Muscle without meat? Is it possible?
There is plenty of evidence that you can train effectively without eating meat, just look at Mr. Bill Pearl or the triathlonist Brendan Brazier. They are united not only by a muscular figure, but also by the shoulder of the meat in the menu. A well-balanced vegetarian diet, ensuring the demand for energy and all nutrients, and therefore rich in legumes, seeds, nuts and grains, can cover the demand for all the necessary ingredients, even in a physically active person.
The American Dietetic Association issued a statement in 1997 that a vegetarian diet could meet the needs of competitive athletes. This was confirmed by the American College of Sports Medicine, concluding that animal products are not essential for optimal athletic performance.
There is a lot of evidence that a vegetarian diet does not weaken sports potential. Researchers from the University of British Columbia have shown that a meat-free diet can support aerobic fitness. In other studies, no significant differences in performance, physical condition, arm circumference, and thigh circumference were found between vegetarians and nonvegetarians. It should be noted, however, that although avoiding meat reduces the risk of developing diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diet-dependent diabetes or obesity, sa vegetarian diet does not increase aerobic fitness.
As I wrote in the article on protein sources, meat, dairy products and eggs contain complete proteins, which is why their role in physically active people is so famous. While in the case of lacto-vegetarian (excluding meat, poultry, fish, eggs) or lacto-ovo-vegetarians (excluding meat, poultry, fish) the matter seems less complicated, excluding meat, dairy and eggs from the diet at the same time may generate problems. What to do in order to achieve results despite a vegetarian diet and not to hurt yourself? Research shows that most athletes can meet their additional protein needs with a vegetarian diet, even if we choose to be vegan, as long as our diet is varied. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics specialists advise you to follow a few assumptions at the amateur level:
- Eat five or six meals a day (they don’t have to be large). Focus not only on protein sources, but also fruits, vegetables and vegetable oils.
- Remember about proper hydration. Drink at least 30 ml of fluid for every kilogram of body weight – the higher the effort, the greater the fluid requirement.
- Make sure that at least half of the calories in your diet come from carbohydrates, which are ‘fuel’ for your muscles.
- Fats are essential for building muscle during exercise. Good sources of fat include olive oil, almonds, nuts, avocados, and canola oil.
- If you have any difficulty choosing meals, find a qualified dietitian to help you create a personalized vegetarian eating plan to meet your individual needs.
Protein supplementation
We have written about it many times, but in the subject of vegetarian diets it is necessary to recall. Combining some products allows you to supplement the amino acids that limit them, e.g. cereal products have little lysine, and legumes have methionine, their combination supplements the protein. It is believed that this can be done easily by joining 2 or more groups together: legumes (e.g. beans, lentils, peas), grains (e.g. oats, rye, rice, corn), nuts and seeds (e.g. cashews, almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame, pumpkin seeds), soy products.
People practicing sports, and especially those who strive to build muscle tissue, should remember about the increased risk deficiency of some ingredients. It is worth taking care of introducing into the diet sources:
- Iron: spinach, kale, peas, beans, lentils, artichokes, dried fruit: raisins, plums. Although iron is more difficult to absorb from plant products, it turns out that deficiency anemia is as common in vegetarian diets as it is in meat eaters.
- Calcium: spinach, kale, broccoli, almonds.
- Zinc: pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, walnuts, oatmeal, legumes. Zinc absorption can be impaired if you eat a lot of bran-fortified foods.
- Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 fortified products or supplementation.
- Omega – 3 fatty acids: pumpkin seeds, linseed oil.
What about creatine?
The source of creatine is meat. On average, it provides about 1g of carnitine per day. Therefore, exercising vegetarians have less of this compound in their muscles at first. However, it works well at the time of supplementation. Research has shown that creatine supplementation has a faster and very beneficial effect on performance in some types of vegetarian activity, especially those requiring repetitive periods of anaerobic activity.
Vegetarians are not excluded from physical activity. On the contrary, research proves that a balanced, varied diet without meat allows for effective training and prevents deficiencies.
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