“Bro-science” has long claimed that animal protein is essential for serious profits. This seems logical when you consider that foods like beef, chicken and eggs provide a dose of protein and an amino acid profile that, on paper, is superior to what you’d get from a can of beans. For this reason, the common belief is that bingeing mainly on plants is a recipe for deflated pecs.
Good, suggests the latest research that we can leave out the steak and whey and still take in more lean body mass. Reassurance that those who choose a plant-based diet can achieve their fitness goals without compromise.
Some of the best data yet on plant-based protein and muscle building comes from a recent study published in the journal Medicine and science in sport and exercise. 40 young adults were enrolled and randomly assigned to a vegan or omnivore diet. The study participants performed three weight-lifting sessions over nine days, and, most importantly, the researchers provided them with all their meals. Both groups consumed the same amount of protein daily (about 1.1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight).
Studies that provide participants with their meals are more accurate because they do not rely on self-reported intake, which is notoriously inaccurate. At the end of the study, scientists took a biopsy on the participants’ muscles, which allowed them to determine the rate of protein synthesis. The results showed that the anabolic effect of animal and plant diets was similar, as evidenced by the similarities in the rate of myofibrillar protein synthesis.
A result that contradicts long-held beliefs about the superiority of animal proteins when it comes to increasing muscle mass. The study authors noted that resistance exercise may have improved the anabolic response to both dietary patterns, potentially eliminating quality differences between animal and plant proteins that might exist in people who don’t exercise.
Historically, one of the main reasons people believed that plant protein was inferior was based on the results of studies that analyzed the impact of a single meal or protein (i.e. whey versus pea) over a period of just a few hours. Improved studies like this one look at the entire diet over several days.
The researchers also tested whether protein distribution throughout the day mattered when it came to muscle protein synthesis. Half of the participants in each diet group consumed their protein in three unequal meals (10%, 30%, and 60% of daily protein), while the other half divided their protein intake evenly over five meals (20% each). The study found no significant difference in muscle building between these approaches. Simply put, whether participants ate animal or plant protein, and regardless of how they timed their protein intake, their muscles produced new protein at similar rates.
The study also looked at psychological well-being and found that participants on a meat-containing omnivorous diet reported greater feelings of pleasure, while those on a plant-based diet alone reported higher energy and less fatigue.
It’s worth noting that the study was conducted over a relatively short period of time (9 days), so the long-term effects remain unknown. You can only infer so much from a shorter study, which did not measure muscle growth or changes in strength. Future research should monitor changes in muscle and strength growth over several weeks in a population with a wider age range.
Some take-home messages from this research
Yes, you can build just as much muscle mass on a plant-based diet, as long as you get enough total protein. This study suggests that 1.2 grams per pound of body weight can stimulate muscle growth, but other research suggests that increasing at least 1.6 grams is most beneficial. This is especially true as we age and our anabolic response to amino acids decreases.
We need to worry less about certain plant foods having a worse amino acid profile than animal foods, as long as a variety of plant proteins are consumed per day to get all the amino acids and total protein needed.
Precise timing and distribution of proteins do not appear to be crucial for muscle building. In other words, if you decide to consume 80% of your protein in one meal, that would be fine, as long as it’s part of a diet that includes adequate total protein intake.
Exercise, and especially resistance training, appears to increase the body’s ability to use plant protein most effectively, minimizing the differences between animal and plant sources. If someone leads a sedentary lifestyle, there is a chance that animal proteins are more effective in maintaining lean body mass. But you can’t just eat large amounts of protein without forcing your muscles to work harder and harder and expecting them to build muscle mass.
Protein packagePlant power
In general, meat is higher in protein, so you can eat significantly more calories to get the same amount of protein from plants. This is why, if you want to eat mostly plants, you should make sure you include some options that provide more protein for fewer calories. This way, you can get all the amino acids you need to maximize muscle growth without going into a calorie surplus. Anyway, there are only so many beans a person can eat before their intestines explode.
These plant-based foods make it possible to consume 0.72 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, a generally accepted figure to optimize training adaptations. This equates to 130 grams of protein for a 180-pound person.
- ½ block of tofu (25 grams)
- 3 tablespoons hemp seeds (10 grams)
- 1 cup soy milk (8 grams)
- 3 oz tempeh (18 grams)
- 1 cup chickpeas (15 grams)
- 2 scoops of vegetable protein powder (30 grams)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter (7 grams)
- 1 cup quinoa (8 grams)
- 1/2 cup green peas (4 grams)
- 1/4 cup almonds (8 grams)
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