Protein is essential for building muscle. Muscle tissue is made up of proteins, which means that it is made up of amino acids, and the amino acids must come from somewhere. But how much does the protein source matter?
Animal foods (such as meat, dairy and eggs) are high in protein, so they are the traditional foods for bodybuilders and other gym goers. But plant-based foods can also provide protein, and there are very strong vegan athletes – which is why it is certainly possible to build muscle on a plant-based diet.
There are two disadvantages of plant-based proteins, so if you are determined to stick to these sources, it is important to account for both.
Plant foods generally contain more calories for the same amount of protein
If you keep track of your overall calories (for example, if you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight in a specific range), meat is a more efficient way to get protein. A small chicken breast, for example, has 27 grams of protein in just 142 calories. Almost all of the calories come from protein, some from fat and none from carbohydrates.
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No whole food source can match the macros. Three-quarters of a cup of tofu gives you about the same calories, but with only 15 grams of protein. (The rest are carbohydrates and fat.) Or try 100 grams of rice and beans: 150 calories, but only 5 grams of protein. (The rest are mostly carbohydrates.)
So if you want to build muscle on plant foods, you need to work a little harder than getting an omnivore all your proteins without exceeding your calorie target. You need more prone protein powder to make the difference, where an omnivore can more easily meet their needs with a few meat-containing meals.
You may need more plant proteins than animal proteins to get all your amino acids
When we say we need protein in our diet, we actually mean that we need amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, nine of which we cannot make in our body and that we must take in our diet.
Animal foods comfortably contain a balanced range of amino acids – if you eat meat as your main source of protein, you will get enough amino acids that you need. But plant foods are not always so well balanced. This is why plant proteins are sometimes referred to as a lower “quality” protein. There is nothing wrong with the protein itself; quality refers only to the amino acid balance. (Another term for all the essential amino acids is ‘complete’ proteins.)
A plant-based diet still contains the amino acids if you have a reasonable variety of foods. Rice and beans balance each other, for example. Soy is one of the few complete plant proteins, so tofu is an excellent choice. Many plant-based protein powders are formulated to include all the essential amino acids.
Because it is more difficult to get a good balance between amino acids with a vegan diet and an omnivorous one, and because plant-based protein sources are sometimes less digestible, it is recommended that vegan athletes aims for a slightly higher total amount of protein just as omnivores, just to make sure you cater to all your needs. Others recommend make sure you get extra leucine, an amino acid found in legumes that you can also buy as a supplement.
Finally, you can build muscle on plant proteins, but you need to think a little more about planning your diet to make sure you are getting enough.