Stronger by Science: Protein Quality

[dubschanging]

TL;DR

• For the best results, aim for your total daily protein intake to be 1.6 - 2.2g/kg of bodyweight if looking to maximize muscle growth (0.8 - 1.1 g/kg for general health/maintenance) spread out over 3-6 feedings.
• Strive to get your protein from a mix of grains, legumes, and nuts/seeds to cover your essential amino acid needs.

Hey all,

This recent segment from Stronger by Science discusses protein quality and how it differs across different food sources. I thought it might be helpful for newly vegan folks who might wonder about how protein quality differs for plant foods and what we can do as vegan athletes to mitigate that.

If you aren't familiar with Stronger by Science, they're some of the most highly regarded evidence based fitness experts working today. Among other ventures, they have a podcast, website which I frequently cite, and an app called MacroFactor I've been using for my latest bulk.

It's notable that one of the hosts, Eric Trexler (https://www.instagram.com/trexlerfitness/?hl=en) has recently started following a vegetarian diet and seems to be slowly transitioning to a fully vegan one for ethical reasons. He isn't there yet but I think it's undoubtedly a positive to have one of the most respected voices in fitness out there showing that a vegan diet is fully compatible with pretty much all fitness goals.

In this segment, Eric and his temporary guest co-host Greg Nuckols discuss how protein quality impacts training goals. What it boils down to is that most plant protein sources are lacking in at least one of the essential amino acids. However, it's easy enough to cover these EAA deficiencies is specific foods by just pairing up certain food pairs. Eric shares a great graphic from bodybuilding.com that shows simple ways to think about which foods are lacking in which protein sources.

Practical Advice

For me personally, I was never able to keep track of which foods are lacking what, but this makes it pretty easy. Foods are grouped into three categories and it's as simple as getting some of your protein from each of the three groups which broadly bucket into:

• Grains (Oats, rice, wheat, etc)
• Legumes (Chickpeas, lentils, black beans, peanuts, etc)
• Nuts and seeds (Sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, etc)

Lucky for us, a lot of the staples we love cover at least 2 of these categories and by having some variety in your diet, you can easily cover all three each day:

• The OG (rice and beans)
• Black bean burger on a wheat bun
• The childhood OG (PB&J)
• Oatmeal with some nut butter or seeds

Broadly, I enjoyed this segment because it really focused on some practical advice and Eric emphasized that we don't need to freak out about getting exact amounts of each protein source. Just have some variety, eat well balanced meals, and you'll almost certainly have your bases covered.

 

[unaidedbean]

@dubschanging I’m gonna preface this by saying that I read your post, but did not listen to the podcast you posted.

On a post that is meant to give people more information you should really stop using the terms complete and incomplete to describe vegan protein. (Or any protein other than gelatin)

This claim was debunked many years ago. See this page with a video and sources about this.

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-protein-combining-myth/

I think a better way to express the idea here is that different protein sources have different levels of BCAAs, but that does not make them complete or incomplete.

 

[dubschanging]

@unaidedbean Thanks for that feedback! You make a great point and I think "complete/incomplete" is a reductive way of thinking about it. I was using those words as shorthand and because I've just been conditioned to but you are right. I have edited my post to remove those words and just focus on covering the essential amino acids.

If you watch the video, Trexler also echoes what you are saying! He emphasizes that it is more about getting a variety of protein sources that get you "good enough" in terms of meeting your EAA needs.

 

[unaidedbean]

@dubschanging Really appreciate how receptive you are to my feedback. It was pretty minor compared to the rest of your well written and informative post.

Just finished watching the video at the segment you linked and you are absolutely right. Trexler does go into detail really well about this.

I’ve heard of stronger by science, but have generally avoided it because I thought it wasn’t as applicable to me as a vegan. Guess I’ll have to reevaluate that sentiment.

 

[dubschanging]

@unaidedbean Thanks for providing such thoughtful feedback.

I started listening to SBS when I was still an Omni and had the same fear but there is actually a decent amount of vegan-friendly content on there. I think it's partly driven by Eric's recent lifestyle change but also that there has just recently been a lot more strong research coming out that directly compares plant and animal protein and generally finding almost no differences in terms of fitness outcomes. A lot of their content is largely just about training in general without regard to diet.

 

[heavenbound3]

@unaidedbean

I’ve heard of stronger by science, but have generally avoided it because

I thought it wasn’t as applicable to me as a vegan. Guess I’ll have to

reevaluate that sentiment.

SBS is a really good resource for everything relating to strength and hypertrophy. They excel at breaking down sciency stuff into practical implications and discerning between hype and meaningful new scientific findings.

 

[drobe008]

@dubschanging Are there studies that show getting only an “incomplete” protein limits muscle growth?

I’m new to lifting and trying to not worry about the minor details but my diet isn’t too varied right now, just tofu lentils and chickpeas to get the protein.

Obviously even though tofu lentils and chickpeas are incomplete, as said above they still have all the amino acids just some are quite low. So are there actual studies done that show less muscle growth, or are we just worried about the low numbers or certain amino acids? And if so, how much am I limiting my gains without varying my diet?

 

[01tj]

@drobe008 The protein sources you've listed are very nearly complete as an overall system, I think only methionine isn't particularly abundant there, which really isn't needed (and seems to be long-term detrimental to health) in enormous quantities.

If you do want to increase your methionine intake particularly, consider adding Bacillus subtilis ferments like natto to your diet. In general that microbe supplies a lot of micronutrients and makes for an excellent protein source.

 

[heavenbound3]

@dubschanging

temporary guest co-host Greg Nuckols

Woah! I have to stop you right there! Greg currently is the permanent guest co-host as he has been for several episodes already. You have to brush up on your crucial facts.

At least you got the minor details relating to protein quality and practical recommendations for protein consumption right.

 

[rhye]

@dubschanging Watched the episode, very informative. So basically mix and match and don’t get all your nutrition from just one source.