How To Be A Vegetarian Bodybuilder

Surprisingly, being a vegetarian bodybuilder isn'tVegetarians face a challenge here because the
really as difficult as many people automaticallymost common source of protein is meat. Okay,
assume it is. In some ways it may be easierso it's not actually that much of a challenge.
because adhering to a real vegetarian diet takes aAccording to the Protein Digestibility Corrected
lot of focus and discipline, two things that willAmino Acid Score, soy is equal to whey and
greatly help you in the gym.superior to beef in protein content. Soy provides
First, we should define our terms because thereall 8 essential amino acids required by your body
are three basic groups of people who considerfor growing and repairing muscles. Vegetarians
themselves "vegetarians." I refer to these threewould be well-advised to consider soy as a
groups as pseudo-vegetarians, meat vegetariansprimary protein source.
and vegetarians. The pseudo vegetarian avoidsThe really good news is that soy is also a
beef, chicken and poultry but will sometimes eatfantastic source of glutamine which many
fish and has no problem with other animalbodybuilders already take in supplemental form.
products. A meat vegetarian avoids all meat. ASoy is available in many different forms such as
vegetarian avoids any foods (or products intofu, miso, soy powder and soy milk. Soy milk is
general) that contain any amount of animaldefinitely something to have on hand as it can be
product.used to replace cow's milk in recipes, which will
This article is aimed directly at the truehelp expand your basic food options.
vegetarians, who avoid all animal products. TheAlmonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pistachio
meat-vegetarians and pseudo-vegetarians will gainnuts are all excellent sources of both protein and
useful information as well, but true vegetariansfat; the vegetarian needs to work on getting
have very specialized needs during bodybuilding.enough good fats as well, so with the above
Since there is no difference in biological manner inexamples you can go nuts...was that a pun?
which a vegetarian and a carnivore actually buildYou can also add a tablespoon or so of flaxseed
muscles, we don't need to go into any specificoil, as flax seed is one of the very best sources
exercise differences. Instead, we'll be focusing onfor the essential fatty acid alpha linolenic acid.
dietary issues.Finally, vegetarians need to ensure that they get
The first challenge goes back to the way musclesenough vitamins and minerals. This can be done in
build in our bodies. We exercise our muscles,multivitamin form although most of the
which does microscopic damage to the tissue andmeal-replacement shakes which are so popular
then our bodies repair the damage with biggeramong bodybuilders already contain vitamins and
and stronger tissue while we recuperate. Tominerals galore. The only additional vitamin to look
effectively do this, our bodies need to use proteinfor is B12, which is generally an animal product
in massive amounts, which is why bodybuildersbased vitamin.
increase their protein intake.