wrong. if you dont see a problem with that then keep readin around the site

But someone please explain to me how eating candy bars is any worse than eating sugar (Maltodextrin)? I just don't understand it.

And I've been on this site for over a year now. In fact, before I got to this site I would say that of course weight gainer is better for you than candy bars, but from what I've learned about maltodextrin, GI and fat storage on this site, now I realize that eating maltodextrin at any time other than pre/post workout is just as bad or worse

[thetopdog]

So what are you saying? Maltodextrin is technically a complex carb, but because it has a high GI rating that it's not really a complex carb? If so, that makes no sense. If I remember correctly, a baked potato is the same as sucrose as far the GI is concerned. But I'm sure you wouldn't argue that table sugar is better for you than potatoes.

Either way, no one is suggesting a diet of pure Nlarge2. It's an easy way to get some extra calories, simple as that.

I'm saying it technically a complex carb, but your body won't care if it's complex or not when it's turning all that malto in the weight gainer into fat.

[the one]

ok heres a little scenario for you.

16 year old male
6'2
145lbs of skinand bones
typical "hardgainer"

needs a lot of calories to gain weight and a gainer will help him out immensely b/c of the amount of cals in it and the simplicity. he gets 600cals, per serving. 200 from protein, aabout 20 from fat and the remainder from carbs (malto). now explain to me how a snickers bar willbenifit this kid more than the gainer (nl2).

[thetopdog]

ok heres a little scenario for you.

16 year old male
6'2
145lbs of skinand bones
typical "hardgainer"

needs a lot of calories to gain weight and a gainer will help him out immensely b/c of the amount of cals in it and the simplicity. he gets 600cals, per serving. 200 from protein, aabout 20 from fat and the remainder from carbs (malto). now explain to me how a snickers bar willbenifit this kid more than the gainer (nl2).

That was me a little more than a year ago, except I was 19, 5'10" and ~160 but still a hardgainer. So I know what I'm talking about since I've been there.

I drank 1 or 2 servings of NLarge every day, I went from about 170 in Feb to 205 in Sept, so it did help, but if I had just taken whey and eaten a snickers, I'm sure I would have seen the same results, maybe even better. It would probably be less expensive and better tasting too. I had to cut down to about 190 becuase I was carrying a lot of fat that might not have been there if I had not drank so much maltodextrin.

I guess it's just something about the idea of eating what basically amounts to pure sugar that bothers me. If I'm going to be eating sugar, I might as well be enjoying it, but to add insult to injury, weighgainers taste like $hit. Malto is a way to get in extra cals, but I think it's pretty terrible as far as fat gain is concerned. Plus the potential for harming your insulin sensitivity if you keep taking in all that weightgainer day in and day out like I used to.

[the one]

alrght well i was in the same boat as you and nlarge helped me a ton too, and i just dont think that a candy bar woulda did the same but who knows.

[chris mason]

Oh man, the internet rolls on.....

Look, what makes you fat is an excess of calories. Carbohydrates are not the evil that so many make them out to be these days. When I take my product with maltodextrin in it I do not get any fatter than when I don't.

Let me give you another scenario which might help. When I was a young man of 19 I decided to enter a bodybuilding competition. I decided late and it was only 6.5 weeks until the show. I was lucky enough to have a professional bodybuilder, who now has his own radio talk show on nutrition, help me. I started the diet at 220 lbs. My diet consisted of cream of rice or oatmeal for breakfast, vegtables, rice, two apples, chicken, and that was about it. As a percentage the diet was very high in carbohydrates. I lost 34 lbs in that 6.5 weeks and competed at ~186 lbs.

Now, did the carbs make me fat? Heck no!

The reason you get fatter when taking in maltodextrin is because you are adding too many CALORIES to your diet. It isn't the insulin spike and you won't become diabetic from doing it.

[thetopdog]

Chris, I never said that carbs made you fat. I'm not afraid of carbs at all, I just try to avoid maltodextrin and dextrose at all costs (other than pre/post workout) becuase of their extremely high GI. I highly doubt that I would have put on as much fat if I had taken 52g's of whey plus 400 cals of olive oil, or 400 cals of nuts, or even 400 cals of chocolate as opposed to 52g's of whey and 400cals of sugar (malto). That's all I'm trying to say. If you think there would be no difference, I respect your opinion and I will do more research, but from what I've read, extremely high GI carbs like malto and dextrose are to be avoided at all costs

Anyways, I'm glad we're having this discussion because I'm here to learn more, and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters.

[GonePostal]

An excess calorie is an excess calorie. Once your glycogen levels are topped up the extra energy only has 1 place to go, into fueling growth. That maybe fueling growth of muscle or fat. So if you at purely a diet of olive oil it would be no different in caloric terms as eatting one of sugar. If you eat too much you get fat no matter what the food it is.

Malto is a complex carb but has a High GI kinda like potatoes... I myself have not made up my mind on malto due to this fact but to say "malto sucks because it is high GI" or "malto is no better or even worse then candy bars because it is high GI" is just plain wrong. Potatoes are high GI also, is it better to eat sugar instead of potatoes?

[GonePostal]

Oh and the topic of weight gainers I think they are great if you know what you are doing. The point of a weight gainer in my eyes is to give you those extra calories. The people that should be taking weight gainers are the people that can not eat more. That's the point when I take a weight gainer. I can't eat anymore so I take some liquid calories which are much easier to take. If I could have just eatten a sub then I would have but I can't! That and the fact of eatting peanuts or what other high content food will slow gastric emptying thus making you fuller for longer. While the weight gainer will empty quite quickly in comparision.

BTW Opticien from AtLarge is the best MRP that I have ever tasted. I like it much more then nlarge. I would recomend getting it over nlarge even though it has less calories. I just add my own malto to the mix and some oil to top up the calories.

[thetopdog]

An excess calorie is an excess calorie. Once your glycogen levels are topped up the extra energy only has 1 place to go, into fueling growth. That maybe fueling growth of muscle or fat. So if you at purely a diet of olive oil it would be no different in caloric terms as eatting one of sugar. If you eat too much you get fat no matter what the food it is.

Malto is a complex carb but has a High GI kinda like potatoes... I myself have not made up my mind on malto due to this fact but to say "malto sucks because it is high GI" or "malto is no better or even worse then candy bars because it is high GI" is just plain wrong. Potatoes are high GI also, is it better to eat sugar instead of potatoes?

Malto is sugar, it's just a chain of glucose molecules linked together, comparing it to potatoes is unfair. I'm sure the GI of potatoes isn't as high as it is for malto. Malto isn't added to weight gainers becuase it's a 'complex carb' it's added becuase it's sweet, it makes it easy to get a lot of calories, and most importantly, it's cheap.

[Anthony]

To the best of my knowledge:

- Maltodextrin is a partially hydrolyzed starch - not sugar.
- All carbs are formed from glucose, the order and amount determine the type of carb.
- Our body converts all carbs to glucose before use.

I don't argue that maltodextrin is added because of the taste and cost, but that doesn't mean it's horrible. The GI on potatoes is the same as sugar, but not as high as maltodextrin. Keep in mind, the GI isn't the end all be all of what carbs are good/bad. There are many other factors involved such as the GL, II, and how your body reacts when you consume these foods in conjunction with other types of foods (proteins/fats).