Healthy Tips To Put On Weight, To Become Fat Naturally
It is often seen that many lean and thin people face problems with their looks. So, here are the Ayurvedic tips taken from Charaka samhita to improve your looks by putting on weight healthily.
What happens if some one is very lean and maintains size zero for a long time?
– Depletion of digestive power, immunity, skin complexion and muscle mass.
– Person becomes prone to repeated infections, debility, constipation and digestive disorders like peptic ulcers.
– There will be a severe increase in Vata leading to vata related joint disorders.
Table of Contents
Weight loss ill-effects
Diseases caused by severe weight loss
Reduction in the power of digestion, strength, complexion, Ojas, Semen and muscle tissue,
Continuous fever and cough, pain in the chest, anorexia, weakness in the power of hearing sounds, insanity, pain in cardiac region, obstruction to the passage of stools and urine, pain in calf, thigh and lumbar regions;
Cracking pain in fingers, bones and joints and such diseases due to the vitiation of Vata like Urdhvavata (upward movement of Vayu) etc.
For their treatment, therapies resulting in long term nourishment should be administered.
How to put on weight quickly ?
If one has lost weight very rapidly in recent times, then putting on weight can be achieved in a short period of time.
But if some one has lost weight over a long period of time, then, putting on weight will also take time.
So, in general, putting on weight should be ideally a gradual process.
Diet to put on weight
Regular intake of meat soup, milk, ghee, curds and dairy products, sweets etc.
Ayurvedic Home remedy to put on weight: A smash fruit mixture prepared with Dates, dry grapes, Indian gooseberry (Amla), pomegranate. A little sugar can be added to improve taste. – one tablespoon of this mix can be taken two times a day.
This fruit salad kind of juice can be taken two times a day up to one month to achieve effective weight gain.
Use Soy bean in your diet. Request your parents to include soy bean in food
Consume egg white – three per day. Do not eat the inner yellow part as it is rich in cholesterol.
Take meat soup – at least once or twice a week.
Fruit / Fruit juice – minimum 4 times a week.
Any non veg food of your choice at least twice a week.
Fruit salad / Vegetable salad. once in two days.
Freshly harvested rice, fresh wine
Frequent usage of meat, curd, ghee, milk, sugarcane, rice, black gram and wheat.
Regularly use little quantities of spices such as cinnamon, garlic, ginger, cardamom, clove and black pepper in the diet. It helps to improve your appetite.
Herbs for weight gain
Ripe falsa fruit
Winter melon
Eating rules to put on weight
Eat only when hungry.
Do not eat slowly, chew fast and eat fast.
Do not distract yourself with phones and tv while eating.
Do not drink water before or after food. Drink water while taking food. Find out why.
Good sleep to improve weight – Sleep and stress free life is very important to put on weight. Sleep for at least 7 hours at night. If you have trouble sleeping, plan your sleep correctly and enjoy maximum rest.
Having a good mood and keeping stress away is very useful to gain weight. Try to indulge in comic TV shows.
Tranquility of mind causes weight gain. Try to keep mind calm by practicing Pranayama
Avoid excess physical activities. – Limit your exercise schedule to only 15 minutes a day.
Intake of freshly harvested rice, fresh wine,
Gramya, Anupa and Audaka Mamsarasa – Meat soup of domestic, marshy and aquatic animals,
Regular oil massage –
Regular oil massage with plain sesame oil / Mahamasha thailam / Mahanarayan oil Helps to improve muscle strength, relaxes body and mind, relieves stress.
Take half a bowl of any of the above oil, dip your fingertips in the oil and apply a thin layer of the oil all over the body, do gentle massage just for 3 -5 minutes, leave the oil on the body for at least 10 minutes, then have a lukewarm water bath. If you do not feel comfortable massaging your own body, then visit an Ayurveda center.
Home remedies
Tasty Weight Gain Remedy:
1. Take 50 grams of each of raisins, dates, almonds, cashew anjeer etc.
Mash them, fry it with 100 grams of ghee, for 5 minutes. Add it to 100-150 grams of jaggery or sugar and a little water. Continue heating till the whole mass becomes semisolid.
Take this – 1 teaspoon 2 times a day after food.
Dates for weight gain
2. Tender coconut pulp is taken by adding beaten rice and jaggery or sugar candy. Regular practice with this helps to gain body weight significantly.
Ayurvedic Panchakarma treatment:
If you are struggling to gain weight by natural measures, visit an Ayurveda center. Enema consisting of oily and sweet tasting herbs balances Vata and causes weight gain.
Modern outlook to put on weight:
Improving digestive power.
Clearing the intestine from worms
Putting on weight with a diet rich in proteins, vitamins, carbohydrate and a little bit of fat.
Do spices help?
Do hot spices and hot herbs such as Haritaki (one of the 3, Triphala) cause weight gain? As it increases digestion strength?
Answer by Dr JV Hebbar:
There are two components to improving weight.
1. Promoting digestion strength, cleaning the gut of the toxic products, so as to improve digestion and absorption of nutrients. Though such herbs / spices are useful to improve digestion strength, they do not contribute to weight gain. Instead, they contribute to weight loss.
For example, Trikatu – the combination of long pepper fruit, ginger and black pepper.
कटुत्रिकं तु त्रिकटु त्र्यूषणं व्योष उच्यते ||५७||
त्र्यूषणं दीपनं हन्ति श्वासकासत्वगामयान् |
गुल्ममेहकफस्थौल्यमेदःश्लीपदपीनसान् ||५८||
kaṭutrikaṃ tu trikaṭu tryūṣaṇaṃ vyoṣa ucyate ||57||
tryūṣaṇaṃ dīpanaṃ hanti śvāsakāsatvagāmayān |
gulmamehakaphasthaulyamedaḥślīpadapīnasān ||58||
bhāvaprakāśa-pūrvakhaṇḍa-miśraprakaraṇa – 2| harītakyādivarga
Meaning: Trikatu is also known as Katutrika, trayushana and VYosha.
dīpanaṃ – it promotes digestion strength
hanti – it relieves / cures or useful in
śvāsa – difficulty in breathing, chronic respiratory disorders with breathing difficulty
kāsa – cough, cold
tvagāmayān – skin diseases associated with itching (pruritus)
gulma – abdominal tumors, gas, bloating
meha – diabetes, urinary tract disorders
kapha – Kapha imbalance disorders
sthaulya – obesity
medaḥ – excess fat collection, high cholesterol
ślīpada – elephantiasis
pīnasān – rhinitis, running nose
The mode of action of these spices on fat tissue is – melting, mobilising and burning. Some more example of such spices are asafoetida, cumin, celery, leadwort (Chitraka), Guggulu, sour herbs such as tamarind, lemon etc.
Read related: Trikatu Churna Benefits, Dose, Remedies, Side Effects
Though it is clear from the above explanation that spices and herbs that increase digestion strength may cause weight loss, these herbs can still be used in the first phase of weight loss treatment.
Use it in low quantities,
use it only till such time that the digestion and metabolism is improved.
Stop it after once the digestion strength is increased. Once the digestion system is corrected, switch to weight gaining medicines such as Narasimha rasayana, Ashwagandha rasayana, Kushmanda rasayana etc.
Having said that, there are some hot potency Ayurvedic herbs that have nutritive value or nutritive action. These are naturally strength and energy promoting, apart from being hot.
For example, Shilajit, Ashwagandha, Mushali. These herbs, though not potent promoters of digestive strength, compared to spices, are still useful to improve digestion strength and contribute to weight gain,
if used in large quantities and
if used along with other nourishing herbs and substances such as ghee, Vidari, Shatavari, fruits, vegetables, protein rich diet etc.
Read: Effective Obesity Treatment, Remedies, Ayurveda Tips
Ayurvedic medicines Vata-Pitta
Can you please mention oil, ghee food supplements or lehyam to promote weight gain in vata-pitta combination prakruti person
The bad news is, the people with Vata – Pitta Prakriti are slightly underweight, more so, with a Vata body type person.
The good news is, there are umpteen numbers of Ayurvedic medicine options to improve weight.
One thing to remember is, these medicines in higher doses contribute to weight gain, whereas these in lower doses, do not cause weight gain.
1. Kushmanda Rasayana – Made with winter melon, ghee, which contribute to weight gain along with certain spices such as ginger, cinnamon, black pepper etc. This herbal jam improves weight and also increases hunger and digestion capacity. A higher dose of 10-20 grams, once or twice a day for 2 – 3 months is good to cause weight gain.
2. Ksheerabala taila 101 – This unique herbal oil is made with sesame oil, milk and Sida cordifolia. This is told very specifically to balance Vata and Pitta Dosha. So, taking the oil – 2-3 ml, 2 – 3 times a day before food for 2 – 3 months can contribute to weight gain. It is also available in the form of a capsule. 2 capsules 2 – 3 times a day can be helpful.
3. Regular intake of ghee – Ghee by nature balances down Vata and Pitta Dosha. So, including 3 – 4 teaspoon of ghee in diet
or
taking anti stress ghee medicines such as Brahmi ghrita, Kalyanaka Ghrita, Maha Kalyanaka Ghrita relieve stress, depression, keeps your mind happy and improves body weight. Dose should be slightly high – 3 – 4 teaspoon a day.
If one develops indigestion due to high dose ghee intake, then including a small quantity of spices such as black pepper, cumin and ginger is useful.
4. Bhringarajasava – This is a fermented cold infusion product with the famous herb Bhringraj. It is known to improve hair quality. It, in a dose of 10-20 ml, once or twice a day can be useful.
Ashwagandha lehya / Balaswagandhadi lehya / Ashwangandharishta – These Ashwagandha products, in higher doses are useful to improve weight but they can slightly increase Pitta Dosha. So, not very ideal for a Vata-Pitta prakriti person.
Light, Nourishing Foods
Usually light foods help to reduce body weight. But in the treatment to gain weight, Acharya Charaka advises to take light and nourishing foods – Laghu Santarpana. What is the reason?
Dr JV Hebbar:
In case of a weak person seeking to gain weight and to improve nourishment, light foods that are nourishing are preferred. Heavy foods, very high in nourishment are not preferred. There is a scientific reasoning behind this. First, we have to understand the nature of light foods – Laghu Dravyas.
Laghu = Light foods mean the foods that are easily and quickly digested.
Guru = Heavy foods mean the foods that are hard to digest. These usually take a long time to undergo digestion.
In light-to-digest foods, there are two types, ones that cause weight loss.
For example, foods with bitter, astringent and spicy taste. bitter gourd, curry leaves, neem leaves, neem bark, Ginger, black pepper, asafoetida etc.
There are some substances that are laghu but still are nourishing. These are laghu Santarpana Dravyas, that are used for Brimhana – nourishing / weight gain therapy.
For example, green gram (Mudga), bengal gram, pomegranate, tubers, elephant yam, supernatant liquid of curd (Dadhimastu), goat milk, goat yogurt, camel milk, sheep milk, carrot, radish, eggplant, horse gram, pigeon pea (tur dal), red lentil (Masur dal) – these are light to digest but still provide good nourishment.
The idea behind Laghu Santarpana – using light and nourishing treatment in underweight patients is, their digestion strength is very low. If we suddenly use heavy and nourishing – Guru and Santarpana food and medicine, they cannot digest it and it can turn into Ama, which can pose a new set of problems. Here, the weak digestive juices cannot digest the food completely. So, the undigested food mixed up with digestive juices form a complex which can lay the foundation of many digestive and systemic diseases.
Whereas, these light and nourishing food ingredients are not heavy on digestive fire but still provide nourishment.
Using a combination of heavy foods in small quantities, along with spices can also be considered as Laghu Santarpana – for example, ghee or sweet fruits and vegetables, with a little bit of spices. Even spiced milks such as
Long pepper milk – Pippali Ksheerapaka,
Garlic milk – Lashuna Ksheera Paka can also be considered Laghu santarpana.
Here, using spices brings in laghuta – lightness
The milk / ghee brings in the santarpana – nourishment.
37 comments on “Healthy Tips To Put On Weight, To Become Fat Naturally”
Jitendra
Best i ever found such information to improve health which is life’s whealth.
meghana
wow! thanx for the information
please give us some more tips
Anju
Will I gain weight by drinking more water? What is the essential weight in kgs for a lady 24yrs?
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Drinking more water is not a reliable technique to gain weight.
Age is not a criterion to determine weight. Height is the criterion. Read here – http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-1108048103230.html
jijish
Thank you Dr.
i have one doubt abt eggs. actually which part of the egg is protein rich, the white part or the yellow. can egg white increases phlegm in the body.
? eating icecreams have a chance to cause phlegm.??
pls do reply to me.
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Ashwagandha helps in terms of improving muscle power, and body strength. It is a very good anti oxidant. It improves the strength of internal organs. Hence, it improves stamina and boosts your exercise power.
Banana etc are high in nutritive value and hence are good to put on weight. Hope it is clear.
nikko
i really need to be fat as fast as possible.. im now
looking skeletal-like man!!
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Please see an Ayurvedic doctor for complete analysis and advice.
vin
Also eating eggs with Table Salt maybe a reason why eggs have become bad for health. Eating eggs with raw salt maybe a better option. Raw Salt is much more healthy than table salt.
Regarding Soy, it is traditionally eaten in tofu or fermented form in china. So tofu maybe more healthy than eating boiled soybean.
mahadev
is nutrigain help us to become fat ?
Gaurav
Thirsting for more in this area…
Thank you,
Canis
Dear Doctor,
What is the best time for eating fruits ? Some reserach it can be only consumed solely instead of combing other foods. Otherwise, it makes indigestion. Because fruits are only be digested within half hour to one hour. The ideal time is between meals. Do you agree ?
Canis
Pravin kumar Rajpurohit
I am very thin and wanna become fat within 1or 2 months
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Hi, it will be best for you to consult an Ayurveda doctor in person. Some Panchakarma treatment and Ayurvedic medicines might help.
Sudha Udipi
Dear Dr. Hebbar,
I would like to share some facts about gaining weight which might be useful to some.
For anybody being healthy and fit is more important than the body size alone.
If some body feels he or she is really very thin,That too if they have lost weight rapidly without any apparent reason, before starting any treatment I think they have to seek medical advice just to rule out any chronic but silent disease like silent tuberculosis, Thyroid issues or even diabetes. All these are curable but without addressing them one cannot succeed in putting on weight.
A family physician or a good ayurvedic doctor can easily make the diagnosis and help them.
For otherwise healthy person , all the tips you have given will be useful.
Anyway journey to putting on weight is much happier than the one to lose weight.
Just increasing the quantity and frequency of food intake with proper exercise will definitely help them.
Slow and steady gain is always preferable.
Happy weight gaining!
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Rightly said 🙂
Arnaz
Hi Dr,
do underweight people have to eat every 3 hours or 3 meals a day?
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Hi, underweight people should eat two or three full meals per day, when they feel good hunger.
Arnaz
Hi Dr,
thank you for the answer, i guess i am going to exercise a bit just to increase my appetite so i can eat good amount of meals a day
Sunitha
Sir,normally it is said that muscle breakdown takes place once in every three hours,so fitness experts ask us to eat something for every 3 hrs. especially if someone’s on a body building plan.And how does having 3 full meals a day serve the purpose?Plz explain.
Thank you.
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Hi, if someone is on a body building plan, then taking small meals multiple times a day is good, rather than fixing the schedule to thrice a day.
Even while eating multiple times in a day, one has to be careful about the quantity. The quantity of food should be so much that the person feels hungry before next meal time.
R Gopalan
I am following most of the suggestions. Yet weight has not increased even by a kilo. Pain all over the body persists, though there is no knee pain. Apparently vata is high. What to do. Taking only Ayurvedic Medicines. E.g. Salakki 600 mg. Dazzle Capsules, Aswaghanda Tablets besides oil massage with maha narayana Thailam+Karpoorathi Thailam. Undergone physiotherapy for ten days. Weight in the range of 43 to 45 kg. age 75, Male. What to do ?
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Please include a teaspoon of ghee in the diet. Make sure to use ghee when the meals you take are still hot in nature. For example, you can put a teaspoon over hot Dosa.
Disha
Sir,
I would like to know whether vegetarian options are equally good as non-veg to put on weight? Or does meat have an intrinsic quality that help to gain weight much better n faster than veg?
For eg., I heard veg foods like bananas, ragi malt, coconut, peanuts, walnuts, almonds etc are excellent ways to gain healthy weight. Are they less effective than chicken if the primary focus is weight gain n not just protein or nutrition acquisition?
Kindly clarify.
Thanks.
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Vegetarian options are equally effective.
Dr Malini Bhat
Madam, It is advised to take Maha Manjisthadi kashayam in your case. Do avoid Shatavari capsules as it is a galactogogue and helps increase weight.
manjula manjula
i am 40yrs old my name is manjula please tell weight gain (fat) medicine
Dr Malini Bhat
Hello Madam, Basing on all the conditions like your health, constituents,weight, height etc., we doctors prescribe medicine so would advise you to take advise from Ayurvedic physician face to face.
Note: As we all are genetically different with different constitutions and patterns, we respond to treatments in many different ways. Hence Standard Ayurvedic Treatments are always individually formulated. For specific treatment, always consult with a qualified Ayurvedic physician.
Kanth
Sir, drinking a cup of soy milk every day makes any harm in longterm for a woman who is having hot flushes? When I consume a cup I feel good. But I fear about longterm basis
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
It is good for long term. Please continue.
Pavi
Hi Doctor, first I would like to thank you for being there. My problem is hair loss and sinus. I have iron, cal and vitamin d3 deficiency. My doctor suggested to use lohasaha. I am very thin and unable to gain weight. Using lohasaha will reduce my weight further?
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
No. It helps to increase weight in your case. Please go ahead.
ramu
what about a combination of ashwagandha, shatavari, vidari and kauncha in hot milk to gain weight?
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
Useful.
karan
sir i am very thin and i loose some weight in some days i want to gain weight what should i do to gain weight in one month. i,m 5.10 tall and my weight is 49kg age 21 and having some thyroid problem i don’t know what to do
Sankarsan
Sir, you say “Do not eat slowly, chew fast and eat fast”. please explain why? after all, everyone writes about what one need to eat slowly, carefully chewing food – for best digestion.
Dr J V Hebbar MD(Ayu)
This advice is specifically to improve weight. It is scientifically proven that, if one eats fast, he usually ends up taking large quantity of food.