“Vegans are skinny, weak, and frail!”
Something you might have heard before, or maybe even believed yourself.
This has been a common misconception about vegans for just about ever. The idea that, without eating the dead, rotting flesh of once living beings, there’s just no way vegans can have strong bodies, bones, brains, or muscles.
However, luckily, thanks to modern-day research, science, and common sense regarding nutrition and fitness, it turns out that vegans actually can make all the same muscle gains as non-vegans.
But how?! Allow me to explain!
BUILDING MUSCLE AS A VEGAN
In order to build muscle, for virtually anyone, you need to cover 3 important things:
- Following a well-designed workout program that makes sense for your goals, is consistent, and implements progressive overload to elicit progress over time.
- Consuming enough total calories (surplus) while aiming for adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, that align with your personal requirements and your goals
- Making sure to get proper rest and recovery, including getting adequate sleep
These three things are essentially the keys to muscle building. And, as a vegan, the workout and recovery parts will be no different from anyone else – everyone has to workout efficiently and get proper rest
The difference obviously lies in the diet. More specifically, regarding protein. Protein, as well as amino acids, are always the main concern. Let’s unpack this!
PROTEIN & AMINO ACIDS
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. And protein, as everyone knows, is crucial for building muscle.
The misconception with diet is that most people focus on dead animal flesh as the best source of protein, and tout it for having “all of the essential amino acids”. And on the flip side, some think that plant foods lack amino acids, and aren’t high quality protein sources, thus, people following plant based/vegan diets won’t be able to get the proper protein intakes, and will therefore lack in strength or muscle gains.
When the truth is that protein and amino acids actually originate from plants, which is where the animals then get it from.
And not only that, but all plant foods contain all of the essential amino acids, just in varying amounts.
In fact, the only real protein source that isn’t “complete” in terms of amino acid profile is gelatin, which is derived from animals, ha!
But anyway, the point is that plant foods are not necessarily low-quality protein sources, nor do they lack any amino acids. Whoever believes this is simply lacking knowledge.
This would only be a real concern if someone was under-eating calories from like one food source, which at least for the majority of people, is never the case.
People, vegan or non, typically eat an abundance of calories from various food sources.
What this essentially means is that as long as someone is eating enough calories, and total protein, the ability to build muscle is virtually the same between vegans and non-vegans.
Various studies have been coming out comparing the difference in muscle gains between vegans and non-vegans, and they continue to show essentially no difference in outcomes as long as calories and total protein were accounted for.
Shattering both of the myths that vegans can’t build muscle and that plant-based protein is less-superior!
There’s also discussion on particular amino acids leading to muscle growth, such as Leucine.
To clarify, tofu is a good source of leucine.
However, research on amino acids showed that total amino acid intake relates to overall nitrogen levels in the body.
Researchers found that when more nitrogen is going in the body as opposed to going out, people will be in a state of anabolism, which is key for building muscle.
What this essentially means is that as long as you’re hitting your total protein intake, it really doesn’t matter what balance of amino acids you’re eating.
So simply put, hitting your total protein target is more important than stressing over getting “complete” proteins – which again, is a misconception in the first place.
CARBS & FATS
For setting up and figuring out your other macronutrient (carbs & fat) targets, a simple method you could use is simply find the amount of total calories you’re aiming for, factor in your protein target, and for the rest, fit in your carbs and fats based on your preferences – higher carb, lower fat, or vice versa.
So then what types of vegan foods are great macronutrient sources to include? Let’s go through each macro with a few ideas
CARBS
BREAKFAST
- Oats
- Whole wheat toast or bagel
- Fruit
- Whole grain cereals
- Whole grain waffles or pancakes (vegan, of course)
- Hash Browns/potatoes
LUNCH & DINNER
- Whole grain rice – brown, red, wild
- Quinoa
- Whole grain/whole wheat/legume pasta
- Whole grain or wheat bread, buns
- Legumes – beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas
- Potatoes
- Whole wheat tortillas
SNACK
- Fruit
- Whole wheat toast
- Crispy chickpeas
FATS (HEALTHY SOURCES)
BREAKFAST
- Toast or bagel w/ avocado
- Soy milk
- Nut butters
- Chia, Flax, Hemp seeds added to smoothies, oats, etc.
- Tofu
LUNCH & DINNER
- Avocado
- Olive oil
- Nuts & nut butters
- Tofu
SNACKS
- Nuts and nut butters
- Chia, Flax, Hemp seeds
- Avocado toast
PROTEIN
BREAKFAST
- Oats
- Tofu, Tofu scramble
- Whole wheat toast or bagel
- Soy milk
- Nut butters
- Protein shake
LUNCH & DINNER
- Tofu
- Seitan
- Tempeh
- TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein
- Mycoprotein – Derived from mushrooms
- Legumes – Beans, Lentils, Chickpeas, Peas
- Whole Grains – Whole grain rice, Quinoa
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Legume (bean, chickpea) pasta
- Whole Grain or Whole Wheat bread/buns
- Mock Meats
SNACK
- Vegan protein bars
- Nuts & nut butters
- Protein shake
PROTEIN POWDER CLARITY
Since plant-based protein itself has always been criticized, plant-based or vegan protein powders haven’t been too popular.. Until now.
Nowadays there’s more and more new vegan protein brands, as well as non-vegan protein brands releasing vegan protein supplements. It’s great!
Whey and Casein proteins have always been all the rage. But research looking into comparing protein powders found that pea protein, in particular, compared pretty evenly with whey, in terms of strength and muscle gains in athletes.
So when, and if, you go to grab that tub of vegan protein, as long as its main ingredient is pea protein, you’re getting all the same benefits as you would if you grabbed the dairy – based protein!
As well as soy protein also being a high-quality (in comparison to dairy) plant-based protein source.
TAKEAWAYS
The age-old myth that vegans are weak and can’t build muscle has, and continues to be, debunked!
Much confusion and misconceptions around food and protein have led society to believe that rotting, dead animal flesh, or the mammary secretions of another species (dairy), is your best bet for muscle and strength gains.
Luckily, modern science, vegan fitness personalities, and documentaries like The Game Changers, are proving that this idea is absolutely not the case!
Building muscle requires proper training, rest, and nutrition.
And, as a vegan, the most important things in terms of nutrition to focus on are:
-
- Eat in a proper calorie surplus
- Make sure to hit your protein goal
- Eat a good balance of carbs and fats that best fits you and your preferences
- Ignore meatheads and moronic claims about vegan diets