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Oh crap! I think im becoming a Vegan!!

13

Replies

  • Posts: 316 Member
    I have been cutting down and almost out most meats... and I do feel better....I agree with what was said above... we don't have to "be" anything... but if it makes us feel better...that is wonderful.

    Less meat seems to be working for me....so that's my direction!! :happy:

    Pamela June
  • Posts: 1,501 Member
  • Posts: 28,072 Member
    ProteinCompare.jpg

    well whey is at like 11 for leucine

    And how much leucine do you need for muscle protein synthesis?

    No-one is saying that dairy or meat does not give a better profile - just that you can get enough EAAs through a vegan diet.
  • Posts: 1,501 Member
    I think pea and rice protein are very high in leucine
    EDit: missed that it said nutribiotic rice lol
  • Posts: 1,501 Member

    And how much leucine do you need for muscle protein synthesis?

    No-one is saying that dairy or meat does not give a better profile - just that you can get enough EAAs through a vegan diet.

    They are talking more about optimal with leucine bolus now for muscle retention. It is still being studied and has yet to be confirmed on human subjects
  • Posts: 357 Member
    I went vegan 3 1/2 years ago to lower my cholesterol and lose weight. My surprising bonus was that my stomach no longer hurt. I thought belly pain meant your food was digesting. I lived my whole live with chronic stomach pain and never knew it wasn't normal. Now I am pain-free and happily vegan.

    Congratulations on your lifestyle changes. Every little bit helps!
  • Posts: 2,839 Member
    I never thought I would, but within the last few weeks I started cutting way down on my meat / fish / poultry. I got to the point of going 3 - 4 days. Now I have started cutting out dairy this week, and actually I feel better than I have in quite a while!

    My BP usually runs around 140/95 most of the time even with the meds I take, today I checked it - 111/65! I don't think I have ever seen my numbers that low, and of course I am losing weight too so cool.

    So maybe I should really take up the Vegan thing?? Any thoughts?

    I think you mean vegetarian.

    vegetarian is the diet. vegan is the lifestyle (ie no leather, cosmetics, etc ... )
  • Posts: 132 Member
    I find myself kind of drifting towards vegetarian. I just had meat today for the first time in 2 weeks and my stomach is not happy!!
    I feel better when I don't eat meat...I wouldn't consider myself a vegetarian though because if I ever do get the craving for meat (which has pretty much gone away) I'll eat it.
  • Posts: 231 Member
    I've been a vegetarian for 42 years and a vegan for 2. "Protein" is a blanket term that is usually overused and misunderstood. What every vegetarian needs to understand are Amino Acids. You must know which foods, and which combinations of foods, have complete amino acid profiles. Vegetarians need to focus not so much on the quantity of the protein, but the quality of it, which is why a vegetarian diet should be extremely varied with a rotation of amino-acid rich foods.
  • Posts: 739 Member

    I think you mean vegetarian.

    vegetarian is the diet. vegan is the lifestyle (ie no leather, cosmetics, etc ... )

    No. Vegetarian means no meat (seafood & poultry included guys) vegan means no dairy OR meat. SOME vegans go beyond that and do NO animal products at all (honey, leather etc).
  • Posts: 28,072 Member

    but how much?
    its like saying there is fat in X. it only has .5g of fat

    I am not going to go through every single plant based protein source. However, lets take one example.

    Soybeans. They would be complete except for Methionine and Cycteine.

    You need 42mg/kg/day of leucine per the RDA (which I admit probably understates optimal requirement, but for the sake of math I am going with it). So for a 150lb person, that would be 2,863mg.

    Soybeans have 0.57g in 1 cup (97g). So you would need 5 cups = 487g = 395 calories. Not bad, even if you double it to account for the RDA being too low.


    I am using soybeans as an example - there are many plant based sources that have more.


    To make up for the methionine and cycteine, you can have oats and broccoli in your diet.
  • Posts: 1,501 Member

    I am not going to go through every single plant based protein source. However, lets take one example.

    Soybeans. They would be complete except for Methionine and Cycteine.

    You need 42mg/kg/day of leucine per the RDA (which I admit probably understates optimal requirement, but for the sake of math I am going with it). So for a 150lb person, that would be 2,863mg.

    Soybeans have 0.57g in 1 cup (97g). So you would need 5 cups = 487g = 395 calories. Not bad, even if you double it to account for the RDA being too low.


    I am using soybeans as an example - there are many plant based sources that have more.


    To make up for the methionine and cycteine, you can have oats and broccoli in your diet.

    Yea you are right. I keep forgetting this is not a bodybuilding forum tbh.
  • Posts: 28,072 Member

    Yea you are right. I keep forgetting this is not a bodybuilding forum tbh.

    Sorry, you lost me on that one =)


    ETA: to be clear, while I am a vegetarian, I do not advocate being a vegan or vegetarian for health or body composition reasons. Animal based proteins *are* better from the perspective of amino acid profiles and 'protein bang for your calorie buck'.
  • Posts: 22,281 Member
    I never thought I would, but within the last few weeks I started cutting way down on my meat / fish / poultry. I got to the point of going 3 - 4 days. Now I have started cutting out dairy this week, and actually I feel better than I have in quite a while!

    My BP usually runs around 140/95 most of the time even with the meds I take, today I checked it - 111/65! I don't think I have ever seen my numbers that low, and of course I am losing weight too so cool.

    So maybe I should really take up the Vegan thing?? Any thoughts?

    Just to let you know there is something between meat eater and vegan. IT's called vegetarian. Might wanna try that first, cause I've been it, and I can tell you first hand, it's not for chumps. You have to mean it. A few weeks isn't really long enough to know if you can do it. Do it right too when you decide and look online for info so you get enough of everything you need. It's not just as simple as cutting out things, you have to know what to add in to get all your macro's met.
  • Posts: 1,501 Member

    Sorry, you lost me on that one =)
    I think I accidentally deleted the rest of it.

    Leucine wouldn't be as big of a factor for the average person on a forum such as this. On a bodybuilding forum they focus more on the amino acid complex to optimize muscle building and retention of higher than average muscle.

    Layne talks about maximization of MPS with leucine and I know it is still controversial.
    he talked about 3g per meal which is not needed for the average person.

    Since this isn't a full out bodybuilding forum it isn't necessary for the normal person to focus on such a thing.
    http://agro-food-industry.teknoscienze.com/pdf/norton_AF2_09.PDF

  • Spirulina is an excellent source of iron. and protein. you can buy it in tablets

    Thank you! This is one thing I have not tried yet.
  • Posts: 22,281 Member

    No. Vegetarian means no meat (seafood & poultry included guys) vegan means no dairy OR meat. SOME vegans go beyond that and do NO animal products at all (honey, leather etc).
    Yeah that's why I stopped at vegetarian and didn't go full vegan. I already knew I was gonna miss grandma's leather sandwiches on picnic's and school field trips.
  • Posts: 707 Member
    I tried it for 6 months and I liked it, but never felt noticably better or lost any weight because of it (unlike the young lady in the office next to mine who became all willowy as a vegan). I actually gained several pounds, somehow, which was discouraging.... But it did kinda change my perception of ordinary ol' vegetarians, as in "You eat eggs and cheese and think you're not eating meat?" Animal products are, ahem, the PRODUCTS of ANIMALS.

    But then my son came back from school and he's a meat-eater, so.
  • Posts: 486 Member
    Oh crap is right. 500cc's of ribeye, stat.
  • Posts: 28,072 Member
    I think I accidentally deleted the rest of it.

    Leucine wouldn't be as big of a factor for the average person on a forum such as this. On a bodybuilding forum they focus more on the amino acid complex to optimize muscle building and retention of higher than average muscle.

    Layne talks about maximization of MPS with leucine and I know it is still controversial.
    he talked about 3g per meal which is not attainable for the average person.

    Since this isn't a full out bodybuilding forum it isn't necessary for the normal person to focus on such a thing.
    http://agro-food-industry.teknoscienze.com/pdf/norton_AF2_09.PDF

    That 3g rings a bell. How could you not get that based on the math I just did? Obviously, it will be much harder, especially at a deficit, but it is do-able. However, as you say, it's less relevant for the more recreational lifter/dieter.
  • Posts: 28,072 Member
    I tried it for 6 months and I liked it, but never felt noticably better or lost any weight because of it (unlike the young lady in the office next to mine who became all willowy as a vegan). I actually gained several pounds, somehow, which was discouraging.... But it did kinda change my perception of ordinary ol' vegetarians, as in "You eat eggs and cheese and think you're not eating meat?" Animal products are, ahem, the PRODUCTS of ANIMALS.

    But then my son came back from school and he's a meat-eater, so.

    Sorry, put your complaint into the Vegetarian Society, the Oxford dictionary and others as to the definition of a vegetarian.
  • Posts: 42 Member
    I've been doing a cleanse since Sunday and I have to say I don't miss the meat nor have I ever felt better in my life...don't get me wrong, no ethical issues here...park a cow next to me and i'll naw on it BUT....I'm seeing a side to myself I didn't think i'd ever see. I'm loving how I feel and think this could end up being a long term thing
  • Posts: 1,501 Member

    That 3g rings a bell. How could you not get that based on the math I just did? Obviously, it will be much harder, especially at a deficit, but it is do-able. However, as you say, it's less relevant for the more recreational lifter/dieter.

    yea that's what I meant to get at. My mind has been all over the place. since that's like 500 calories for 3g of leucine. where if you consume 1 shake(as you know) its 120 fo 3g of leucine. Then after that you can pull a wider ranged diet from other sources.

    I don't count leucine anymore to be honest. I got lazy ever since I swapped to casein and I dumped 200g of leucine in there and mixed it up. LOL
  • Posts: 241 Member
    I went vegan two years ago after watching the movie " Forks over Knives". Best decision of my life. To date I've lost 69lbs and counting. Within a few weeks of making the changes, my BP dropped and consistently stayed around 110/65, I no longer needed asthma medication and my skin issues all cleared. I no longer have ANY health issues.

    Take it one day at a time.
  • Posts: 1,501 Member

    Sorry, put your complaint into the Vegetarian Society, the Oxford dictionary and others as to the definition of a vegetarian.

    but honestly I like conversations like this. I don't get this on the bb.com forums as much, this is because there are not as many opposing views. for example I just learned that vegans can still get optimal leucine from rice protein. even though bioavailability is 78. I don't think it is really that bad.
    or a hypothyroidic person should avoid soy.

    themoreyouknow.jpg
  • Posts: 28,072 Member
    yea that's what I meant to get at. My mind has been all over the place. since that's like 500 calories for 3g of leucine. where if you consume 1 shake(as you know) its 120 fo 3g of leucine. Then after that you can pull a wider ranged diet from other sources.

    I don't count leucine anymore to be honest. I got lazy ever since I swapped to casein and I dumped 200g of leucine in there and mixed it up. LOL

    I don't worry about it myself considering I drink 4+ cups of milk a day. One cup has 0.8g leucine in it. Add that to all the other food/drinks etc, and I am pretty much covered. Plus I usually have a scoop or whey every day as well as a cup of greek yoghurt (that is pretty good at 1.4g a cup). I would be much more concerned if I did not have copious amounts of dairy however.
  • Posts: 97 Member
    How will you get your protein?????

    ;)
  • Posts: 1,192 Member

    To point out..I know I will ask because there are many people that don't think about what they will need to supplement their protein. A lot of vegetarians I've come across admit to that mistake and will even ask this question themselves of new people to get them thinking about being aware of their complete nutritional needs.
    Understandable. However (being devil's advocate), there are tons of people who eat meat but don't get "appropriate" amounts of protein (and get less than a lot of vegetarians/vegans because they tend to actually pay attention to it), but no one ever asks them about their protein intake.
  • Posts: 1,501 Member
    Understandable. However (being devil's advocate), there are tons of people who eat meat but don't get "appropriate" amounts of protein (and get less than a lot of vegetarians/vegans because they tend to actually pay attention to it), but no one ever asks them about their protein intake.

    gonna be honest
    75%+ of my protein comes from shakes out of laziness I enjoy meat but I don't like cooking big amounts unless it is for other people.
  • Posts: 231 Member
    Understandable. However (being devil's advocate), there are tons of people who eat meat but don't get "appropriate" amounts of protein (and get less than a lot of vegetarians/vegans because they tend to actually pay attention to it), but no one ever asks them about their protein intake.
    This is my number one pet peeve!!! UGH!! Drives me crazy.
This discussion has been closed.