🥦 Vegetarians can still make gainz, bro

Being a vegan or vegetarian isn’t for everyone. Being an omnivore may not be for everyone, either.

Some people have chosen to go vegan/vegetarian for personal, moral, or other reasons. I talk about protein a lot, and going vegetarian is not a choice I make. But that doesn’t mean vegetarians are excluded from the protein gain train! Today we’re going to dive into how vegetarians can plan their diets to get all the essential protein they need.

And even if you’re not vegetarian, stick with me on this one, because I bet you’ll still learn a thing or two and maybe even find some new high-protein, non-meat foods to incorporate into your diet!

Just like any other “diet,” there can be great health benefits if you plan well and prioritize whole, nutrient-dense foods. But it can also go poorly and result in negative health outcomes if you fail to plan and just eat junk food all the time. Even in narrowed-down, seemingly healthy diets like that of vegetarians, there are still plenty of tempting ultra-processed options to derail your health.

Whether you’re a decades-long dedicated veg or an omnivore simply looking to explore less meat-intensive options, all the foods and meals below are certainly worth considering.

One of the keys to living healthy on a vegetarian diet is prioritizing protein through whole foods (and supplementation if necessary).

First, let’s establish several principles. I’ll try to be succinct (trust me, this is succinct):

1. Protein is an essential macronutrient for building muscle, along with facilitating countless other processes in our body.

2. Muscle is so much more than big biceps. It stores and regulates glucose, it gives us strength and endurance to move about the world, and it is a major contributor to our overall metabolism, just to name a few purposes.

3. We know that building and preserving muscle is a key part of living a life that is both functional and long. We build muscle both through eating protein and undergoing resistance exercise. Both have some effect; together, they have synergistic effects.

4. The RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for daily protein consumption is 0.8grams/kilogram of bodyweight (divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to convert to kilograms). However, it was calculated decades ago from some pretty poorly done studies, and we know this is just the bare minimum to prevent deficiency and disease, and nowhere near what would be considered “optimal.”

5. For optimal health, scientific evidence suggests that we should target somewhere in the range of 1.2–1.8g/kg of protein per day (that’s 0.55–0.82g/lb). It can be even higher if you’re trying to build muscle, or if you want to be more satiated and eat fewer fats/carbs.

   1. (You can also use “ideal bodyweight” for your sex and height if you’re a bit heavier right now!)

   2. Most Americans consume 60-90g per day. This may be over the RDA (thankfully), but often falls well below optimal amounts.

6. For adults, it takes about a minimum of 30g of protein per serving to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, which is the process that builds and preserves muscle in our bodies. Less than ~25g per meal, and we’re not really signaling to our bodies to send any of that protein to our muscles.

7. It seems that most important are the first and final meals of the day. These are when you want to consume at least 30g of protein, if not 45g or more, to ensure you turn on and maximize protein synthesis at these times of day.

8. Animal proteins are “higher quality” than plant proteins. What we mean by that is that they have more comprehensive amino acid profiles—particularly for the essential amino acids that we can’t make ourselves, but must obtain from our diet.

   1. For example, to reach a threshold and stimulate muscle protein synthesis, adults need about 25g of whey protein, 32g of soy protein, or 40g of wheat protein. Not all protein is created equal.

   2. Since many plant proteins are “incomplete” proteins (meaning they lack some essential amino acids), it is very important to mix and pair multiple sources of plant proteins to ensure you consume a full profile of amino acids.

9. Thus, for vegetarians, prioritizing high-protein foods and meals is essential if we want to maintain a healthy body composition and keep our muscle functioning well.

If you’d like to dive deeper into any of the above points, feel free to reference earlier posts or reply to this email and share what you’d like to know more about!

Now for the practical steps. While meat, poultry, and fish are the foods typically considered highest in protein, that doesn’t mean vegetarians are out of options. We can leverage smart food choices to ensure we’re getting adequate daily protein and at least a couple good signals for muscle protein synthesis every day.

Here are some examples of individual foods that can deliver a great amount of high-quality protein to any meal throughout the day:

Foods:

• Eggs (6g per large egg)

• Milk (1g per oz. [FairLife lactose-free milk has ~1.6g per oz.!])

• Greek yogurt (10–20g per 6 oz. serving)

• Nuts (2–7g per oz.) & nut butters (~3.5–4g per tbsp)

• Cheeses (5–9g per oz.)

• Cottage cheese (12.5g per ½ cup)

• Tofu/soy (10g per ½ cup)

• Edamame (8.5g per ½ cup), soy milk (8g per cup), other soy products

• Tempeh (15.5g per ½ cup)

• Seitan (32g per ½ cup!!)

• Hummus (9.5g per ½ cup)/chickpeas (19.5g per ½ cup)

• Beans (black/kidney) (~7g per ½ cup)

• Lentils (9g per ½ cup)

• Oats (5g per ½ cup)

• Quinoa (4g per ½ cup)

• Sprouted grain bread (4–6g per slice)

• Whey protein powder (20-30g per serving)

• Pea & other plant protein powders (20+g per serving)

Many other fruits, vegetables, and grains have ~some~ amount of protein. Though not a lot individually, these can still really add up over the course of a day!

Here are some examples for each meal of the day that provide at least 30g of protein:

Breakfast:

• Overnight oats (oats, milk, protein powder, chia & flax seeds, berries/bananas, optional nut butter): 35–70g protein easily

• Smoothie (berries/fruit, dairy/soy/almond milk, protein powder, chia & flax seeds, spinach/kale, etc.): 30–50+g protein

• 3 eggs (scrambled, friend, boiled, whatever!) + Oikos Pro greek yogurt w/ berries: 38+g protein

• Ezekiel bread w/ nut butter & glass of milk of choice: 25+g protein

• Homemade quiche with feta, greens, cherry tomatoes, and peppers

Lunch:

• Seitan, veggie noodles, tahini dressing, sweet potatoes

• Salad with hardboiled eggs, sliced almonds, & cheese of choice w/ side of veggies & hummus

• Salad with tempeh, avocados, peppers, tomatoes

• Cottage cheese & spinach, edamame, & pea protein shake

Dinner:

• Roasted chickpeas, tofu, veggies of choice

• Ramen with eggs and tofu

• Vegetarian nachos with black and kidney beans, cheese, & lentils/quinoa on side

• Beans and rice with tempeh, seitan, or other high-protein additions

• If you wanna get a little bit fancier, any of these 30 high-protein vegetarian recipes 

For example, if your current/ideal body weight is 180lbs (~82 kilos):

• On your best day, that could be 50g of protein in each of three meals, with a 20-30g protein snack.

• On one of your lower protein days, that could be 40g at breakfast, 20g at lunch, and 35g at dinner. This can be plenty adequate, especially if you have better days!

I believe in you, non-meat eaters! Fuel your body well, and you can share vegetarian recipes with your great-grandkids 👵 

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Prioritize getting at least 30g of protein at your first meal of the day. Making a switch from a high-carb/sugar breakfast to a high-protein one can have tremendous effects on nearly every aspect of your health!

Level 2: Make sure you always get at least 1.2g/kg of daily protein. On better days, go for 1.5. On great days, go for 1.8+!

Level 3: If you’re mostly plant based, be sure to mix your protein sources so you get all the essential amino acids every day. Eat 30–50g of protein at every meal and you’ll be amazed at how your energy, health biomarkers, and body composition change for the better!

This newsletter is brought to you by… me!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Know someone else who might be? I’d love to get to know you and/or your business and see how we can partner together. Reply to this email!

✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Functional BodyBuilding Vegan & Vegetarian Food Resource Guide. Many tips and examples above were inspired by the content at Functional BodyBuilding. Check them out at functional-bodybuilding.com and follow @marcusfilly on IG!

• ​​​​40 Lessons from 30 Years. I found this both valuable and challenging!

• This excerpt from Arnold’s Pump Club email newsletter, particularly pertinent to this week’s topic:

  • If you’ve read anything about soy, you’ve probably seen warnings about hormone disruption or anti-nutrients. And if you’re a man, you’re given every reason to avoid the commonly used plant-based protein.

  • But, a meta-analysis of 41 different studies failed to find any impact of soy products on male sex hormones. Even in studies where men were consuming very high amounts of soy, the researchers didn’t see a significant impact on hormone levels.

  • More importantly, for any gender, soy appears to be a good source of protein. Researchers found that a diet high in soy protein supported muscle growth and strength, similar to an omnivorous style of eating.

That was a lot to cover in one newsletter! Remember the principles. What would you like to know more about? Is there something I missed the mark on or should have included? Reply to this email and let’s continue the conversation!

As always, if you enjoyed today’s newsletter, click the link below to copy and paste and send to your loved ones!

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).