9 Tips For High Protein Low Carb Vegetarian Foods For Muscle Building

The benefits of High protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding aren’t hidden.

The new trend is getting popular over the course. Even the pros are turning to clean eating and a high protein vegetarian diet.

But, why?

Generally, high protein vegetarian diet plan for bodybuilding is looked down upon. However, they can supply a sufficient amount of protein for your bulking demands without harming animals.

With organizations like Peta creating awareness, more people are going vegan and vegetarian to reduce animal cruelty.

This is directly benefiting vegetarian bulking diet and vegan diet for bodybuilding.

Key factors about veg protein diet for muscle gain:

• provides you sufficient amount of protein
• receive maximum clean protein
• Saves from animal cruelty
• Vegan proteins are nutrient-rich increasing your nutrient intake

In short, a high-protein vegetarian diet for bodybuilding is the perfect addition to elevating your fitness and gains.

We will discuss the top High protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding.

First, let’s know the necessity of a high protein diet in the first place.

Why Do You Need Protein?

Protein is the building block to muscle gain.

Insufficient protein intake can hinder your muscle gaining results to a greater extent.

It becomes extremely necessary that your diet involves a great quantity of protein in your diet. Obviously, it provides the nourishment important for bigger gains.

But, How does protein benefits your muscle-building goals?

This is the most skeptical question. Let’s find out the evidence.

Muscle building involves Muscle Repair and Regeneration

Muscle building depends on two factors.

• Weight training
• The protein present in your diet

Let’s understand the relation.

When you lift weights, you develop many small muscle tears of varying ranges.

While the resting periods, your body naturally responds to the damage. Eventually, this leads to muscle repair and regeneration.

When your body heals the muscle damage, it makes it bigger and gives volume. This is how you grow bigger.

Nonetheless, the process of muscle gains entirely depends on muscle repairs. This would be only possible if you have enough protein in your diet.

In others words, having the right high protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding is mandatory.

Still, how to obtain sufficient protein out of vegetarian diet for muscle gain. That’s a tricky question, but we have answered that for you.

How to Get Enough Protein On a Vegetarian Diet?

When it comes to protein intake, vegans and vegetarians’ struggle is real.

Still, it isn’t entirely impossible.

You just have to really on a wide variety of protein sources in high amounts and expand throughout your daily diet.

In fact, following such a diet supply a full list of essential amino acids.

Newer plant-based proteins powders comprise isolated proteins including soy, rice, or pea.

Not only this delivers the maximum protein amount but also improves digestibility. So, having them as post-workout shakes will only benefit you.

The best part about high protein low carb vegetarian foods bodybuilding is their additional benefits.

Indeed, you receive more fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants when you include good sources of protein for vegetarians muscle building.

The Best Sources for Vegetarian High Protein Foods

In general, people think a vegetarian bodybuilding diet plan is bad.

According to them, there are sufficient natural protein sources. However, this is completely wrong.

Indeed, enough sources of veg protein foods for bodybuilding to fill up your grocery cart.

The following chart offers further clarity in terms of nutritional value:

All your doubts about High protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding must have been erased.

Certainly, with sufficient vegetarian protein sources for muscle building, you won’t find it hard to get max protein for your diet.

Next, let’s check out some proven tips regarding a high protein diet plan for muscle gain vegetarian.

Tips for High Protein Low Carb Vegetarian Foods for Bodybuilding

In this section, we have shared the top best protein sources for plant-based eaters. Usually, these works for both meat-eaters and vegetarians.

Still, vegetarians need to have a closer glance to maintain adequate protein intake. This will only determine the possibility of jacking up lean muscles.

Here, we’ve our tips on the best veg protein food for muscle gain…

1. Dermine your protein requirement

Protein is of much importance, but the daily need is actually quite lesser than your assumption.

How to calculate your protein requirements?

Just multiply your body weight by 0.36. Whatever the answer is, make sure you prepare the muscle gain diet plan vegetarian to meet your protein demands.

2. Have different types of proteins throughout the day

For maximum muscle growth, you need to have 20-30 grams of protein every meal.

Surprisingly, vegan food for muscle growth gives a powerful punch of proteins. The top option includes:

• Beans & Lentils

Bean and lentils are nutritious providing 15 grams of protein per cup.

Cook it and have with tacos or tortilla.

Instead, prepare the famous Greek Lentil Power Bowl or lentils in a Moroccan Lentil Soup. Or, you can search for other delicious beans and lentil recipes.

• Dairy products

A glass of milk offers almost 9-10g of protein. On the contrary, half a cup of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese delivers almost 12-15 grams of protein.

You can prepare a smoothie for post-workout fuelling using yogurt or milk.

• Soy products

For a vegan diet to build lean muscle, soy milk offers more quantities of proteins than regular dairy milk.

Other soy foods including tofu and tempeh contain around 10-12 grams of protein per cup.

Try different tofu and tempeh recipe to receive maximum protein for your vegetarian diet plan for muscle gain.

• Whole grains

Whole grains not only contain plenty of proteins but have other beneficial nutrients as well.

Quinoa has the highest protein content among all grains.

• whole wheat pasta contains8 grams per cup
• whole wheat bread comprises 5 grams per slice
• old-fashioned or steel-cut oats encompasses 5 grams per ½ cup

Quinoa has a great base for making a salad. You can also try different recipes to attain the maximum benefit of quinoa.

• Nuts & Seeds

Nuts and seeds as well offer a great number of nutrients along with plenty of proteins.

In fact, they make a great addition to salads, smoothies, and yogurt. Some top option includes

• almonds (6 grams per ounce)
• hemp seeds (10 grams per 3 Tablespoons)
• peanut butter (4 grams per Tablespoon)

You can try different recipes of High protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding.

This will contribute to your daily protein required and maximize gains.

3. Plan your diet to include maximum protein

Having protein from a wide variety of sources also offers you different nutrients.

Here’s how you can plan your diet…

• Breakfast: a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts and a glass of milk,
• Lunch: a black bean quesadilla for,
• Dinner: a salad with hemp seeds, tofu, and a hard-boiled egg.

The vegetarian food for muscle strength provides you almost 60 grams of protein!

If you include snacks like Greek yogurt and a peanut butter sandwich, your protein consumption would jump to 100g.

This is enough to meet the protein requirement of a 150-pound person.

4. Don’t be afraid of carbs

Proteins aren’t the sole source for bulking, but carbs are equally essential.

It provides you with the necessary energy flow for maximum bulking.

In fact, limiting your carbs intake will affect your performance at the gym affecting your ability to gain muscles. In general, 45-60% of your diet should be carbs.

5. Have complementary proteins

Amino acids are the foundational blocks of protein.

Some amino acids are present in your body as a result of natural processes. However, you need to have certain food to obtain others.

These are called essential amino acids.

There are two types of protein-

• Complete Protein: It contains the 9 essential amino acids (the human body doesn’t produce them)
• Incomplete Protein: These don’t contain the 9 amino acids.

Mostly these plant-based proteins are incomplete. This excludes quinoa, soy, hemp, and chia. In contrast, all animal proteins are complete.

Since most vegetarian options like beans, lentils, and brown rice are incomplete protein.

This makes it necessary to have them with other options to make a complete protein.

You can pair two or more vegetarian protein sources to receive essential amino acids. It is called complementary proteins.

Here are a few considerations:

• Beans and rice
• Lentil and barley
• Hummus and pita
• Oats and almonds
• Nut butter and whole-grain bread

These were a few considerations for a Vegetarian diet for weight loss and muscle gain.

6. Change your workouts

Regardless of the best vegetarian diet for muscle gain, muscle building is impossible without workouts.

You need to lift weight or perform another form of strength training.

If you prefer cardio workouts, you need to add some strength or bodyweight exercises to your session.

For beginners, a circuit class, personal trainer, or YouTube videos can help.

7. Don’t skip iron

Different High protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding have an impressive amount of iron.

However, plant-based sources of iron don’t easily absorb animal sources.

The mineral plays a crucial role in transporting oxygen and making RBC. Insufficient iron intake results in a huge impact on oxygen-carrying RBC. Eventually, it may result in iron deficiency anemia.

In other words, look for rich iron sources like legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds, and leafy greens.

8. Include snacks in your diet

A study found that a common American has as many snacks as meals daily.

Indeed most of them are loaded with carbs with zero to insufficient proteins.

In short, look for healthy snacks having more protein and fewer carbs.

Here’s a bit of a clue:

• Chocolate milk
• Loaded oatmeal
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Roasted chickpeas
• Chia seed pudding
• Hummus and veggies
• Guacamole & veggies
• Nut butter with sliced fruit or veggie sticks
• Cottage cheese on a whole-wheat English muffin

These healthy snacks fulfill your appetite while offering you more proteins and less carb.

Of course, the best part is you don’t have to starve while fulfilling your bulking goals.

9. Track your intake

Usually, people skip on tracking proteins and calories intake. This makes it challenging to track progress.

You can use any IOS or Android App and track your food consumption. Obviously, this gets you a detailed idea of your diet.

When it comes to High protein low carb vegetarian foods for bodybuilding, these tips appear to be of great help.

For beginners, the above guide can help you in the long run for your bulking goal.

Moreover, for a greater idea of a high protein veg diet plan for muscle gain, check out our five-day meal plan.

5-day High Protein Vegetarian Diet Plan for Bodybuilding

Calorie and macronutrient consumption vary to a large extent in terms of goals and individual.

Here is our 5-day vegetarian bodybuilding diet meal plan that helps:

Day 1

• Breakfast: vegetables on vegan tortillas and breakfast burritos containing tofu scramble
• Lunch: quinoa and black bean “meat” balls over whole-grain vegan pasta
• Dinner: vegan chili with kidney beans, tomatoes, tofu mince, and red lentils
• Snack: oatmeal snack bars and peanut butter

Day 2

• Breakfast:  vegan protein powder, protein oatmeal made with oats, soy milk, banana, and nut butter
• Lunch: coconut-tofu-curry stir-fry made with soba noodles, tofu, and edamame
• Dinner: teriyaki tempeh with quinoa and broccoli
• Snack: mock tuna salad sandwich

Day 3

• Breakfast: protein pancakes prepared with vegan protein powder and whole grain flour with toppings of your preference
• Lunch: lentil loaf prepared with kidney beans, lentils, veggies, and nutritious yeast
• Dinner: sweet-and-sour stir-fry made with tofu, vegetables, and rice noodles
• Snack: strawberry-banana protein shake

Day 4

• Breakfast: hummus toast prepared with sprouted grain bread, hemp seeds, hummus, and sunflower seeds
• Lunch: vegan burrito bowl containing beans, rice, and mock taco meat
• Dinner: vegan sloppy joe made with veggies and lentils
• Snack: chocolate-peanut-butter protein shake

Day 5

• Breakfast: chocolate-peanut-butter smoothie bowl made with peanut butter, bananas, vegan protein powder, almond milk, and cocoa powder
• Lunch: vegan pasta, tofu stir-fry with additional firm tofu, beans, red lentils, onion, celery, and spinach
• Dinner: sweet potato fries with a black-bean veggie burger
• Snack: roasted chickpeas along with red pepper flakes

The vegetarian diet plan for bodybuilding was for reference.

Instead, of the more recipe, you can try a different veg diet for fat loss and muscle gain.

Lastly, we have shared our overview of the popular diet plan.

Try Out mouth-watering vegan recipes for muscle building

The bottom line

Over time, vegetarian and vegan diets have risen in popularity.

In the bodybuilding and fitness community, this trend is further going to make big.

While conventional bodybuilding diet offers a huge amount of animal protein, the vegetarian high protein diet isn’t left behind.

In fact, it offers sufficient protein through natural foods while adding other nutrients to your diet.

Not only it serves bodybuilding goals, but also offers various health benefits. However, you need to keep the tips shared in your head to get most of it and avoid drawbacks.

Loved reading the blog? Share with your fitness circle now!

Also Read:

7 Healthy & Tasty Junk Food Items For Gaining Muscle Mass

10 Most Common Bodybuilding Myths Debunked | Check The Facts!