Banana Smoothie for Weight Gain

Bananas are one of the best fruits for weight gain – the banana smoothie for weight gain is a tool you need to make weight gain and muscle growth easier.

Today, we’ll cover why we love banana shakes for weight gain, the most important ingredients you should be using, and how to get the absolute best from your banana protein shakes/smoothies.

Why Do We Recommend The Banana Smoothie To Gain Weight?

The banana smoothie is a fantastic choice for weight gain and bulking up because bananas are starchy fruits and offer more calories than most.

They’re also perfectly versatile – you can have a chocolate peanut butter banana shake, or a strawberry ice cream banana smoothie.

These shakes combine the flavor and nutrients of fruit with the protein of a whey protein powder or plant based protein powder, and you can add your favorite ingredients afterwards.

Bananas are just one of the best foods for smoothies – whether you add them whole, chopped, or frozen.

Banana Shake For Weight Gain: Key Ingredients

The key ingredients for banana shakes for weight gain are bananas, oats, protein powder, and then additional high calorie ingredients like nut butter and ice cream.

These are some of the best ways to gain weight with smoothies: high in calories but low in satiety to keep you hungry through the day and promote more total food intake.

I love banana shakes and I think that they can completely change a weight gain diet – adding just enough calories (from the right foods) to promote muscle gains without changing too much in the rest of your diet!

1. Banana

It’s not a banana shake for weight gain without bananas. The type you use matters, though – with frozen half-bananas providing a completely different texture from normal, chopped bananas.

A banana will typically provide around 70-100 calories, 0.3g of fat, 20g of carbohydrates, and 1g of protein (1). This makes it a great carb source and you can use 1-2 medium bananas to add easy calories even before considering other ingredients.

Bananas are perfect when combined with oats and protein powder – a perfect blend of the most important nutrients for health and muscle gains.

2. Oats

As mentioned above, oats are a perfect addition to your banana smoothie for weight gain. They offer more complex carbs to counteract the sugars of bananas, as well as a huge variety of vitamins and minerals to support health (2).

Oats are also just a great mild flavor and texture to give your bulking shakes and smoothies extra consistency.

They’re a great choice and you can soak them beforehand to make them super easy to blend. Use soaked rolled oats or any form of steel-cut oats for the best results!

Also, here’s another great oat smoothie recipe for weight gain!

3. Protein Powder

Protein powder is essential for high quality weight gain with a smoothie.

It ensures you have protein as well as just carbs, turning it from a high-calorie shake into a muscle-building smoothie for weight gain that makes you look better.

Without enough protein, you’re boosting your calorie intake without promoting more muscle growth (3). This can easily lead to excessive weight gain as fat, with poor total results.

You can use whey protein powder or any plant protein powder alternative – just make sure you match the flavor to your other ingredients!

4. Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is one of the most delicious and healthy fat sources around.

Unlike the chocolate that it’s used to make, it offers a heart-healthy and calorie dense choice, making it perfect to add to your banana smoothie to gain weight.

If you combine this with bananas and peanut butter, you can get a convincing peanut butter cup weight gain smoothie. It’s a great change to chicken and potatoes!

5. Nut Butter

Nut butters are very high in calories from healthy fats – especially if you get natural peanut butter to reduce the added brown sugar (for example). These are super rich and offer great taste, texture, and tons of calories.

Be careful not to use nut butters, as they’re some of the most calorie dense ingredients. Combine with cocoa powder for a banana peanut butter cup mass gainer shake – a personal favorite.

6. Ice Cream

A delicious way to add more calories for hardgainers, ice cream is a semi-solid that blends well, comes in a range of flavors, and adds a touch of luxury to your banana smoothie to gain weight.

You can add a lot of calories by making your shakes from 75% ice cream, but weight gain is likely to be low quality with lots of unnecessary fat gains.

7. Ice

Ice isn’t going to provide any calories or nutrients – but it changes the texture of your smoothie and keeps it cool, crisp, and fresh.

This is just a great ingredient to add to keep your textures smooth and your banana smoothie for taste as well as weight gain.

Be sure to use smaller, broken down ice to prevent dulling your blender blades. Add a handful, but make sure you maintain a ratio of at least 2 parts soft or liquid ingredients to 1 part ice.

Banana Smoothie for Weight Gain Recipe 

The banana chocolate smoothie for weight gain is our favorite recipe. This is a simple flavor that combines the best things about the banana smoothie to gain weight with the classic Fitzgerald crepe flavor profile: chocolate, hazelnut, bananas, and sweet-but-mild brown sugar flavors

• 1 chopped banana, frozen
• Milk to preference (add more slowly to get your desired consistency)
• 1 – 2 scoops protein powder (vanilla preferable, chocolate is also acceptable)
• ½ – 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder (obviously, more cocoa, more chocolate-y)
• ½ – 1 tablespoon of Nutella
• ½ – 1 cup steel-cut oats or oat flour
• ½ – 1 teaspoon of maple syrup or honey
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Optional: 1 scoop vanilla ice cream

This is a simple recipe but offers a great chance to improve the total flavor of your weight gain. Here’s a quick look at the macros in the dry ingredients:

With 1 pint of 2% milk, 2 scoops of protein, without ice cream: 869 calories, 95g carbs, 21g fats, 65g protein.

With 2 scoops of protein and 1 scoop of plain vanilla ice cream: 974 calories, 104g carbs, 28g fat, and 67g protein

This is a delicious shake that is calorie-dense enough to transform a maintenance diet into a weight gain one.

In particular, it’s a perfect alternative to your normal post-workout protein shake and helps provide a range of nutrients – macronutrients and micronutrients – that are perfect for healthy weight gain and muscle growth!

Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t miss out on the best results – let’s take a quick look at the most common questions about banana smoothies for weight gain and how it all works..

Is A Banana Smoothie Good For Weight Gain?

Yes – banana smoothies for weight gain are a classic with bodybuilders, hardgainers, and elite athletes. They offer a great starch and sugar source, combined with protein powder to offer a homemade protein shake, but with more versatility and control over the ingredients.

 This has made banana smoothies very popular for skinny guys trying to gain weight and build muscle mass.

The combination of carbs and protein is also perfect for post-workout smoothies to build muscle, which is where banana weight gain smoothies offer the best results.

What Can I Add To My Banana Shake To Gain Weight?

You can add high-calorie ingredients to your banana shake for weight gain like cocoa powder, nut butters, Nutella, steel-cut oats or oat powder, Greek yogurt, heavy cream, or ice cream. These are calorie-dense and this makes them perfect to help you gain more weight.

Be careful to watch the speed of your weight gain with these ingredients – and measure carefully. You can easily overeat during a weight gain diet and gain more fat than muscle!

Does Banana Increase Weight Gain?

Banana can increase your weight gain by adding more fast-absorbing and starchy carbs without too much fullness. In a smoothie, this is even more effective since you’re drinking your calories – an easier way to get them into the body without ruining your appetite.

Bananas are a popular part of weight gain smoothies because of their calorie content – as well as their extra vitamins and minerals, like potassium, which are good for health.

Final Thoughts

I love to use a banana smoothie to gain weight, with a powerful combination of starchy carbohydrates, protein powder, and delicious ingredients to make weight gain enjoyable. They’re calorie dense, super versatile, and a staple of weight gain diets for hardgainers.

You can turn a healthy diet into a healthy weight gain diet with a banana smoothie, making weight gain far easier.

This is perfect for skinny people who can’t eat enough to gain weight consistently – and one of my favorite uses of the banana smoothie for weight gain is to break through plateaus and kickstart better growth.

If you use the ingredients and ideas here, you can gain weight. It’s just a matter of making sure your whole diet works, and adding a banana smoothie with plenty of protein and calories!

References:

1. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/bananas
2. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/oats
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5852756/

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