9 tips to nail your protein goals as a plant-based strength athlete
A common concern for strength athletes who choose to follow a predominantly plant-based lifestyle or a vegetarian or vegan diet is their protein intake.
Protein is crucial for strength athletes and gym-goers because it’s the building block of muscle tissue. When you lift weights, tiny tears develop in muscle fibres. Protein helps repair those tears, which builds bigger, stronger muscles.
Proteins also play a vital role in many biological processes, including enzyme and hormone production and function, metabolism regulation, immune response, and cell development and function, which are all important for muscle growth and recovery.
The complete story
The challenge with plant-based eating is that the proteins provided are generally incomplete, which means they don’t contain all nine essential amino acids (EAAs) in a single source. The EAAs are:
- Histidine
- Isoleucine
- Leucine
- Lysine
- Methionine
- Phenylalanine
- Threonine
- Tryptophan
- Valine
In contrast, a whole or complete protein contains all nine EAAs in adequate proportions, providing a complete amino acid profile. However, there are a few plant-based sources that are considered complete.
Understanding the essentials
This issue is most pronounced among vegans, who exclude all forms of animal-derived food sources (vegetarians often include eggs, milk and other dairy products in their diet).
Strength athletes need to get all the EAAs from their diet because the bodies cannot produce them on their own.
Without the full spectrum of EAAs, the body cannot efficiently build and maintain muscle mass, which can hinder your progress and limit your strength gains.
Fortunately, the solution is not complicated, if you follow these tips:
1. Combine and conquer
Few plant-based protein sources offer a complete amino acid profile, and you need to get these amino acids from your diet because your body cannot produce them.
Fortunately, ample protein sources are available to those following a plant-based diet. The trick is knowing which incomplete protein sources – known as complementary proteins – to combine to create a complete amino acid profile.
This is an effective way to meet your daily protein requirements when you don’t include animal-derived protein in your diet, which is a complete protein source.
2. Consider derived protein
Another challenge that confronts plant eaters is the issue of derived protein. Active individuals require at least 1.6g of protein per kilogram per day (g/kg/day)¹. That means a 70kg person needs 112g/day.
You can often achieve that target with smaller animal protein portions than with plant foods.
For instance, a 100g steak contains significantly more protein than 100g of black beans. Getting the same 22g serving of protein would require a 250g serving of black beans.
These comparisons also emphasise the disparity in food volume between meat and plant-based proteins:
- 27g of protein = 100g venison or 300g chickpeas
- 24g of protein = 100g lamb or 100g cashews + 100g lentils + 100g spinach
- 22g of protein = 100g salmon or 100g almonds (that’s 3.5x the recommended serving)
- 10g of protein = 100g Greek yoghurt or 200g cooked quinoa
That means, depending on your plant protein sources, you might need to eat more plant foods to meet your daily protein intake requirements.
3. Support digestion
Digestibility is another important consideration. Animal-based proteins like whey, eggs, milk and beef are highly bioavailable, which means a large proportion of their protein content is digested and absorbed – 99%, 97%, 95% and 90%, respectively.
But even though you need to eat more plant food to meet your protein requirements, your body tends to absorb significantly less plant protein.
For example, black beans have a digestibility of approximately 75% due to the fibre and lectins, which can inhibit the absorption of some of the protein and other key nutrients.
As such, this property can increase the total volume of plant-based foods we need to consume to derive sufficient protein to meet our daily requirements.
For this reason, it can be beneficial to add a digestive enzyme supplement to your daily plan to improve absorption.
4. Plan your diet
Take the time to determine your daily protein requirements and do the research required to meet your needs.
Get to know the plant foods with the highest protein contents and broadest amino acid profiles and make these the foundation of your diet.
Consulting with a professional like a dietitian is highly beneficial, especially for active individuals who are trying to transition to a predominantly plant-based or meat-free diet.
5. Prioritise protein-rich foods
Building your plant-based diet around a selection of core foods that are rich in protein is a sensible way to meet your daily protein needs from a plant-based diet.
Ideal sources include beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, edamame, nuts and seeds, and whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, and oats. Nutritional yeast is also a good source of protein and B vitamins.
6. Spread your intake
While a focus on constructing a complete amino acid profile from complementary proteins is vital, you do not need to get every EAA at every meal.
Research² shows that eating complementary plant proteins throughout the day is sufficient to provide the body with the amino acids it needs, provided the gap between meals is relatively short, at around 3 hours.
This is possible because the body stores amino acids (mainly lysine)1 in an amino acid pool that can be used as needed.
7. Supplement your diet
Plant protein supplements offer a convenient way to boost your daily protein intake and ensure you get a complete amino acid profile.
Supplement brands like Primal manufacture these products with multiple plant protein sources to ensure you get all the nutritional support you need from your preferred plant-based product.
For instance, Primal Plant Based Protein and Primal Plant Gainer contain a blend of pea protein isolate, rice protein concentrate, pumpkin seed protein, and chickpea protein to deliver a complete amino acid profile.
8. Fortify your diet
Plant protein supplements are also versatile ingredients that you can leverage to boost the protein content in your meals. For example, you can Primal Plant Based Protein to your morning oats, mix it into dairy-free yoghurt, or add it to smoothies for a protein boost.
9. Track your intake
Once you have calculated your requirements and developed an eating plan, monitor your protein intake to ensure you’re meeting your individual daily needs.
Keeping a detailed record of all the plant-based foods you consume throughout the day in a food journal, including portion sizes, will help you identify potential gaps in your protein intake and areas for improvement.
You can also utilise apps to track your meals and calculate your daily protein intake. These apps often have extensive food databases, including many plant-based options, and can provide detailed nutritional information.
References:
- Wu G. Dietary protein intake and human health. Food Funct. 2016 Mar;7(3):1251-65. doi: 10.1039/c5fo01530h. PMID: 26797090.
- Hertzler, S. R., Lieblein-Boff, J. C., Weiler, M., & Allgeier, C. (2020). Plant Proteins: Assessing Their Nutritional Quality and Effects on Health and Physical Function. Nutrients, 12(12), 3704. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123704.