Vegan/Vegetarian Dieting & Optimising Muscle Growth
Can you effectively gain muscle on a strictly vegan diet?
Of course!
However, it takes some careful planning and preparation to ensure that you are giving yourself the best chance of success. You definitely don’t have it as easy as those eating a diet that contains meat and dairy!
The reason for this lies in the 20 amino acids that your body needs to grow and function. 9 of these, known as the essential amino acids, can’t be made by your body and must be obtained through diet. This includes the essential amino acid Leucine that is key for muscle protein synthesis (muscle building). These essential amino acids are found in abundance in meat and dairy products. However, in a vegan diet there are some foods you should try to include that will provide you with these essential amino acids. Here are a few:
Quinoa
Tofu
Buckwheat
Chia seeds
The other important thing to be aware of is while meat and dairy will often offer all of the essential amino acids, some vegan protein sources will be incomplete proteins. An incomplete protein doesn’t contain all of the essential amino acids needed for muscle growth. This means that eating a variety of vegan protein sources, or combining proteins that together provide all of essential amino acids is needed (a complete protein source). Examples include:
Peanut butter on wholegrain bread
Hummus with whole wheat pitta
Salads with beans and nuts/seeds
Beans and brown rice
Protein shakes can be a great way to increase your protein intake. Whey protein can be used in vegetarian diets and plant based sources are available for vegan diets.
It may also be worth considering some other sources of micronutrients that you may be lacking in with a vegan diet:
Omega 3- Important for many things, including reducing inflammation, eye health and reducing your risk of heart disease. It is found in oily fish but also in Chia seeds, hemp seeds, Flaxseeds and walnuts.
B12- Important in red blood cell production, deficiency can cause fatigue and memory problems. It is found in meat products and for vegans I would recommend a multi-vitamin that includes at least 10 micrograms a day.
Iron- Needed for red blood cell production, and deficiency will result in anaemia. Found in meat but vegan sources include lentils, beans, nuts and leafy greens.
Vitamin C- Helpful for releasing the iron in vegetable sources. Found in foods like citrus fruit, kiwi, broccoli and kale.
For optimising sporting performance and results from training sessions it would also be sensible to supplement with creatine monohydrate. Creatine is normally gained through diet from consuming meat and so therefore is even more beneficial in a vegan or vegetarian diet.
When you supplement, you increase your stores of phosphocreatine. This is a form of stored energy in the cells, as it helps your body produce more of a high-energy molecule called ATP. ATP is often called the body’s energy currency. When you have more ATP, your body can perform better during exercise. Creatine also alters several cellular processes that lead to increased muscle mass, strength and recovery.
Creatine is one of the most well researched supplements and has been show to be very safe to supplement with. I would suggest 3-5 grams daily for optimum results.
So my advice is to do your research and plan a diet the includes a variety of these foods in order provide your body with what it needs for muscle growth. Need help planning a vegetarian or vegan diet? Send me a message.
-Derry
Brighton based specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist and online fitness coach