Protein is essential when building muscle. Muscle tissue is made up of proteins, which means it’s made up of amino acids, and those amino acids have to come from somewhere. But how important is the protein source?
Foods of animal origin (such as meat, dairy, and eggs) contain a lot of protein, so they are the traditional foods for bodybuilders and other gym attendees. But plant foods can also provide protein and there are many strong vegan athletes, so it’s definitely possible to build muscle on a plant-based diet.
There are two disadvantages of vegetable protein, so if you are determined to follow these sources, it is important to consider them.
Vegetable foods tend to have more calories for the same amount of protein
If you look at your overall calories (e.g., if you’re trying to lose weight or keep it in a specific range), meat is a more efficient way to provide protein. grams of protein in just 142 calories. Almost all calories come from protein, some from fat and none from carbohydrates.
G / O Media may receive a commission
No full power supply can match these macros. Three-quarters of a cup of tofu will give you about the same calories, but only with 15 grams of protein. (The rest are carbs and fats.) Or try 100 grams of rice and beans: 150 calories, but only 5 grams of protein. (The rest are mostly carbs.)
So if you want to build muscle in plant foods, you’ll need to work a little harder than an omnivore. all the protein without going beyond your caloric goal. You’re more likely to need protein powder to make a difference, where an omnivore could meet your needs more easily with some meat-containing meals.
You may need more vegetable protein than animal protein to get all of your amino acids
When we say we need protein in our diet, what we really mean is that we need amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, nine of which we cannot produce in our body and need to enter our diet.
Conveniently, animal foods have a balanced selection of amino acids – if you eat meat as your main source of protein, you’ll get the many amino acids you need. But plant foods are not always so balanced. This is why vegetable proteins are sometimes called lower “quality” proteins. Protein has nothing wrong with it; quality only refers to the amino acid balance. (Another term for having all the essential amino acids is “complete” protein).
A plant-based diet will still provide all the amino acids if you have a reasonable variety of foods. Rice and beans balance each other, for example. Soy is one of the few complete vegetable proteins, so tofu is a good choice. Many vegetable protein powders are formulated to include all the essential amino acids.
Because it’s harder to get a good amino acid balance with a vegan diet than an omnivorous diet, and because vegetable protein sources are sometimes less digestible, some guidelines recommend vegan athletes target a slightly higher total amount of protein than omnivores, just to make sure you cover all your needs. Others recommend it making sure you get more leucine, an amino acid present in legumes and can also be bought as a supplement.
In short, you tin build muscle on vegetable protein, but you will need to think a little more about planning your diet to make sure you have enough.