Unanswered Is it Possible to Be Vegetarian and Vegan and Still Get Bodybuilding Results?

ucimigrate

Active member
Does it matter if you are vegetarian or vegan for bodybuilding?

Is there any research to show that you can be vegetarian or vegan and still successful at bodybuilding?
 
what is your understanding of Bodybuilding? at competition level? or achieving a good physique for personal satisfaction?
 
ucimigrate said:
Does it matter if you are vegetarian or vegan for bodybuilding?

Is there any research to show that you can be vegetarian or vegan and still successful at bodybuilding?
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Yes.
It’s just way harder and quite a bit more expensive. If you’ve got a good amount of money to put in, there’s a grip of good bcaa rich vegan supplements.
Supposedly Dana Limn Bailey is vegan and the woman is loaded with muscle. She even has a product line of vegan bodybuilding supplements. Without supplementation, I’d imagine it would be an uphill battle. Eating a lot of nuts and Tempa Soy.
 
For bodybuilding i do not feel like it is viable. I know there are many ways to do this, but getting in adequate nutrients with those dietary restrictions has got to be a challenge in itself and as posted already probably extremely expensive. I’ve never met someone that’s vegan and bodybuilds and has a compatible physique to those who bodybuild and eat meat products. I have seen guys switch over from meat to vegan with a ton of muscle and be able to hold onto a lot, but starting out vegan and trying to build a foundation on it I just can’t see it happening... but maybe ppl have done it, I’d love to know more about it if it’s possible
 
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This dude is. Lots of pea/lentil/bean protein and oats and other whole grains.

Not that he is anybody winning real shows, but you can get big vegan obviously. All of the same rules apply, natural or not: you have to eat big & lift big. The difference is the vegan inherently will get less return for their effort due to less efficient fuel sources.

Kinda like bodybuilding on a McDonald’s diet. Not optimal, but it’s still fuel that can be manipulated.
 
Vegetarian yes (but not as good as meat eaters). Vegans....I seriously doubt it but they do train hard because they're always very upset and moody and they channel that angst in their training,
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
Vegetarian yes (but not as good as meat eaters). Vegans....I seriously doubt it but they do train hard because they're always very upset and moody and they channel that angst in their training,
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Lol I’m not advocating veganism for someone trying to build muscle, just saying it can be done - provided your gut can tolerate it, if you eat enough beans and grains you can grow.

I sure as **** would be loading up on pineapple and kimchi though to try to keep up with digesting all that fiber Humans are NOT gorillas and were designed to be omnivorous. Eating vegan is hard for a lot of people’s guts.
 
Ovo lacto vegetarian isn't as bad as vegan. Whey protein and eggs are a good source to build muscles.
Vegan's have to eat truckloads of beans. Can anyone imagine the constant farting going on, noise level and burning eyes?
 
ucimigrate said:
Does it matter if you are vegetarian or vegan for bodybuilding?

Is there any research to show that you can be vegetarian or vegan and still successful at bodybuilding?
Click to expand...
If you do veganism without extra supplements (B vitamins, Creatine, omega 3 sources, extra leucine, vegan protein powders), I personally do not believe it is possible because most veggies, and beans are not complete proteins. Most are low in leucine (this is needed for mTOR/protein synthesis), and most do not have easily bioavailable nutrients. Most veggies contain fiber, which further inhibits protein absorption. One must take supplements to for veganism to be sustainable.
 
Hyde said:
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This dude is. Lots of pea/lentil/bean protein and oats and other whole grains.

Not that he is anybody winning real shows, but you can get big vegan obviously. All of the same rules apply, natural or not: you have to eat big & lift big. The difference is the vegan inherently will get less return for their effort due to less efficient fuel sources.

Kinda like bodybuilding on a McDonald’s diet. Not optimal, but it’s still fuel that can be manipulated.
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That dude also on a healthy dose of anabolics to force MPS.
 
ValiantThor08 said:
If you do veganism without extra supplements (B vitamins, Creatine, omega 3 sources, extra leucine, vegan protein powders), I personally do not believe it is possible because most veggies, and beans are not complete proteins. Most are low in leucine (this is needed for mTOR/protein synthesis), and most do not have easily bioavailable nutrients. Most veggies contain fiber, which further inhibits protein absorption. One must take supplements to for veganism to be sustainable.
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ValiantThor08 said:
That dude also on a healthy dose of anabolics to force MPS.
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I definitely agree with all of this.

It’s still vegan, but not “natural”. But again, veganism isn’t natural.

Like HGP said, vegetarian would be infinitely easier with eggs and dairy on board. Barely a sacrifice. Cheese pizzas, bean burritos from Tbell, protein shakes, omelets & hashbrowns - you can be a regular fatass American comfortably as a vegetarian, never touch a veggie if you don’t wanna
 
Hyde said:
I definitely agree with all of this.

It’s still vegan, but not “natural”. But again, veganism isn’t natural.

Like HGP said, vegetarian would be infinitely easier with eggs and dairy on board. Barely a sacrifice. Cheese pizzas, bean burritos from Tbell, protein shakes, omelets & hashbrowns - you can be a regular fatass American comfortably as a vegetarian, never touch a veggie if you don’t wanna
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Cheetos all day long!
 
Hyde said:
Lol I’m not advocating veganism for someone trying to build muscle, just saying it can be done - provided your gut can tolerate it, if you eat enough beans and grains you can grow.

I sure as **** would be loading up on pineapple and kimchi though to try to keep up with digesting all that fiber Humans are NOT gorillas and were designed to be omnivorous. Eating vegan is hard for a lot of people’s guts.
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Thing is in order for vegans to get complete protein they need equal sources of wheat and bean protein to make up for amino acid content that is missing in each. At that dudes bodyweight he would have had to be eating a boatload of protein and assimilating it. They actually recommend eating more protein per pound of bodyweight that with animal protein because of digestion differences as well. If he needed 300g, he might have to get 400g from vegan sources to equate. Maybe it’s not impossible, but merely on food volume alone I really can’t believe he built that muscle with just vegan sources. I do believe he switched from eating vegan after he built that muscle and maintained it, or most of it. But built from scratch on vegan... idk man
 
The amino acid pool lasts 24 hours. So, it is possible to have complementary proteins, such as beans for breakfast and rice for lunch.

My guess is that someone could do it, it just requires more mindfulness. I know it is healthier to be vegan.

I live near a Nick Delgado, an anti-aging guru who only eats vegan stuff. Granted, he does a lot of supposedly "bioidentical" testosterone and growth hormone.
 
ucimigrate said:
The amino acid pool lasts 24 hours. So, it is possible to have complementary proteins, such as beans for breakfast and rice for lunch.

My guess is that someone could do it, it just requires more mindfulness. I know it is healthier to be vegan.

I live near a Nick Delgado, an anti-aging guru who only eats vegan stuff. Granted, he does a lot of supposedly "bioidentical" testosterone and growth hormone.
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Not healthier. Healthier than the standard american diet, yes, but not healthy. Meat is healthy, meat is vitality, and all nutrients in meat are bioavailable.
 
hairygrandpa said:
Ovo lacto vegetarian isn't as bad as vegan. Whey protein and eggs are a good source to build muscles.
Vegan's have to eat truckloads of beans. Can anyone imagine the constant farting going on, noise level and burning eyes?
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I’ve watched some documentaries on Hitler and it was a big point of discussion that he was vegan, ate a ton of beans, had lots of diarrhea and major issues with flatulence. Anybody else wanna be remembered like that?
 
jrock645 said:
I’ve watched some documentaries on Hitler and it was a big point of discussion that he was vegan, ate a ton of beans, had lots of diarrhea and major issues with flatulence. Anybody else wanna be remembered like that?
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The constant farting gave him the idea to grow his infamous "filter-mustache".
 
That documentary on Netflix about Hitler was overdone. He had medical problems. But, this "vegan stuff makes him not powerful" is tangential.
 
Pea and rice protein combined have an amino acid profile similar to Whey. Unfortunately eating with off these in a non-concentrated powder form will result in extra carbs that you might not want.
 
ucimigrate said:
Does it matter if you are vegetarian or vegan for bodybuilding?

Is there any research to show that you can be vegetarian or vegan and still successful at bodybuilding?
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Of course you can, it's just harder and your not going to be some mass monster
 
Smont said:
Of course you can, it's just harder and your not going to be some mass monster
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There was an Indian pro they featured in Generation Iron 3 that was a vegan. He had no back but looked pretty phenomenal from the front (kinda seemed like he probably trained like a pussy). But he definitely looked the part of open weight competitor.
 
Hyde said:
There was an Indian pro they featured in Generation Iron 3 that was a vegan. He had no back but looked pretty phenomenal from the front (kinda seemed like he probably trained like a pussy). But he definitely looked the part of open weight competitor.
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My question would be when did he become vegan. Lots of ppl turn vegan after the fact and act like a vegan diet got them where they are
 
Smont said:
My question would be when did he become vegan. Lots of ppl turn vegan after the fact and act like a vegan diet got them where they are
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The fact that he was born and raised in India lends itself to the notion that he was raised on a traditional Indian vegetarian diet. I worked with thousands of Indian folks who had come to America specifically to work at the last company I worked for, and a huge percent of them remained vegetarians and ate traditional foods. All of the break areas always smelled like curry at lunch time
 
Hyde said:
The fact that he was born and raised in India lends itself to the notion that he was raised on a traditional Indian vegetarian diet. I worked with thousands of Indian folks who had come to America specifically to work at the last company I worked for, and a huge percent of them remained vegetarians and ate traditional foods. All of the break areas always smelled like curry at lunch time
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A traditional Indian diet has beef, chicken and fish....
 
Where I live there's a lot of Indian ppl. Most of them will eat beef but not pork. Idk there religion tho, guessing Muslim cus of the no pork. One family owns a shop with real good food but they always put turkey bacon on the breakfast sandwiches, jerks, I want BACON!
 
So I talked to the guy when I got my breakfast sandwich this morning. He said most ppl will eat seafood and any meat other then beef and pork. He said he would not say the majority is vegan but lots are and the ones who eat meat eat far less meat then we do here. But most of them born in the US eat like Americans. Then he told me his wife is Thai and owns a Thai restaurant so now has had a few beef dishes but not pork.

It was a interesting morning, and he double eggs and turkey bacon on my sandwich.
 
So much broscience in this thread lol. Yes it’s possible and is more frequently practiced than you’d expect. You will not shrivel up, constantly fart, or be moody either... Christ.
 
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