Can Vegans Build Real Muscle?

Can you be a bodybuilder and still be a vegetarian?

If you have not considered the possibility, you are probably among those persons who do not consider that vegans are able to be bodybuilders. The prevailing culture for the most part believes that a vegetarian diet lacks all of the nutrients needed for a healthy body and that such a diet cannot produce the muscle sought after by body builders.

We tend to think of a vegetarian bodybuilder as that 98 pound weakling by the shore taking another face full of sand. Vegan body builders are quickly correcting this view.

Vegan diets exclude all animal products including meat, milk, and dairy derivatives. Because of this many meat eaters think that a vegetarian diet is inferior when it comes to building muscle just because it does not contain animal protein. However, there are many complementary sources of vegetable protein available.

Protein is used by the body to repair torn muscle fibre and to boost the immune system as well as to build muscle mass. It is also important for the bodybuilder choosing a vegetarian lifestyle to ensure that he or she is getting sufficient quantities of other necessary nutrients in their diet.

A well balanced vegetarian diet contains all of the essential amino acids required by the body for the synthesis of protein. There are also many vegetarian protein supplements available in the markets so vegetarian body builders should have no difficulty meeting the body’s requirement for protein.

While supplements can play an important dietary role in a vegetarian bodybuilding diet plan, you can also get many essential nutrients from fresh fruit and vegetable juices, Gatorade and Spirtein. Soy products are another wonderful source of protein, not only for vegans but for anyone seeking a more heart healthy lifestyle. Nuts are another delicious alternative source of protein that are sometimes overlooked.

Vegan diets are not without controversy for muscle building. In spite of the recognized health benefits of soy, some critics claim that soy may have long-term negative effects. There is more evidence of its health benefits however than of any harmful side effects. Each person thinking about a vegetarian diet for bodybuilding should do some independent research and then decide for themselves.

Adequate nutrition is more important to a bodybuilder than the amount of time you spend on a workout or even what you do there. Basic bodybuilding requires that you consume more calories than you burn or you will lose weight. If you are not consuming enough, the more you workout, the more weight you lose! For vegans, this means you have to eat a lot of fresh foods and use protein replacement products.

Protein replacement products are not to be confused with the bodybuilding supplements sold in muscle magazines and on the internet to those persons looking for a magic pill. There is no magic pill and for the most part the supplements are useless and often actually harmful.

It can become discouraging to look through those magazines and see the ads for the latest "muscle enhancing" pill and the accompanying photos of beautiful physiques. Keep in mind that while the buffed bodies are nice to look at they are not attainable by the ordinary builder and the ads are directed to the common meat-eating, supplement-using muscle builder.

If a magazine or web site is not advocating natural bodybuilding, you should go elsewhere. There are many good sources of guidance for the vegetarian muscle builder and you do not need to listen to the steroid and HGH pushers. Just make certain that you consume adequate nutrients and supplements in the right quantity to give you the beautiful sculpted body you desire!

Discover how to get into natural bodybuilding by checking out reviews of top bodybuilding and fitness programs like Muscle Gaining Secrets which was written written by a vegan body builder at Muscle-Building-Reviews.com.