How Can I Get Enough Protein to Build Muscle if I Am a Vegetarian?

by Ricardo d Argence

Just before I tackle the main purpose of this article which is to show how to build muscle vegetarian style I will briefly outline the different types of vegetarians.

A vegan is someone who doesn’t eat animal products, including meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, and so on. A pesco vegetarian is someone who eats fish and other dairy products, but doesn’t eat red meat or poultry. Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy, but don’t eat meat or fish. There are other types as well, but these descriptions will suffice for this article.

Because vegetarians don’t eat things like red meat, they are at lower risk of certain diseases, like hypertension, diabetes, and some types of cancer, as well as heart disease and coronary artery disease.

As you may agree the reasons for changing to be vegetarian are compelling indeed and that is before we even begin to discuss the idealistic side of things such as being less cruel to animals, saving food for starving others, conserving the rainforest, becoming more friendly to the environment and such like.

So, if I am vegetarian how can I get enough protein to pack on muscle mass? The answer to this question very simply is Soy. Soy in reality has higher levels of protein than beef and also contains all eight of the essential amino acids.

You can get soy from easy to get sources like soymilk, textured soy protein and tofu. There are lots of different recipes out there that include soy, so experiment. In addition, beans, seeds, rice, nuts, and legumes are also great protein sources, so one thing you’ll never be short of is protein.

However, those who are vegan especially may find themselves in short supply of certain vitamins and minerals, including vitamin D, zinc, iron, calcium, and B12. However, supplements can take care of this shortfall.

Vitamin B12 is found in dairy products so is not an area of concern for other types of vegetarians. The others can easily be gotten from a decent meal replacement powder. Of course however many minerals and vitamins are easily available in the form of leafy green vegetables and fruit that you should not overlook if you wish to build muscle up vegetarian style.

So, overall there are many health benefits to being a vegetarian and being a vegetarian need not prevent you from achieving your bodybuilding goals. Of course a key factor to your diet success will be the ability to plan, however this is just as crucial for meat eating bodybuilders also. With the above guidelines in mind go ahead and build muscle vegetarian style!!

About the Author:
Are you sick and tired of being weak and underweight? Let us take you by the hand with the best muscle building workouts to pack on pound after pound of ripped, firm muscle weight in the shortest period of time possible. Visit us to read more Muscle Building Articles

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Written by Ricardo d Argence on January 14th, 2010 with no comments.
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