Protein is essential when building muscle. Muscle tissue is made up of proteins, which means it is made up of amino acids, and these amino acids must come from somewhere. But how much does the source of protein matter?
Foods of animal origin (such as meat, dairy and eggs) contain a lot of protein, so they are traditional foods for bodybuilders and other athletes. But plant foods can also provide protein and there are plenty of strong vegan athletes – so it’s certainly possible to build muscle on an herbal diet.
There are two disadvantages of herbal proteins, so if you are determined to stick to these sources, it is important to consider both.
Vegetable foods generally have more calories for the same amount of protein
If you keep track of your total calories (for example, if you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight within a certain range), meat is a more effective way to get protein. A small chicken breast, for example, has 27 grams of protein in just 142 calories. Almost all calories come from protein, some from fat and none from carbohydrates.
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No whole food plant source can match these macros. Three-quarters of a tofu cup will give you about the same calories, but with only 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 on plant foods, you’ll need to work a little harder than an omnivore. all your proteins without exceeding your caloric goal. You are more likely to need protein powder to make a difference, in which an omnivore could more easily meet their needs with a few meals containing meat.
You may need more vegetable protein than animal protein to get all the amino acids
When we say we need protein in our diet, what we mean is that we need amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, of which we cannot produce in our body and we must enter our diet.
Foods of animal origin, conveniently, have a balanced selection of amino acids – if you eat meat as the main source of protein, you will receive in abundance all the amino acids you need. But plant foods are not always as well balanced. This is why vegetable proteins are sometimes called “inferior quality” proteins. There is nothing wrong with the protein itself; quality refers only to the balance of amino acids. (Another term for having all the essential amino acids is the “complete” protein).
An herbal diet will still provide all the amino acids if you have a reasonable variety of foods. For example, rice and beans balance each other. Soy is one of the few complete vegetable proteins, so tofu is a great choice. Many herbal 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 one, and because plant-based protein sources are sometimes less digestible, some guidelines recommend vegan athletes targets a slightly higher total amount of protein than omnivores, just to make sure you cover all your needs. Others recommend making sure you get extra leucine, an amino acid present in legumes and which you can buy as a supplement.
Bottom line, you can build muscle on vegetable protein, but you will need to think more about planning your diet to make sure you get enough.