Hello and Welcome to HealthcareMagic,
There are several ways to approach weight gain. First, does your girlfriend want to gain weight, or is there another issue about her weight you do not know about? Next, has she been checked by a doctor for an overactive
thyroid or seen a Dietitian with a food diary to have her caloric intake versus needs calculated? These are two things that may help your girl friend address her problem.
From the standpoint of your question regarding products, if she were my patient I would go with diet first and if a product had to be added I would choose Endura Mass over Nutrigain and recommend increasing her calories naturally by 500 calories per day to gain 1 kg/week. Weight gain should be slow and can be accomplished nutritionally by adding the following foods:
Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, etc.
· Dried fruit: Raisins, dates, prunes and others.
· High-fat dairy: Whole milk, full-fat yogurt, cheese, cream.
· Fats and Oils: Extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil.
· Grains: Whole grains like oats and brown rice.
· Meat: Chicken, beef, pork, lamb, etc. Choose fattier cuts.
· Tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams.
· Dark chocolate, avocados, peanut butter, coconut milk, granola, trail mixes.
Then, think about building muscle as weight gain should be composed of muscle not fat.
Weight training with sufficient calories to cover the extra exercise would also be my choice of treatment.
The other product you mentioned is an Ayurvedic remedy consisting of
Ashwagandha, an adaptogenic herb commonly used to alleviate
stress, balance the
adrenal glands and for general well-being. I do not see anything productive in its formulation to put on lean muscle weight. It has some other remedies in it designed to stimulate appetite.
Emphasizing a protein diet will help with the muscle building so I would advise a 1.5 g/kg protein intake while doing resistance training.
I hope all of this information helps you and her formulate a plan to optimize her health,body composition and fitness level. Regards, Kathy Shattler, MS, RDN