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:: Vegan Athletes... How do you get your Protein?
Robert Cheeke the world's most recognized vegan bodybuilder
"One thing to remember is that protein is found in nearly all foods and is one of the easiest components of nutrition for our bodies to find in food and use for mechanical functions. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are abundant in fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and other vegan foods. Eating a wide variety of healthy foods supplies all essential amino acids which is necessary for optimum health"

If there is one question vegans get more than any other question, it is, "How do you get your protein?" I often respond by asking the individual if they know anyone with a protein deficiency. One thing to remember is that protein is found in nearly all foods and is one of the easiest components of nutrition for our bodies to find in food and use for mechanical functions. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are abundant in fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and other vegan foods. Eating a wide variety of healthy foods supplies all essential amino acids which is necessary for optimum health.

As a vegan, I do not consume meat and avoid all animal products and abstain from using anything animal derived or tested on animals. This is for a number of reasons, but primarily because I don't want to cause harm to animals and because I want to be healthier and focus on consuming plant-based foods.

Vegans take in all required vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and glucose. We eat a wide variety of healthy foods including fruits and vegetables, grains, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, and other plant-based whole foods providing the healthiest foods for our bodies.

As a vegan bodybuilder, I enjoy typical bodybuilding foods such as oats, rice, broccoli, yams, protein powders and bars, providing energy and strength for exercise and the heavy lifting my sport requires. I take a few supplements to enhance my athletic performance but I don't believe they are necessary to consume and compete as an elite athlete. They can help give you an extra competitive edge and can aid in muscle recovery and energy output. The few supplements I use for performance include: multivitamin, meal replacement powders, L-glutamine for muscle recovery, and hemp-based protein powders. Vitamin B-12 and essential fatty acids are included in a hemp-based meal replacement take. It is important to remember these are not necessary, but in most cases they will boost performance and recovery from exercise, achieving an overall greater level of fitness and health.

Many people are scared to adopt a vegan diet because they think they will lack protein, but protein is easy to find and little is required for maintaining health. A standard is 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight for athletes and 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight for bodybuilders and other athletes interested in bulking up and adding mass. Eating consistently throughout the day makes it easy to consume that amount of protein if a variety of foods are consumed. "How" should not be the issue, but "where," is a valid question. In an animal protein based society, we grow up believing the only sources of protein are from animals.

As a vegan athlete I outline meal programs that are protein-rich and plant derived to show exactly "where" and "how" vegans get their protein. I pay special attention to protein and my main protein sources come from hemp, soy, tempeh, nuts, beans, lentils, grains and a variety of powders and bars including complete meal replacements, adding up to 200- 300 grams per day. Tofu, a soy product, typically has 10-20 grams of protein per serving. Soy also has a Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) of 1.0, which is the highest protein rating for a food to have, and it scores higher than beef protein. Hemp is one of the best sources of protein, period. It is alkalizing, packed full of nutrients, and is grown from the most sustainable methods, making it arguably the best resource.

We often hear about protein combinations to make a complete protein. This is an accumulation of essential amino acids. Combining sources such as hemp, rice and pea provide a powerful amino acid profile for enhanced biomechanical efficiency. Taking in large quantities of protein can be taxing on the liver and kidneys so it is important to drink a lot of water when you're on a high protein diet. Drinking water helps your body's organs process large amounts of protein. In addition to the high protein foods, I also eat a significant amount of fruits, green vegetables, and eat raw and organic foods whenever possible. Raw sources of protein can be found in nuts, seeds, seaweed, broccoli, spinach, kale, and other veggies and are some of the most potent and most beneficial sources of protein available on the planet.

The bulk of my diet consists of fruits in the morning; protein sources such as nuts, protein drinks and bars for snacks; green vegetables, beans, tofu and other protein and calorie-rich foods for lunch, and a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and grains for dinner. A typical meal for dinner may include a lentil soup with chopped of veggies, steamed or raw broccoli, tofu, and brown rice. Potatoes, tempeh, beans, and nuts are also staples of my diet and are often consumed around dinnertime. I typically just drink water before and after meals but for dinner I may include soymilk, almond milk, or natural fruit juice.

I focus on eating every 3 hours to stay in an anabolic state with a positive nitrogen balance for maintaining and building muscle. Taking in nutrients every 2-3 hours ensures that your muscles will always be fueled and nourished, providing the best opportunity for growth and achieving desired results. Eating every 3 hours may sound challenging but if you prepare your foods for the day in advance, it is really quite simple. You don't have to eat an entire meal, just take in protein, carbohydrates and fats every 3 hours and it will add up to a sum of calories that will not only maintain muscle but build muscle, combined with a weight-training or exercise program. Drinking water every two to three hours will also keep you well hydrated, assist with processing of protein foods, and will help you accumulate a gallon a day which is a minimum goal for most bodybuilders.

A vegan diet is often a topic of concern when it comes to athletics, but those concerns may be unwarranted. A vegan diet is typically healthier and more compassionate than an omnivorous diet, which although popular, can be more detrimental to overall health. Eating fruits and vegetables and other foods provided by plants and trees and fields, comes natural to me. These are the healthiest foods for us, yet as a society we are slaves to our taste buds and consume heavily processed, altered foods with addictive sugars, chemicals and other un-natural additives. That dangerous practice leads to poor health and often leads to increased medical costs for medications and treatments in an attempt to reverse problems created by poor diet.

Focus on plant-based foods and reap the benefits of optimal health through natural sources of protein.
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:: Maintaining Muscle Mass
Brendan Brazier a professional vegan triathlete
"You can not only maintain strength and lean muscle tissue on a vegan diet, but you can also increase both significantly."

Brendan Brazier is a professional triathlete from North Vancouver, and the 2003, 50 km Ultra Marathon National Champion. A successful vegan ironman, Brendan contributes to Vegetarians in Paradise magazine with a feature called Ask the Vegan Athlete. In each issue Brendan answers questions posed by readers and offers advice to other athletes who choose to eat a plant-based diet.

Brendan is the author of Thrive: a Guide to Optimal Health and Performance Through Plant-Based Whole Foods. His website addresses concerns of vegetarian athletes, provides a forum for vegan athletes, and includes his schedule of activities.

In today's hectic, fast-paced world, we are inundated with nutrient-lacking foods. Consumed mostly for convenience sake, processed and refined foods have led us to a decline in health and have elevated medical costs. Having to consume more of them to "fill up" due to their absence of usable nutrients, yet high sugar and calorie counts, we have become an obese, energy-depleted society.

Back a few years in my more conventional-thinking days, I would try to gauge my caloric intake requirements based on my activity level and body weight. Eating about 8000 calories on heavy training days, as determined by my calculations, I would usually need a rest day soon after. I realize now, a large part of my need for the extra rest day was not just to recover from the energy expended during training, but primarily from the energy expended digesting all that food!

At the time I would eat lots of starchy, high carbohydrate foods such as conventional pasta and bread. Roasted nuts, usually in the form of peanut butter, would also be a large part of my high-calorie yet low-nutrient diet. As these are hard for the body to digest and assimilate and have little to offer in terms of nutrients, I was actually robbing myself of energy with every bite.

By consuming more easily assimilated foods, you can conserve a large amount of energy. There are two main reasons for this:

Nutrient-rich easily digested foods can be assimilated with less expenditure.
When more nutrient-rich foods are present in the diet, the body does not have to eat as much as if it were fed "average" foods.
As a direct result, not as much needs to be eaten and therefore digested. This is a huge net energy gain, to be spent as you please. If the body is left to decide, it will likely choose improved immune function and quickened restoration of cells damaged by stress essentially, "anti-aging" activities.

Once I realized the value in nutrient density, assimilation, and absorption of food, I began eating in terms of net gain with no adherence to calorie consumption guidelines. Instead, I focused on consuming nutrient dense, easily assimilated foods. As a result my recovery rate has significantly improved. I no longer need an extra day to recover from eating copious amounts of conventional food. Enhanced by simple means of increased efficacy, my body now pools its retained energy resources to recover more quickly from muscle damage associated with training. Today, I consume about 30% fewer calories than I did just two years ago yet have more energy through conservation, as opposed to consumption.

Instead of feasting on common refined foods, I now consume whole foods almost exclusively. Raw, alkalizing, enzyme intact, living foods have become the foundation of my diet. Switching my main carbohydrate source away from refined starches to whole fruits and vegetables was my starting point. In doing so, the majority of my energy needs, obtained from primarily carbohydrate, were now being met by a wide variety of fruit and whole grains.

Raw nuts and seeds, with an emphasis on hemp and flax as well as legumes supply me with protein and essential fatty acids. The majority of vitamins and minerals I require come from fresh, raw vegetables--dark leafy green in particular. You can more easily maintain hydration by consuming whole foods raw instead of eating them dried, processed, and cooked.

Specifically, foods that offer a superior net gain are:
• alkaline forming, high in chlorophyll
• rich in enzymes, raw and alive
• rich in pre and probiotics
• best consumed in liquid form

By implementing some of these suggestions, you can not only maintain strength and lean muscle tissue on a vegan diet, but you can also increase both significantly.
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:: Where do you get your protein?
OrganicAthlete
"Of all the misconceptions about plant-based diets, the protein issue is the most misunderstood. The truth is that so long as you consume adequate calories to meet your energy needs, it is virtually impossible to not get enough protein from whole plant foods."

In his article "Muscling Out the Meat Myth," Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., writes, "Around the beginning of [the 20th] century, scientists came to believe--erroneously--that animal protein led to improvements in sport competitiveness." They believed that animal flesh, milk, and eggs stimulated body growth more "efficiently" than plant protein. Campbell continues, "Efficiency, in this sense, meant that by eating animal protein one could gain more body weight per pound of protein consumed. Efficiency, or high quality, can also mean speeding up all manner of body functions." Contemporary research links the consumption of animal protein with “speeding up” rates of chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

– What are proteins?

Protein Content of Common Foods as percentage of calories
apricots	10%
asparagus	27%
bananas	4%
beef, ground (avg)	50%
Broccoli	20%
Cabbage	15%
Carrots	6%
cheese, cheddar	26%
cherries	6%
corn	10%
cucumbers	11%
egg, poached	37%
grapes, red	4%
ice cream, choc	8%
kale	16%
lettuce, green leaf	22%
milk, whole	23%
oranges, valencia	7%
peaches	8%
potatoes, baked	7%
rice, white	8%
spaghetti	14%
spinach	30%
strawberries	7%
tomatoes, red	12%
watermelon	7%

Proteins are the building blocks of all life. The easiest way to explain protein is with the analogy of the alphabet. Amino acids represent the letters of the alphabet. There are 20 amino acids found in human proteins. When these amino acids (letters) are combined, we make words (proteins). Depending on the combination of these amino acids, we can come up with literally thousands of protein combinations specific to the human body. Only eight amino acids cannot be synthesized by the body, making them essential to the human diet. All the essential amino acids are present in plants, so a diet rich in whole plant foods will meet your amino acid needs.

– How much protein do we need?
According to international scientific organizations, including the World Health Organization, human dietary protein needs range from 2-10% of total calories. The average American takes in 120-158% more than the recommended daily allowance. Even the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans says, “Protein is not limiting in vegetarian diets as long as the variety and amounts of foods consumed are adequate.” For an athlete consuming 2500 calories per day, 2-10% translates into 12.5-62.5 grams of protein per day, which is easily met on a whole food, plant-based diet.

Do athletes need more protein than the average person? Yes, but in direct correlation to an increase in calories consumed. Active people will need to consume more calories to meet their energy needs. These needs are easily met with whole plant foods. Many sports nutritionists recommend as much as 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. This does not mean athletes should be eating concentrated protein foods like meat, fish, eggs, or protein supplements. In fact, according to Thomas Incledon, M.S., R.D. they should pay more attention to their calorie intake. It takes 2,700 calories of energy to produce 1 pound of lean muscle. Consider this: a 70 Kg (150 pound) sedentary male consumes a 2000 calorie diet of potatoes, beans, and broccoli. This gives him 56 grams of protein per day (0.8 g/Kg). He starts training for the Boston Marathon and increases his calorie intake to 4000 calories a day. Eating the same diet, he is now getting 112 grams of protein or 1.6 g/Kg.

– Protein and Recovery
The body becomes stronger and faster with the adaptations from training; therefore, recovery is tantamount to athletic development. Protein is commonly and incorrectly viewed as an energy food that will help you recover faster. If you're feeling weak and tired, the thought goes, you need to eat more protein. Recovery does not occur because of increased dietary protein. Growth and repair happen best when the conditions needed for recovery are met: adequate nutritional intake of carbohydrates, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals, and sufficient rest and relaxation. The first of these conditions is best met on a whole food, plant-based diet, and insufficient rest and sleep are often overlooked as a cause of low energy and poor recovery.

– Protein Supplements
The health and sports nutrition marketplace is clogged with protein supplements heralded as the elixirs that will help you recover fast or gain muscle. Many athletes will take a protein supplement just to be “sure” they get enough protein for recovery. Yet supplements are one of the most processed foods you can buy. Most of the nutrition that the original food had is lost in the refining process. Athletes should give their bodies exactly what they need nutritionally. Whole plant foods do just this.
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:: Protein in the Vegan Diet
by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D.
The Vegetarian Resources Group
"It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein, as long as calorie intake is adequate. Strict protein combining is not necessary; it is more important to eat a varied diet throughout the day."

Some Americans are obsessed with protein. Vegans are bombarded with questions about where they get their protein. Athletes used to eat thick steaks before competition because they thought it would improve their performance. Protein supplements are sold at health food stores. This concern about protein is misplaced. Although protein is certainly an essential nutrient which plays many key roles in the way our bodies function, we do not need huge quantities of it. In reality, we need small amounts of protein. Only one calorie out of every ten we take in needs to come from protein. Athletes do not need much more protein than the general public. Protein supplements are expensive, unnecessary, and even harmful for some people.

How much protein do we need? The RDA recommends that we take in 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weigh (or about 0.36 grams of protein per pound that we weigh). This recommendation includes a generous safety factor for most people. When we make a few adjustments to account for some plant proteins being digested somewhat differently from animal proteins and for the amino acid mix in some plant proteins, we arrive at a level of 1 gram of protein per kilogram body weight (0.45 grams of protein per pound that we weigh). Since vegans eat a variety of plant protein sources, somewhere between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per kilogram would be a protein recommendation for vegans. If we do a few calculations we see that the protein recommendation for vegans amounts to close to 10% of calories coming from protein. [For example, a 79 kg vegan male aged 25 to 50 years could have an estimated calorie requirement of 2900 calories per day. His protein needs might be as high as 79 kg x 1 gram/kg = 79 grams of protein. 79 grams of protein x 4 calories/gram of protein = 316 calories from protein per day. 316 calories from protein divided by 2900 calories = 10.1% of calories from protein.] If we look at what vegans are eating, we find that between 10-12% of calories come from protein. This contrasts with the protein intake of non-vegetarians, which is close to 14-18% of calories.

So, in the United States it appears that vegan diets are commonly lower in protein than standard American diets. Remember, though, with protein, more (than the RDA) is not necessarily better. There do not appear to be health advantages to consuming a high protein diet. Diets that are high in protein may even increase the risk of osteoporosis and kidney disease.
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:: Vegetarian Diets are Great for Athletes
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
"For a long time it was thought that athletes needed much more protein than other people. The truth is that athletes, even those who strengthtrain, need only slightly more protein, which is easily obtained in the larger servings athletes require for their higher caloric intake. To consume a diet that contains enough, but not too much, protein, simply replace animal products with grains, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, and lentils), and fruits. As long as one is eating a variety of plant foods in sufficient quantity to maintain one’s weight, the body gets plenty of protein."
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:: Protein
The Vegetarian Society
"Being vegetarian does not mean your diet will be lacking in protein. Most plant foods contain protein and in fact it would be very difficult to design a vegetarian diet that is short on protein. Excess dietary protein may lead to health problems. It it now thought that one of the benefits of a vegetarian diet is that it contains adequate but not excessive protein."
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:: Vegetarian Bodybuilding Does it have a chance?
Virtual Muscle
"I know the first question that probably comes to mind is, "How will I get enough protein?" According to the PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score), one of the measurement scales for protein quality, soy has been rated 1.0 (the highest) right alongside whey and above that of beef which scored a .92. It is a complete protein source containing all of the basic building blocks (the 8 essential amino acids) necessary for the growth and recuperation of muscle tissue"
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