It Doesn’t Have To Be Hard Work To Build Muscle As A Vegetarian
The general belief among most vegetarians is that you can’t build muscle as a vegetarian. This of course isn’t true, however, you will face the hurdle that your body requires large amounts of protein to build muscle. Since most people take in the majority of your protein from animals, how can you get past this and still build muscle?
1. Protein
Many vegetarian body builders use soy as their best source of protein. This is because soy products like edamame, tofu and soy milk offer all 8 essential amino acids that your body requires to build lean muscle. Soy milk can replace cows milk in many recipes, and tofu is a great replacement for beef or chicken. In fact, soy contains more protein content than beef.
Sunflower seeds, walnuts, cashews, almonds and pistachio nuts are a good source of protein and healthy fats. Keep a container of nuts with you to snack on during the day to make sure that you are getting that healthy fat and protein.
Supplements, such as protein shakes are wildly popular with most body builders, and many are based on either whey or soy protein. These shakes often provide upwards of 21 grams of protein per serving. A few of these during the week will give your muscles the boost they need.
2. Vitamins And Minerals
If you eat a balanced diet, you should be getting most of the necessary vitamins and minerals you need, but many vegetarians still suffer a slight vitamin B12 deficiency. This happens because most vitamin B12 comes from meat. If you have a good multivitamin or add a B12 supplement to your daily routine, you can remedy this quickly and improve your energy levels too. If you drink the meal replacement shakes mentioned above, many of them will provide you with at least 1/3 of your daily vitamins and minerals per serving.
3. Fats
Eating a good portion of nuts each day will make sure that you are getting plenty of good fats, but you may still need more essential fatty acids as they are most commonly found in meat. If you want to make sure that you get these fatty acids, add a tablespoon or so of flax seed oil to your diet as it is the best source of an essential amino acid called linolenic acid.
Making the changes mentioned above will ensure that you can build muscle as a vegetarian. These dietary changes will get your body ready and give you proper nutrition to go along with a good muscle building program.
For more information on how you can build muscle as a vegetarian and sculpt the body of your dreams with short 20 minute workouts and a simple diet, stop by Ryan M Hall’s site to get your Free Diet Ebook and start building muscle today.
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