Vegan Diet Builds Muscle Just as Well as Meat, Randomised Trial Finds

A high-protein vegan diet builds muscle just as well as a diet with meat, a randomised trial from the University of Exeter has found.

In the first phase, 16 young adults spent three days on an omnivorous or fully vegan diet while training one leg, and muscle protein building rates were the same. In the second phase, 22 young adults trained hard five days a week for 10 weeks on a high-protein omnivorous or vegan diet, the vegan protein coming mostly from mycoprotein (the fungi-based protein in Quorn). The vegan group gained 3.1kg of lean mass against 2.6kg for the meat-eaters, both groups grew their thigh muscles by 8.3%, and strength rose by similar amounts. The study is published in The Journal of Nutrition.

Dr. Alistair Monteyne, who ran the trial, said in the University of Exeter release:

Our study demonstrates that mycoprotein is comparable to animal proteins in terms of its ability to facilitate increases in muscle mass and strength in young adults who are regularly engaging in resistance training.

Hit your protein target and the gains come, plants or no plants.

It backs up the 2021 trial showing vegans build muscle and strength just as well as meat-eaters, and the stage results of Team PlantBuilt, who won 18 medals at the Mr. America Festival.

No meat, no problem!