Vegan diet for bodybuilding:
Vegan bodybuilding is a tough challenge. In addition to all the other requirements for building muscle, you have to deal with the restricted food variety. Most of the vegan food sources are very high in carbs and low in protein, which is exactly what you want to avoid.
The vegan bodybuilding diet usually includes many of the following foods:
Grains:
Grains are foods made from wheat, rice, cornmeal, barley, or another cereal grain. Refined grains have had the germ and bran removed, which decreases dietary fiber and nutrient levels. Whole grains retain both parts of the grain, increasing dietary fiber, and nutrient intake.
Vegetables:
Vegetables are an important part of the vegan diet for bodybuilders because they provide building materials, known as amino acids, for muscle growth. There are many vegan foods that can be used to get these amino acids.
Fruits:
fruits usually contain very high amounts of sugar. However, berries and avocados can be eaten in moderation because they are lower in sugar and higher in fiber than many other fruits.
Nuts and Seeds:
All nuts and seeds provide good sources of protein. They also provide a healthy dose of omega 3 fatty acids, which can help reduce the risk of disease and improve cholesterol levels.
Legumes:
Legumes provide protein, but they are also high in carbs. These foods should be eaten in moderation if you’re looking to get ripped for the summer.
Tofu:
Tofu is made from soybeans, water, and sometimes milk. It is an excellent source of protein and is often recommended for bodybuilders.
Soy products:
Soy-based meat substitutes are great vegan foods to eat when you’re looking to build muscle on a plant-based diet. You can also find soy-based yogurts that provide animal-free calcium sources. If you want to avoid genetically modified soy products you can look for organic brands.
What to avoid in vegan bodybuilding?
Grains are high in carbs and low in protein. By sticking to unprocessed grains like millet or quinoa this problem can be remedied somewhat. Your fiber intake will still be minimal, however, so you need to take this into account when planning your meals. It’s also important to avoid refined sugars as much as you can. Stick to natural sugars like agave nectar or stevia if you want to sweeten up your foods. Avoid high-sugar fruits like bananas and oranges too, especially if your goal is weight loss.
High protein vegetarian diet for bodybuilding:
There are some misconceptions that vegetarians cannot build muscle mass, which is not true. Protein is an essential macronutrient in the human body and there are some sources that you can get it from without any hesitation like meat, eggs, etc. However, there are some people who choose to remain vegetarian for their own personal choice.
A lot of vegetarians emphasize getting protein from different sources like legumes, beans, etc. But these proteins are not as good as the ones you can find in meat or eggs. Hence, a high protein vegetarian diet for bodybuilding is very essential once you have decided to take the path of vegetarianism. Not only it will help you build muscle, but you can also maintain your body weight like any other person who is on a balanced diet plan. Let’s find out more about a high protein vegetarian diet for bodybuilding.
Building muscle isn’t an easy task and vegetarian bodybuilders do it the tough way. There are two types of vegetarianism; one who eats eggs and dairy products (Ovo-Lacto vegetarians) and the second who doesn’t take anything that comes from animals like meat, fish, eggs, etc (vegans).
Keto diet for bodybuilding:
How to use it the right way, what kind of results to expect?
A ketogenic diet for bodybuilding (keto diet for short) is one in which you drastically reduce your carbohydrate intake and replace it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. Ketosis is when your body uses fat as its primary source of energy, rather than carbs. When your body is reliant on carbs for its energy needs, it will only use them as a last resort. This means that stored fat is likely to remain on your body!
But ketosis flips this around – by depriving your body of carbs, it has no choice but to rely on fat for its energy, and thus you will end up burning more stored fat. There are many reasons why people try Keto diets including weight loss, blood sugar control for diabetes, neurological disorders like epilepsy or Alzheimer’s disease, cancer-fighting properties, and athletic performance enhancement.
Here we will focus on the right way of using a Ketogenic diet for bodybuilding and its expected results.
Keto diet for bodybuilding: what to expect
First off, the Ketogenic diet is not a magic bullet that will get you shredded overnight without any effort. If you’re anything like me (a busy guy with a job and other commitments), your fitness goals might be more modest – losing some body fat while retaining muscle. This is a perfectly achievable goal and is what we will focus on in this article.
The first thing you should know about the Ketogenic diet and bodybuilding is that it’s not as simple as “just” restricting your carbs – you also need to pay attention to how much protein you’re eating, as excess protein consumption can turn into glucose (blood sugar) via a process called gluconeogenesis. This is particularly important during your first few weeks on Keto as your body adapts to this new way of eating.
When I first started the Ketogenic diet, my protein intake was too high – about 300g/day which is way more than necessary for building muscle after accounting for possible gluconeogenesis. I spent the first 6 weeks of my Ketogenic journey losing muscle! Lesson learned: Don’t be stupid like me, pay attention to your protein intake!
Plant based diet for bodybuilding:
Is it achievable?
The idea of bodybuilding without animal protein is mind-blowing for many muscle fans. Many people in the sport believe that you need meat and dairy products to build muscle and get stronger, but is this really the case? No – and in fact, a plant-based diet can even be healthier than one based on animal food products. The human body is designed to digest plants, which break down more easily than animal protein sources.
They are also rich in natural antioxidants – nutrients that protect cells from damage caused by free radicals, which can promote cancer development. Animal foods often contain high levels of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, both known to be pro-inflammatory. You might think that a plant-based diet would have no benefits whatsoever for bodybuilders. In fact, it has been shown to provide many performance and health advantages when compared with a meat-based diet.
Plant-based foods contain higher levels of high-quality protein, an important nutrient for muscle building. They are also rich in fiber and lower in calories than animal products. In some cases, the carbohydrates they provide can boost performance as well as aid recovery from intensive training sessions.
Mediterranean diet for bodybuilding:
A lot of bodybuilders, no matter how experienced they are, still consume some kind of junk food (e.g. pizzas, fried chicken, or some other fast food) every now and then. After all, who doesn’t like to munch on something tasty?
But if you want your body to respond to the diet as well as possible, for maximum growth and strength (or fat loss, if that’s your goal) you should focus on healthy food. Mediterranean diet is a good choice: it is very nutritious and easy to stick to. The Western or modern lifestyle has shaped our eating habits into something that does not benefit our health. We are eating too much of the wrong foods, and lack the nutrients our bodies need.
The Mediterranean diet is based on the consumption of monounsaturated fats (MUFA), mostly coming from olive oil, fish oils, or nuts. It implies consumption of fruits, vegetables, salads, whole grains or high fiber bread, potatoes instead of refined grain products, low-fat dairy products. In the Mediterranean region, humans have been eating this kind of food for thousands of years and it has contributed to their excellent health and longevity.
That is why we should adopt some aspects of this diet: not completely but at least partially. It will also help us to control our body weight and increase the number of healthy nutrients we take in.
