People don’t always search for diets designed to help them drop weight. Some folks are actually looking for eating plans that will help them add pounds. Others are hoping to find a method by which they can accelerate the development of lean muscle mass.

A lean, toned, muscular body may be the ideal physique, but what is the best diet for building lean muscle? Is there one particular approach that produces the best results?

The best muscle building diet plan will offer sufficient energy to maintain one’s workout regimen and active lifestyle while not burdening the body with the intake of fat-producing food choices. While it’s well beyond the scope of any one article to outline a complete eating plan for someone hoping to build a better body, there are a few common traits inherent in almost all the best building diets.

Muscle encouragement starts with the consumption of protein. You are what you eat, right? Well, muscles are high-protein body parts! If you want to have more muscle, you need more protein. The best way to get it? Meat. But not just any meat. You want to use lean options to provide the muscle building fuel without the fat.

Great options include turkey breast, tuna and chicken breast. These all pack a lot of protein with very little fat. Many other fish rank toward the top of the charts, as well. You can even integrate extra lean beef into the equation--it’s protein rich and totes the extra advantage of B12 vitamins.

Man (or woman) cannot live on meat alone, however! One key aspect to developing a lean muscle diet is to recognize that you your first priority is to maintain a healthy overall approach to food. You can probably guess where this is going, right? It’s time to eat your veggies--particularly the green ones. They’re good for you on a variety of levels and they don’t add any appreciable fat to your overall diet.

Those in the weight loss crowd will tell you to avoid carbohydrates at every turn. There may be some truth to that when your primary goal is shedding pounds. There’s certainly plenty of evidence to suggest that "white carbs" found in refined grains are bad news in terms of one’s weight. Lean muscle builders need plenty of energy to maintain their workouts, though. That means they can’t realistically hope to reduce carbs to a minimum. You’ll need fuel to keep going and carbs provide it You can’t overdo it and you should stick to whole grain options, but don’t become obsessive about eliminating them if you’re interested in finding the best diet for building lean muscle.

You should consult with appropriate professionals before embracing any overall diet plan. Chances are that the expert plan you discover will include an emphasis on protein consumption, green vegetables and healthy carbohydrates.