sports nutrition Archives - Plant Nutrition & Wellness

Everything you need to know about meal timing, protein requirements, calorie needs and vegan food ideas by Vegan Sports Nutritionist Leah Higl

The core principals used to build muscle on a vegan diet is very similar to an omnivorous diet.

In my time working with a range of athletes and weekend warriors, there are a number of areas I see vegans struggle with. These, in turn, can reduce their ability to reach optimal performance.

These include:

Not eating enough calories to reach their athletic goals
Having lower protein intakes than what is optimal for building muscle
Not optimising what foods they are eating in and around their training.

Here are my three biggest tips to build muscle on a vegan diet!

1. To build muscle you need to eat sufficient calories

There are two major factors that are important for anyone (vegan or not) trying to get bigger and stronger. Without these, gaining muscle is near impossible or at the very most, extremely slow.

Firstly, it is essential to have a resistance training program that is targeted to muscle growth. Secondly, it is important to eat enough calories to promote physiological adaptations (muscle growth) from the program.

What are calories?

Calories are a unit of measurement that describes the energy in food. This is our energy input. The body also burns a certain number of calories through physiological processes keeping you alive. This is our energy output and is known as our basal metabolic rate or BMR.

Additional calories are burnt performing any kind of activity such as standing, walking, eating food and doing structured exercise. The more you move, the more calories you burn. The total sum of all the calories you burn daily is known as your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).

In order to gain muscle on a vegan diet, it is recommended that you eat in a caloric surplus. This means, eating more calories from food than your TDEE.

Building muscle in a very energy-intensive process. Without consuming a sufficient amount of calories, your body will not have enough energy to build lean body mass.

How much more calories do I need to build muscle?

The amount of calories to help muscle synthesis (growth) differs from person to person. However, it typically falls around 300-500 calories or 10% above the individuals TDEE (1).

2. Optimise your protein intake

Meeting your protein needs is one of the most important nutrients to consider when building muscle on a vegan diet.

Protein is a macronutrient, alongside fats, carbohydrates and fiber.

Tofu is a rich source of plant based proteins

When I tell people that I am a powerlifter and that I am also vegan, I will immediately get the question “But where do you get your protein from?”.

When having a varied vegan diet, it is quite easy to meet your basic body requirements for protein. Vegan protein sources include legumes and beans, nuts and seeds, tofu, tempeh, seitan, textured vegetable protein and wholegrains.

However, getting enough protein to maximise muscle protein synthesis requires a lot more planning. In fact, I find that many vegan athletes and gym-goers are not meeting the recommended amount of protein to facilitate increases in lean body mass.

It is recommended that people looking to increase their muscle mass should consume anywhere between 1.6 and 2g of protein per kilo of body weight per day (2).

For an athlete that weighs 80kgs this would equate to 128-160g of protein daily. That’s a fair chunk of protein to consume every day as a vegan, but it is far from being impossible.

To meet these recommendations:

Incorporate a protein-rich food in every meal and snack throughout the day including tofu, tempeh, soy milk, edamame, textured vegetable protein (TVP), seitan, legumes, nuts and seeds
Aim for at least 30-40g of protein in main meals and 15-20g of protein in snacks
Utilise higher protein wholegrains such as a high protein bread and pasta with a higher protein content such as chickpea or soybean pasta.
Supplement with a vegan protein powder (if needed)
Eating enough protein to optimise muscle gain is a little trickier on a vegan diet than it is on an omnivorous diet but with some extra planning and knowing your way around a block of tofu it can become simple.

3. Fuel your training properly

Once you have managed to lock down your calorie intake and protein intake, it is time to take a look at what you are eating around your training.

Proper pre and post-training nutrition is essential for ensuring you are:

Going into every training session well-fuelled for optimal performance
Recovering adequately after each session to promote physiological adaptations (muscle growth) to training

We discussed the importance of the macronutrient protein above. However, when fuelling our training the macronutrient carbohydrates is also important to consider.

Carbohydrates are found in fruits, starchy vegetables (potato, corn, sweet potato), rice, pasta, quinoa, crackers and bread. Ideally, your pre-training meal should be 2-3 hours before your session with the option of having a small snack 1-2 hours prior to training.

For a pre-training meal go for something:

Rich in carbohydrates to prime your fuel stores
Moderate in fibre to avoid gastrointestinal discomfort
Low in fat (higher fat meals take longer to digest) (3)

Easy meal ideas include:

Soy yoghurt with muesli
Fried rice with tofu and vegetables
Sandwich with salad and seitan
Pasta with vegetables and chickpeas

Easy snack ideas include:

Rice cakes with hummus
Overnight oats
Dried or fresh fruit

After training, additional food should be consumed within the first couple of hours after finishing your session.

This meal should be rich in:

Carbohydrates to replenish energy stores
Protein to promote muscle protein synthesis (4)

Post-work-out meal ideas include:

Smoothie with soy yoghurt or protein powder and fruit
Tofu stir fry with brown rice
Lentil dal with rice
TVP bolognaise with pasta

Take-home tips

To maximise building muscle on a vegan diet make sure to keep a note of the following:

Consume 300-500 calories or 10% above your total daily energy expenditure
Consume 1.6-2g of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day
Have a carbohydrate rich meal or snack 1-3 hours before training
Have a protein and carbohydrate rich meal within 2 hours after training

This article was written by dietitian Leah Higl. If you’re following a plant-based or vegan diet and want to make sure you’re meeting all your nutritional needs, take control and apply to work with one of our expert plant-based dietitians.

References

1. Is an Energy Surplus Required to Maximize Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy Associated With Resistance Training.

2. Vegan diets: practical advice for athletes and exercisers.

3. Sports Dietitians Australia: Eating and Drinking Before Exercise .

4. Sports Dietitians Australia:Recovery Nutrition .

#vegan #proteinneeds #sportsnutrition #veganprotein

One of the most common questions asked to people following a vegan diet is “where do you get your protein from?”. Understandably, this can be incredibly frustrating and may even leave you double-guessing whether or not you are consuming enough. In this article, we explore some sources of plant-based protein and ask the question – do vegans need to use protein powder?

What is protein?

Protein is a key nutrient in the human body, it is responsible for muscle maintenance, key regulatory systems like hormone production, wound healing and fighting infection [1] It is also a bit of a nutrition ‘buzz-word’, due to all of the fitness influencers on social media.

What are sources of plant based proteins?

The main sources of vegan protein include (but are not limited to); legumes (including beans, peas, lentils and pulses), nuts and seeds (including pastes, butters etc), tofu, tempeh, quinoa and of course protein powders. These vary in protein content from about 5g per serve to 14g per serve [2].

Serve size is dependent on the type of protein source, for example, one serve legumes is equal to 1 cup vs 1 serve of nuts, which is equal to only 30g (a small handful) [3].

It is important to note here that on social media you are likely to find a lot of information about protein content comparisons of foods “per 100 calories”. Though this information may not be incorrect, it has been taken out of context and therefore can be quite misleading.

For example, it is misleading to say that 100 calories of broccoli (this is a classic example circulating online) is comparable, in any sense, to 100 calories of meat. Why? Because 100 calories is 2 or more cups of broccoli compared to only a few mouthfuls of meat [2].

What this means is that if you’re trying to be conscious of your protein on a plant-based diet, broccoli is probably not going to be your preferred source unless your would like to have many cups of broccoli every day. I could go on further about why this is misleading, but I think you get the picture.

What if I don’t like vegan proteins like beans?

You could try eating a variety of different protein sources. This will not only ensure you are consuming enough protein, it will also mean that you are obtaining all of the essential amino acids across the day and week,

Amino acids are the smaller components that proteins are made of. Different sources of protein contain different amino acids[1].

This will also mean that you are less likely to get bored with your protein source.

Another strategy to up your daily protein intake is to consume a source of protein at every meal.

Having a source of protein at each meal will make sure you are consuming enough protein across the day. Adding protein to a well-balanced meal with some healthy fats, carbohydrates and lots of veggies will also help you stay satiated and full.

To help grow muscle (known as muscle protein synthesis) it is also important to space protein across the day [1]. You can read more on this in our blog article on How to Build Muscle On A Vegan Diet

You might use a protein supplement when:

1. You are unable to consume enough protein from whole foods.

This might be for a number of reasons, including that you have an allergy or intolerance as discussed above. You might also have increased protein requirements because you are trying to gain weight or because you are an athlete. You might just plain not enjoy plant-based protein sources – which brings me to the next reason we might choose to supplement protein.

2. You prefer the taste

I don’t know about you, but I personally am not a fan of savoury breakfasts (no offence if you are – you do you!). So if you’re like me and prefer to have a sweeter tasting breakfast, this is where protein powders can really come in handy to get a decent protein hit in the AM. Protein powders can be added to anything – smoothies, oats, as an extra to yoghurt or even just on its own with water or a milk alternative. Adding protein powder is not detrimental to flavours and can actually make your meal even tastier (hello flavoured protein powder in a smoothie!). Try adding some nuts too for some (extra) protein, as well as some healthy fats!

There are no hard rules on how to eat protein. Whether you supplement or not, the main thing is that you are consuming enough of it and spreading it across your day as best you can! If you aren’t sure if you’re eating enough – speak to your dietitian!

Looking for more tips on how eat more plant based protein? Check our our blog on 6 Top Tips for Transitioning to a Vegan Diet

This blog was co-written by PNW Clinic founder Kiah Paetz and student dietitian by Donna Harris. You can connect with Donna on instagram @pepperandcorndietetics.

If you’re wanting to take your diet to the next level, and book in to see one of our expert dietitians.

How do you build muscle on a vegan diet?