Vegan diet is becoming increasingly popular because of its health benefits and ethics regarding animal treatment. But if you're trying to build muscle, you may be confused whether you will be able to build muscle with a vegan diet or not. Let's find out.

Vegan diet for building more muscle

People tried to build more and more muscle because that make them look good and feel good. Nutrition has a big role to play in the process of muscle development. If you want to build muscle, you need to consume more protein. You will need around 0.7-1.0 g of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. You will need a calorie surplus of 10 to 20% for gaining muscle mass.

In case of traditional bodybuilding diets, it includes a lot of animal source foods because they offer high protein and calorie content. But if you're a vegan, you need to follow a vegan bodybuilding diet for building muscle. A vegan diet for building muscle will not include the animal products. Such a diet will also be higher in protein than traditional vegan diets.

This is a big challenge for people who want to build muscle but follow a vegan diet. Bodybuilders who follow a vegan diet find it difficult. The plant-based proteins tend to be of lower quality than the animal-based proteins. And such protein quality can affect muscle gain. So, you need to plan everything carefully to ensure that you are getting good enough amount of protein, calories and other micronutrients through your vegan diet even though a vegan diet may lack them.

The vegan diet for bodybuilding and muscle growth may also change during different stages of your life. The diet for a bodybuilder will be different when they are undergoing contest preparation and when they are in their off-season.

Implementing the vegan diet for muscle gain

Even though it may seem that using a vegan diet for muscle gain is very simple, it is not so. You will need more careful planning to ensure that you are getting the necessary protein, calories and other nutrients from your diet. There are several staple foods that you need to base your vegan diet for muscle building.

It is always better to plan out 5 to 7 days of meals beforehand so that you can ensure you have all the important ingredients. Vegan recipes need several items and so you may need more planning than following a traditional diet for muscle building.

High-protein plant foods

You will need to include different types of high-protein plant in your diet. You will need enough protein from your diet to achieve your muscle building goals. Many vegan protein sources usually do not contain all the essential amino acids. They may also not contain high amounts of protein. You may also need to eat a wider variety of such foods to get the necessary protein.

You will need to include tofu, legumes, and quinoa, in your diet because they are high-protein vegan foods. There are a vegan protein powders available which will help you to meet your protein needs. They are good for you because they are the concentrated sources of protein which will keep supplying protein throughout the day.

For building muscle, you'll also need to eat enough fat so that you can get the necessary calories for promoting muscle gain. Along with that also drink lots of fluids in the form of water to ensure that you are well hydrated.

References 1. Vegan Muscle Diet
2. Vegan diets: practical advice for athletes and exercisers
3. Vegetarian and vegan eating