Can you build muscle on a vegan diet?

From standard.co.uk

The trend for plant-based living showing no signs of slowing down, but how sustainable is it if you work out regularly?

                                            Photo by FOODISM360 on Unsplash

We are nearing the end of January meaning a record number of people will have ditched meat and dairy in favour of a plant-based approach over the last four weeks in what is now known as veganuary.


There are plenty of reasons to quit or at least dramatically reduce your meat intake, be it ethical, environmental or health-related. One thing that stops some from committing to a plant-based diet full-time, however, is a concern that they'll miss out on vital nutrients such as protein, which is a crucial element of any diet, but considered particularly important to those who work out regularly as it helps to repair damaged muscle tissue after exercise and aids recovery.

So if you've made it thus far on the veganuary wagon and are considering a longer-term approach: is a vegan diet sustainable if you live a very active lifestyle? And can you build muscle on a plant-based diet? 

Edric Kennedy-Macfoy, a fireman-turned-fitness coach, argues you can in his new book about how he fuels his fitness regime with a plant-based diet. As a keen weight lifter, who used to take part in bodybuilding competitions, he once guzzled glasses of milk at breakfast – even though he didn't like the taste – downed whey protein shakes and piled meat and dairy products into every meal of the day because he believed it was the only way to build muscle, "a typical day might include six eggs, salmon and avocado for breakfast, chicken and rice for lunch and something similar for dinner," he says.

But his approach has changed dramatically now that he follows a strict vegan diet and he says he's physically in the best shape he's ever been. In his book, The Fit Vegan, he documents how he has built muscle mass and changed his body composition while going green.

There is a growing trend among some athletes who are choosing to follow vegan diets and the recent Netflix documentary The Game Changers featured the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton and Novak Djokovic. Grand slam star Venus Williams also lives on a plant-based diet and there's now even a growing community of vegan bodybuilders. 

So what do the experts say?

                                                 (Photo by Ella Olsson on Unsplash)

In a 2017 study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, noting a general lack of available literature on how to manage a vegan diet for sport or athletic purposes, David Rogerson of Sheffield Hallam University set about reviewing existing papers to find out if  a vegan diet really can meet the needs of an athlete.

He found that, on the whole, vegans tend to consume less calories and their diets are usually lower in things like protein, fat, B12 (a vitamin which is predominantly found in meat, fish and dairy), iron, calcium and some fatty acids, along with other micronutrients, compared to meat eaters, but that they also tend to be higher in carbs and fibre, which is partially why it can be hard to achieve a high energy intake on a plant-based eating regime because plant-based foods typically make you feel fuller.

Rogerson also noted that some plant-based protein is less well absorbed than animal-based protein, so there could be an argument for upping your intake on a plant-based diet. But overall , he concluded that a vegan diet could meet requirements of an athlete providing special attention is paid to calorie consumption (making sure you're getting enough) and macro and micro nutrient recommendations, alongside appropriate supplementation.

Renee Mcgregor, registered dietician and sports and eating disorder specialist, says: "If you are weight training specifically and want to gain muscle mass, it's a question of being in a positive energy balance, and you are going to have to eat quite a high volume of food to get there on a vegan diet, it's not going to be as simple as it would be if you were doing it with all food groups.

"That's the first barrier I face when I'm working with vegan athletes, trying to get enough energy in – you can’t make up the energy with chickpeas and lentils because they are very low in calories naturally. Trying to give them enough variety is another thing I really struggle with, and finding enough instant sources – it's much harder," she adds. "Yes, there are more dairy free options but they don’t have the same carbs and protein, so you’re often relying on having to make your own by adding pea protein to your oat milk for example, which is just more of a faff."

The protein question

When it comes to getting sufficient protein from a vegan diet, it's important to understand that not all plant-based sources of protein are created equal when it comes to their amino acid profile, and Kennedy-Macfoy says he thinks a lack of awareness of things like this is why some people find it difficult to sustain a vegan diet.

There are 20 amino acids, also known as the building blocks of protein, of which nine are essential, meaning your body cannot make them up (like it can the other 11) and needs to consume them through food. Meat, fish and dairy products are known as complete proteins as they contain all nine essential amino acids, but only a few plant protein sources do, and they include things like quinoa, chia seeds and soy. Lentils, grains and legumes, however, do not and are known as incomplete proteins.



"It's knowing things like if you're eating legumes, you're not getting a complete profile, but if you eat grains with legumes like black beans and rice, or pasta and peas then you're covered, because together they have all nine essential amino acids." Since following a plant-based regime, he says he has cut his protein intake in half since his milk-guzzling days from 2-3g per kilo of bodyweight and now aims for around 1-1.5g per kilo, which is relatively low compared to current British Nutrition Foundation guidelines.

Mcgregor meanwhile recommends between 0.8-1g per kilo of bodyweight for the general population and between 1.6g and 2.2g per kilo for athletes, depending on requirements. "If you’re new to weight training, then your requirements are very high for your first three to four months," she adds, though this does eventually settle down, "even when it does you wouldn’t drop much below 1.4-1.6g to kilo bodyweight of protein."

The truth is, how much protein you need is a hotly debated topic in the nutrition world, and is likely to be highly personal to you and dependent on a number of things, including how you work out and how often.

The important thing is to avoid displacing one food group with another, Mcgregor warns. "That’s my biggest fear with vegans sometimes you look at a diet and it looks healthy, colourful and full of veg, but then when you look at the calorie content, the energy is so displaced because they are filling up with quite a high volume of vegetables."

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/wellness/how-to-build-muscle-on-a-vegan-diet-plant-based-eating-ditness-a4339916.html