Many vegetarians wonder if gaining muscle is possible on a vegetarian diet? The short answer is yes, it is possible to be vegetarian and gain muscle.
The biggest advantage of eating meat is that the protein is higher quality, which means that more protein per gm of meat consumed is used to make muscle, than compared to a vegetarian source like plant protein. That being said, we're here to show you how to gain muscle on a veggie diet.
There are many plant based vegetarians protein sources, like beans, almonds, yogurt etc. Besides providing protein, they are also packed with fiber, antioxidants and healthy carbohydrates that further enhance muscle growth and repair.
In terms of protein delivery to muscle, plant based protein is of lower quality, so vegetarians need to eat more protein based food to gain muscle. If you can eat eggs, egg protein is of the highest quality and are packed with vitamins.
Even with eggs, its hard to deliver a large amount of protein, so a really good source of vegetarian high quality protein is whey protein. Whey Protein supplement is extracted from milk, and is even used in nutrition drinks like Bournvita and Complan. Get a high quality whey supplement. Mix it with yogurt, milk, juice or water, and it provides a really effective dose of protein for a pre-workout snack or a post workout snack.
Even Bollywood's latest muscle hunk, Shahid Kapoor has a vegetarian diet. We hear that he has 3 protein shakes a day. Waiting for confirmation from Shahid on that :)