Plant Based Foods & Muscle Growth

There’s always a big debate when it comes to plant based diets and protein. Can you hit high protein targets on a plant based diet? The answer is yes, however it’s a lot more difficult than meat eaters, for obvious reasons.

Plant based foods can have a high protein profile, however you’d need to consume a really large amount majority of high protein plant based foods in order to hit your requirements. You also need to consider the Leucine content in order for muscle protein synthesis to occur. Plant based sources overall do tend to have incomplete amino acid profiles, which is not good in terms of muscle growth.

To account for this, you would need to combine food sources in order to achieve a complete amino acid profile. Adequate protein and leucine content is necessary in order to maximise muscle protein synthesis.

For Vegans, eating foods such as Oats, soybeans, Lentils, Beans, Chickpeas and nuts such as Almonds and Cashews would be beneficial as they have the highest Leucine profile.

Foods high in protein for vegetarians include Seitan, Tofu, Tempah and Edamame, Nutritional yeast, Hempseed, Greek yogurt, Eggs and Cottage Cheese.

It’s important to remember not only protein targets but also complete amino acid profiles in order to maximise muscle growth. Include these foods in your plant based diet and you’ll make life a lot easier in order to see the results you desire.