Vegetarian Muscle Building Foods - Building Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet

Vegetarian Muscle Building Foods

Building Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet : There is a strong misconception that vegetarians cannot build good amount of muscles, but there have been many bodybuilders, sportsperson, athletes, and celebrities who have proven this wrong. To build a good amount of muscles we have to supply our body with proteins, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.

Today, in this article I am going to share with you the top 10 muscle building foods and I am sure that by eating them and working out, nobody can stop you from building muscles.

So without any further delay let's get started.

The first of the top 10 muscle building foods is

legumes

Kidney beans, chana, chhole, all of them come under the family of legumes. Legumes are one of the most versatile and nutritious food products available to us.They are high protein vegetarian foods.

They all have almost the same amount of nutritional value.

1 cup of legumes consists of :

40 grams of complex carbohydrates

18 grams of protein

16 grams of carbohydrate and 0.88, that is negligible amount of fats, they are also rich in vitamins, minerals, folic acid, magnesium and potassium and other nutrients.

Legumes are one of the best sources of protein. It also contains insoluble and soluble fibres, which helps in easy absorption of food and digestion. Only problem with the protein present in legumes is that it is incomplete, as it doesn't contain all the nine essential amino acids but this problem gets solved when we mix it with the next food on the list.

2-  Brown rice

The amino acids that are absent in legumes are present in brown rice. If combined, brown rice and legumes form a complete protein. Unlike white rice, brown rice consists of complex carbohydrates, whereas white rice consists of simple carbohydrates. Brown rice also has dietary fibres. It is rich in protein and has many other micro nutrients, which are absent in white rice. If you are really serious about building muscles, I recommend you to switch from white rice to brown rice.

Nuts

Cashew, almond, walnut, etc nuts are rich in polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids. Walnuts in particular, are a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids and thus it can be a good replacement to fish oil. You should consume 2 servings of nuts per day, one in the morning for breakfast and other before bed before bed, that is because walnuts are slow digesting and they will provide you energy throughout the night.

Milk

Milk protein is a combination of two high-quality proteins that are whey protein and casein protein. These proteins are considered to be the finest proteins in terms of quality.

As milk is high in saturated fatty acids, I would recommend you to use toned or double toned milk. To build muscles you can have 500 ml to 750 ml of milk everyday. One glass of milk in the morning and one glass of milk before bed along with nuts.

Curd, which is also a milk product is also a great muscle building option and it is high in protein. You can have one serving of curd with lunch daily.

Fruits

Fruits like apple, mango, banana, etc are very essential if you want to build muscles. Fruits consists of vitamins and minerals which are essential for your body to build muscles. Fruits consist of fruit sugar which provides energy to our body. They also consist of dietary fibre, which helps in easy absorption of protein foods which you have eaten throughout the day.

Fruits like banana, which is rich in potassium helps in post workout recovery, if eaten after the workout, and it also replenishes the muscle glycogen stores.

Whole wheat

Whole wheat in any form like roti, daliya, pasta, or any other form is an excellent source of carbohydrates.

So if you ever have to choose between white rice or whole wheat roti, always choose whole wheat roti.

Whole wheat daliya with low fat milk is a great breakfast option.

Paneer

Paneer is amongst the best protein sources available to us. But because paneer is high in saturated fats, one should not consume more than 100 to 200 grams of paneer per day. But to overcome this problem I would recommend you to make paneer at home with low fat milk.

All you have to do is to boil the milk and sprinkle some lemon juice over it. Paneer will automatically get separated from the milk. In this way you can make low fat and high protein paneer at home.

Raw vegetables

Raw vegetables like carrot, capsicum, cucumber, beetroot, etc are exceptional source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibres.

Whichever type of diet you are following, if you don't consume at least one serving of raw vegetables daily then consider your diet incomplete. They are rich in fibre, which helps in digestion and which ultimately helps in cutting down the fat from your body. Antioxidants present in them, protects your body from free radicals and keeps you away from diseases.

So you should ensure that you have at least one serving of raw vegetables along with your lunch or dinner daily.

Sweet potato

Sweet potato is also known as powerhouse of energy. Sweet potato or shakarkandi is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates. It burns slowly and provides constant energy to our body.

100 grams of boiled sweet potato is one of the best options for a pre workout meal.

Flaxseed

Flaxseed, which is also known as alsi in Hindi, is an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids. So if you don't consume fish oil or you find it costly then you can replace it with flax seeds.

You can sprinkle them on whole wheat daliya or add them in your milkshake.

Oats

Oats are one of the favourite foods of bodybuilders, as they are high in complex carbohydrates, soluble and insoluble fibre, biotin, thiamine vitamin C, magnesium, and zinc. They enhance your performance while working out, if eaten before workout.

The best time to eat oats is in breakfast or in pre workout meal.

Honorable mention

Whey Protein

It is one of the fastest digesting proteins. It is extracted from milk and it is a vegetarian source of protein. Whey protein in water is one of the best post workout drinks. So if you are vegetarian hoping to get fast muscle gain results, then consider investing in whey protein. It is completely safe to use whey protein.

Soya chunks

Soya chunks is a highly cheap and very high in protein vegetarian source. Only thing you need to consider while having soy chunks is moderation, because eating soy chunks in high amount can lead to an increase in oestrogen and decrease in testosterone hormone. Therefore, you should consume 20-50 grams of soya chunks per day, not more than that.

CONCLUSION
Vegetarian Muscle Building Foods - Building Muscle on a Vegetarian Diet :

So include these foods in your diet so that you can get all the nutrients required to build a nice body.