Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still build muscle if I’m a vegetarian?
Absolutely! Whether to include or exclude meat in your diet is a matter of personal choice. If you decide to go meatless, plan your diet carefully to avoid certain nutritional danger zones-namely iron, zinc, and B12 deficiencies. These deficiencies can hurt exercise performance. Here are some tips for avoiding deficiencies if you're a vegetarian strength trainer.
Get Enough Protein in Your Diet
Make sure to get in the 1.6 grams of high-quality protein per kilogram of body weight (0.73 grams per pound) required daily to support muscle growth. You can do this by including plenty of low-fat dairy products and protein-rich plant sources, like soy, in your diet. If you are a pure vegan , increase your protein intake to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (0.91 grams per pound) a day.
Include Some Heme Iron Sources in your Diet
All types of animal protein contain the more easily absorbed form of iron, heme iron. If you're a semi-vegetarian-that is, still eating fish or chicken but no red meat-you're in luck. Chicken and fish contain heme iron.
Watch the Meat-Fish-Poultry Factor
Meat, fish, and poultry (MFP) also contain a special quality called the MFP factor that helps your body absorb more nonheme iron. When meat and vegetables are eaten together at the same meal, more nonheme iron is absorbed from the vegetables than if the vegetables had been eaten alone. If you're a semi-vegetarian, your body will absorb extra iron from vegetables.
Include Vitamin C Sources
Fruits, vegetables, and other foods that contain vitamin C help the body absorb nonheme iron. For example, if you eat citrus fruits with an iron-fortified cereal, your body will absorb more iron from the cereal than if it had been eaten alone.
Guard Against a B12 Deficiency
Vitamin B12 is one of the most significant nutrients typically missing from the diets of vegans. That's because vitamin B12 is available only from animal products. Fortunately, the body needs only tiny daily amounts of the vitamin. T he DRI is 2.4 micrograms for adults. Vegans should eat B12-fortified foods and take supplements to ensure a healthy diet.
Watch Iron and Zinc Blockers
Some foods contain phytates, oxalates, or other substances that block the absorption of iron and zinc in the intestine. Coffee and tea (regular and decaf), whole grains, bran, legumes, and spinach are a few examples of foods containing blockers. These foods are best eaten with heme iron sources or fitamin C sources to help your body absorb more iron and zinc.
Consider Iron and Zinc Supplements
Our bodies don't absorb the iron that comes from vegetables as easily as the iron that comes from animal foods. Nonmeat eaters, especially active people or menstruating women, must pay attention to their dietary iron needs.
Animal flesh is the major source of zinc in our diets. So all styles of vegetarian eaters may be at greater risk of having marginally low intakes of this mineral.
Although dietary supplements are not good replacements for food, it may be a good idea to supplement if iron and zinc are in short supply in your diet. Daily supplementation of iron and zinc at the level of 100 percent of the DRI is good insurance against harmful deficiencies.
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