Can You Build Muscles on a Vegan Diet

Veganism is a diet, which completely excludes animal based foods from your food. In this article we will discuss about the Vegan diet and is it suitable for someone who strength trains.

A lot of people in the fitness community are of the opinion that we cannot build muscles on a Vegan diet. Technically speaking this is incorrect, however there is some dose of truth in it, when considered in a casual manner. It is definitely possible to build muscles while following a Vegan diet as has been demonstrated by a lot of vegan bodybuilders. However, if you are looking for that shredded look, then understand that it is going to be a lot harder, though not impossible. Also, most probably your results will not be as great as what it would have been if you were following a regular diet.

I respect the compassion that Vegans feel for the animals and environment. However, the problem I have with Veganism is all of the myths that some staunch Vegans spread. Most often this is all due to political reasons. A lot of Vegans resort to animal right activism or environmental activism to promote their ideas. In order to gain their political objectives these people are more than willing to spread a lot of wrong information. In my opinion this is unethical and bad even for Vegans.

Many of you might have seen on social media, examples of a few vegan bodybuilders who could build great bodies on a Vegan diet. This is used as a huge counter argument against the reality that on average (and I again emphasize, on average) Vegans have lower muscle mass than non-Vegans. Understand that everybody is different. Some people can build muscles no matter what. Out of millions of people surely one or two will have good genetics and high amount of dedication to build a lean and muscular body on a Vegan diet. I am pretty sure Arnold would have built a great body on a Vegan diet, but would it have made him Mr. Olympia is a questionable.

You have to always make a decision on what is more important for you, having the best body that you could ever develop or being a Vegan. Prioritizing second one does not mean that you cannot build muscles at all, but it definitely will make things much harder for you. I believe in telling the correct thing instead of sugarcoating them to make you feel better. The truth is if you work hard in the gym and eat Vegan food, you can always gain muscles, but not up to your full genetic potential.

It is totally possible to be a Vegan and a bodybuilder however please be aware of the three myths that people have spread in the social media so that you can get optimal results.

Myth 1: You don’t need much protein for muscle growth: This may be true for someone who is already born with big muscles, but for us normal people we need to take at least 1 gram of protein per pound of our bodyweight.

Myth 2: Plant based protein is equally good as animal based protein: To explain the level of misinformation spread on this regard, let me give you an example. I saw this post on social media, which said broccoli has more protein than beef. It mentions that broccoli has 11.1 grams of protein per 100 calories, while beef has 6.4 grams of protein per 100 calories. This is all rubbish. First of all, you have 8.4 grams of protein in 100 calories of broccoli and 15.7 grams of protein in 100 calories of 95% lean beef. Secondly just see the way they have manipulated the data to make broccoli look far more protein rich than beef. Broccoli inherently has far less calories. You need to eat 300 grams of broccoli to get 8.4 grams of protein. In 300 grams of 95% lean beef, you will get 65 grams of protein.

Plant based protein is good and will do the job, but animal best protein is better. It is more easily absorbed by our body and is complete, which means it contains all the 22 essential amino acids in it as opposed to plant based protein which lacks a few.

Myth 3: Vegan diet is the healthiest diet: This is again wrong, scientific studies have repeatedly shown that the best diet in terms of overall health is Pescetarian diet and Ovo lacto Vegetarian Diet. More details on this diet has been provided in our previous video on Vegetarianism. Veganism though shown to be healthier than omnivorous diet is less healthy than these above diets. Note, the comparison here was between a general omnivorous diet and Vegan diet, if you eat correct omnivorous diet with right types of meats, omnivorous diet can be as healthy as Vegan diet.

There are many more myths spread by Vegan activists regarding individual foods, such as Milk is a deadly poison, eggs increase your cholesterol and the list just goes on and on.

Now let’s get into the details of why Vegans have a hard time building a lean and muscular body. There are three main reasons

1. The basic requirements for macronutrients for muscle gain and fat loss remain the same for everyone be it vegan or non vegan. However, since most of the plant based protein sources also have carbs associated with them. A Vegan diet always remains high in carbs. This means Vegans do not have that much freedom to adjust their macronutrient ratios for optimal results
2. Plant based protein is less bioavailable (50–80%), this means the if you eat 100 grams of plant based protein, your body will only get 50–80 grams of it, rest will just be wasted. So you need to eat more protein than an omnivore. This is again a bad news as your protein sources come with added calories from carbs and fats. So while cutting fat you will have to spend extra time burning all these extra calories to look shredded. Moreover, more time you spend burning calories, higher will be your muscle loss while cutting.
3. Many of the plant based proteins inhibit growth hormone production in our body, so you will have a harder time growing your muscles.

Finally, an important point to note: Many Vegans will tell you that they can get all their nutrients on Vegan diet. Again wrong!! Vegan diet completely lacks Vitamin B12, so make sure you supplement your diet with Vitamin B12. This micronutrient can only be obtained from animal based food product. A clear debunking of the Vegan myth that human beings are not designed to eat animal foods.

Veganism is the in thing right now and I appreciate the moral and environmental reasons for why many people are following this diet. However I also believe in truth, integrity and honesty and it appears that the most vocal Vegans do not believe in it. This sort of dilutes their entire narrative. If you are not truthful about certain facts, how can I believe any other thing that you are saying? Maybe you are exaggerating your other facts also.

Originally published at www.kaa-yaa.com.