Is this the body of the future? In one opinion… MINE… I say hell yes. After years of listening to the battle cry of the protein rich… and how there is no way to build muscle without it, the wind is beginning to shift. People are beginning to realize that it does not take massive amounts of protein to build muscle. The flood of protein can often do more harm than good in actuality. Protein has been linked to Alzheimer’s plaque and other ailments. Its not that protein itself is not good… it is the reliance on it and shoveling large amounts of it into the system that can be detrimental.
How many people know that protein is found in the majority of vegetables (fruits, etc)? It takes protein to make these viable products of life. What’s more ….. the protein is usable by the body and couched in “clean” food, so it goes down right and gets assimilated correctly. The amount of protein is relatively small in fruits and vegetables compared to meat-based diets, but a body, unless it is truly huge, does not need that much at all to sustain itself. It is not the amount of protein that helps sustain muscle….its the amount of calories.
If a muscle does not have enough calories to sustain it, it goes through a process called ketosis. This happens when liver glycogen stores are depleted due to the needs of the body not being met by enough blood serum sugars. The body then begins to convert muscle into an energy source. So to avoid this cascade, that eventually ends in the body cannibalizing its own muscle to survive, enough calories must be maintained to feed the entire machine. So it is calories that are important.
The amount of protein in a plant-based diet is plenty to replenish damaged muscle and new muscle growth. After all….. even during and after a great workout how much protein do you think is really depleted from a muscle in one single day?
Last point on this around something in the same vein. Everyone is all up on supplements. As a regular pilgrimage before a routine begins most people gravitate to the supplement aisle. Remember this one thing….. people did have muscle, a lot of muscle, and could get pretty big, BEFORE there was any such thing as a supplement. Go back a hundred years: no real muscle? Only skinny people? Not likely.
Eat. Please. A whole food plant based diet is king. The attached picture above is from a vegan bodybuilder. No problems there. Methinks we are beginning to head in a great direction.
