How to The vegan diet has many benefits, but does it really serve to gain muscle mass?

Veganism is a choice that more and more people are choosing, whether for their own health, animal health, or that of the planet. This type of diet has some important restrictions that distance several food groups, many of them rich in protein. Can that restriction affect performance and body composition? What can we do to limit those limitations of the vegan diet on performance and muscle mass? The vegan diet in elite athletes The vegan diet excludes foods of animal origin. The animal itself and the food it produces are left out of the diet. The foods excluded from the diet are meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, and others such as honey. Vegans base their choice on reasons of health, animal ethics, and care for the planet. With the exponential increase in the amount of the world's population, livestock farming has modified its forms of production, since the demand is increasing to supply said population increase. This change in animal exploitation has led to veganism becoming more and more latent. The vegan diet can be followed strictly or able to consume some food of animal origin on rare occasions. Does the vegan diet square with physical exercise? Many elite athletes like Venus Williams have based their diet on plant foods. Scott Jarek, the renowned ultra marathoner, has also achieved all of his gains on a plant-based diet. In the strength branch, we find Patryk Baboumian, the strongest man in Germany who broke several strength-lifting records. Like these elite athletes in sports with different physical requirements, there are many others. However, there is a question of whether the vegan diet could be restricting performance for different reasons. Let's see what science says about it. Effect of a vegan diet on sports performance and body composition A well-planned vegan diet has a place in high sports performance When performing physical exercise, the demand for calories is greater to maintain the performance or to maintain or increase muscle mass. A vegan diet includes all foods, except those of animal origin. Plants are a key part of this diet, as well as cereals. Introducing vegetables into the diet is mandatory for anyone, whether they are vegan, but if we need to eat thousands and thousands of calories, an excess of plants could satiate us and prevent us from reaching those necessary calories. Of course, there are many other foods that are not plants that would help us, such as rice or pasta, for example. A well-planned vegan diet would avoid this inconvenience, as well as avoid possible deficiencies in some vitamins or minerals rich in animal products, but scarce in vegetables. Some research has found no difference in tests such as maximal sprint between vegan athletes and omnivorous athletes. One of the main causes is that the vegan diet is rich in carbohydrates, which favors endurance performance. Does the vegan diet have a place in strength sports and body composition? Protein is the star macronutrient for muscle mass, which in turn is related to strength. One of the main limitations of the vegan diet is that it excludes the main sources of animal protein such as meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. What if we manage to reach the minimum protein requirements with a vegan diet? When comparing a vegan diet with an omnivore diet, both with 1.6g of protein per kilo of weight per day, there were no differences in muscle strength and hypertrophy of the subjects evaluated. That's the conclusion of a recent study of untrained people who were given a diet with the same amount of protein, based on their body weight. People following a vegan diet consumed soy protein to reach that target protein value. Carbohydrate consumption is essential for endurance sports. For strength sports, it is also a vital macronutrient, although smaller amounts are needed. The advantage of the vegan diet is that it is very rich in carbohydrates, which could even help in the production of strength. Therefore, if we meet the protein and carbohydrate requirements with a vegan diet, this diet generates the same results as an omnivorous diet in muscle strength and hypertrophy. Regardless of the type of diet, as long as it is healthy, the important thing is that our body obtains the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats it needs. The vegan diet could be compared to the omnivore, with a small but"In the field of sports and body composition, we need quality proteins. The best proteins for their digestibility and greater protein synthesis are those of animal origin. However, if we reach that threshold of 1.6g of protein per kilo of body weight there seems to be no difference in muscle mass and strength. The main "but" of the vegan diet is that we need to consume much more food to reach that protein threshold. As we said at the beginning of the article, that could be complicated due to the satiety that these foods generate. We can easily eat 200 grams of turkey breast, but it will cost us more to eat twice the amount of peas, for example. In addition, we need to mix more foods since, while animal protein is usually complete, vegetable protein is usually deficient in some amino acids. The good news is that by mixing different foods such as cereals and legumes, we solve this defect. Just as if we consumed the necessary amount of protein, there would be no difference with respect to an omnivorous diet in the performance of strength and muscle hypertrophy.