A clear concise explanation of the complex topic of plant-based protein kindly contributed by Jo Scott-Dalgleish BSc (Hons) who is a BANT Registered Nutritionist and writer about nutrition for endurance sport. Her award winning blog ‘Endurance Sport Nutritionist’ covers all aspects of endurance nutrition including plant-based nutrition. It is at http://www.endurancesportsnutritionist.co.uk. Thanks Jo

Knowing how to get enough protein in their diet is a concern of many endurance athletes now following a plant-based, vegan diet, whether for environmental or ethical reasons, to boost performance, to improve health or for a combination of those reasons. As a vegan athlete, you do need to be aware that there are several nutrients which are harder to obtain in adequate quantities than on an omnivorous or vegetarian diet. I cover these in my blog Vegan Diets: A Guide for the Endurance Athlete. But I find that athletes are particularly concerned about how to obtain enough protein from plant sources to support their needs. The purpose of this blog is to look at plant-based protein sources in more depth and provide suggestions for ensuring an optimal intake.

Protein requirements for vegan endurance athletes

It is recognised that athletes’ need for protein is higher than that of the general population, for whom the recommendation is 0.8g/kg/day. For endurance athletes, who need 1.2-1.6 g/kg per day ¹, this is less for building muscle mass and more for repairing muscle damage after exercise, increasing mitochondrial proteins which are required for energy production, and maintaining the collagen matrix that is essential for healthy bones, as well as providing sufficient protein to support various aspects of health, eg hormone, neurotransmitter and immune cell production. It is best to evenly spread your protein intake out over the course of the day, rather than concentrate it into one or two meals ². It’s now known that the window for repairing and building muscle after exercise lasts around 24 hours ³. These two points are very important for plant-based athletes, as is harder to obtain large amount of protein from plant sources than from animal sources. But with knowledge and a bit of planning, it is perfectly possible to meet your protein needs over the course of a day.

Here are the key points that you need to know:

• Essential Amino Acid (EAA) content is lower in plant foods than animal foods. This is because plant foods contain higher amounts of carbohydrate and fibre, so proportionately less protein. The 9 EAAs cannot be manufactured by the body and have to be obtained from food. This means that you need to eat larger quantities of plant sources of protein to get the same quantity of EAAs, aiming for the higher end of the recommended amount for endurance athletes, ie closer to 1.6 g/kg/day than 1.2g/kg/day. This can be challenging as plant foods with good protein content are often high in fibre and fill you up quickly. It’s important to include some plant foods containing protein in all your meals and snacks to help you reach your target protein intake over the course of a day. Make sure that you include several different sources at main meals, eg oats, nuts and seeds at breakfast, bread and hummus (chickpeas) at lunch, rice/quinoa plus tofu/tempeh, beans or lentils at dinner.
• Many plant foods lack one of the EAAs. Grains have negligible amounts of lysine, which is important for absorbing and utilising other amino acids. Beans and lentils are extremely low in methionine, used in the production of non-essential amino acids. But the good news is that grains are high in methionine while beans and lentils are good sources of lysine, as are many nuts and seeds. This means that combining different types of plant protein sources, eg rice and beans, gives you a full range of EAAs. This combining can be done over the course of a day. It does not have to be at the same meal.
• Some plant foods have all the EAAs in relatively high amounts. These are known as complete proteins. Include these in your diet on a regular basis:
  • soya (tofu, tempeh, soya milk and yogurt, miso, edamame beans, soya protein powders)
  • quinoa (combine with rice and beans or lentils in a post-training meal)
  • buckwheat (use buckwheat flour to make pancakes),
  • chia seed and hemp seed (add to porridge or overnight oats).
• Leucine content is particularly important for muscle protein synthesis. Leucine is one of the three branched chain amino acids, known as BCAAs. The others are isoleucine and valine. Leucine content differs considerably between different plant protein sources. Corn has the highest amount of leucine, close to that found in cow’s milk or casein protein powder, although not as high as found in whey protein powder. Black beans and rice are the next best sources. Try choosing corn tortilla wraps rather than wheat ones, snacking on dried corn kernels, or adding sweetcorn to salads. It’s worth knowing, however, that corn goes not have a particularly high amount of protein when compared with other plant sources, just proportionately more leucine, so having a variety of plant foods is important.
• There is a role for easy to digest protein isolates (powders) in vegan athletes’ diets to help reach their required higher protein intakes. These provide more protein per 100g than wholefood sources. Most protein powders made from plants should contain a combination of different food sources due to the missing EAAs mentioned above, for example pea protein plus rice protein. An exception is soya protein powder which is a complete protein (see above). Don’t rely too much on protein powders as they lack the additional nutritional content of wholefood plant protein sources, eg carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. 1 serving per day is a good guide, perhaps 2 servings on a heavier training day. Soya protein powder contains 23g of protein per 25g serving, while pea protein contains 20g and pea/rice protein blends contain about 18g. Here are some of my preferred plant protein powders:
  • Form Pure Blend Protein: combination of pea protein, brown rice protein and hemp protein. 15.4g protein per 20g serving. Unflavoured and unsweetened. Works well in smoothies mixed with fruit, in porridge and for baking.
  • Form Performance Protein: combination of pea protein, brown rice protein and pumpkinseed protein. Several flavours, sweetened with stevia. Other ingredients include curcumin and digestive enzymes. 30g of protein per 40g serving. Works best as a post training shake mixed with water or plant milk alternative.
  • The Protein Works’ Vegan Wondershake: combination of pea protein, soya protein, brown rice protein and hemp protein. 21g of protein per 25g serving. Contains artificial sweetener. Multiple flavours. Tastes similar to a dairy shake.
  • My Vegan’s Soya Protein Isolate: a big 27g of protein per 30g serving. Several flavours available as well as unflavoured. Contains artificial sweetener.

Making optimal food choices

Bearing the above points in mind, here is some practical information to help you consume enough protein to meet your performance and health needs:

• Amount of protein and leucine per serving in selected plant foods. The food with the highest protein content in each category is shown at the top:

Plant Food Category	Serving size	Protein per serving (g)	Leucine per serving (g)
Soya Products
Tempeh	100g	21g	0.6g
Firm tofu	100g	13g	1.4g
Greek style soya ‘yogurt’	200g	12g	n/a
Soya ‘yogurt’	200g	8g	n/a
Pulses
Edamame bean (frozen)	125g	15g	0.9g
Puy lentils (pre-cooked)	125g	14g	0.8g
Red lentils (dry weight)	50g	13g	0.8g
Canned chickpeas	½ can	9g	0.8g
Canned green/brown lentils	½ can	8g	0.8g
Falafel	4 x 22g	8g	0.8g
Peas (frozen)	125g	7g	0.4g
Hummus	50g/2 tbsp	3g	0.2g
Grains
Seitan (wheat protein)	100g	18g	n/a
Oats (uncooked)	75g	9g	1.0g
Pasta (uncooked)	75g	9g	0.3g
Wheat noodles (uncooked)	75g	9g	n/a
Bulgur wheat (uncooked)	75g	9g	0.6g
Wholemeal bread	80g/2 slices	8g	0.5g
Rye bread	80g/2 slices	7g	0.5g
Rice noodles (uncooked)	75g	7g	0.3g
Basmati rice (uncooked)	75g	6g	0.4g
Seeds used as grains
Quinoa (uncooked)	75g	10g	0.6g
Buckwheat (uncooked)	75g	6g	0.6g
Nuts
Peanuts & peanut butter	30g/2 tbsp	9g	0.5g
Almond butter	30g/2 tbsp	8g	0.4g
Almonds	30g/2 tbsp	6g	0.4g
Cashews	30g/2 tbsp	6g	0.4g
Walnuts	30g/2 tbsp	5g	0.4g
Pecans	30g/2 tbsp	3g	0.2g
Seeds
Pumpkin seeds	30g/2 tbsp	9g	0.7g
Sesame seeds & tahini	30g/2 tbsp	7g	0.4g
Sunflower seeds	30g/2 tbsp	7g	0.5g
Flaxseeds	30g/2 tbsp	6g	0.4g
Chia seeds	30g/2 tbsp	6g	0.4g
Mycoprotein
Quorn	75g	10g	n/a

Based on content from The Vegan Athlete’s Cookbook by Anita Bean

There are now many more vegan food options available from supermarkets. Here’s some useful information to know about their protein content.

Plant based milk alternatives

 It’s important to know that the amount of protein found in the various milk alternatives differs considerably:

Milk Alternative	Serving size	Protein perserving
Soya	200 ml	6.6g
Almond	200 ml	1g
Oat	200 ml	1g
Coconut	200 ml	0.2g
Rice	200 ml	0.2g

Only soya comes close to the protein content of cow’s milk (7.2g per 200 ml). The amount of protein in the others is negligible. This also applies to yogurts.

Meat alternatives

 This is a growth area currently as companies compete to attract those looking to reduce their meat consumption for environmental or health reasons but still seeking a meat-like texture. While these foods can certainly form part of a healthy plant-based diet, they are generally highly processed with multiple ingredients. The protein tends to come from pea protein or soya protein isolate. If you are also having a protein shake each day, you can find your intake of these isolates is high. Make sure that this is balanced out by eating meals based around tofu, tempeh, grains, nuts and seeds, which provide a variety of nutrients as well as protein, more frequently than meat alternatives such as Beyond Burger^® even if the latter does provide a significant 19g of protein per burger. Another increasingly popular alternative to meat is jackfruit, due to its texture. Be aware that this contains very little protein.

Mycoprotein

 You will probably know mycoprotein as the long-established brand Quorn™. Mycoprotein is a fermented fungus, which provides 13g of protein per 100g. It is available in different forms like fillets, mince and pieces so can be a useful ingredient if you are looking for an alternative to meat in recipes. Learn more at https://www.quorn.co.uk/products/vegan-food .

Cheese alternatives

 There are now many vegan alternatives to cheese. Often the main ingredient is coconut oil, which does not contain protein. These products are also highly processed and of limited nutritional value.

Sample day from a plant-based athlete’s diet

 To help illustrate how to have enough protein in a plant-based diet, here are the details of a one-day menu for a 61kg female recreational athlete. This provided her with 2350 kcals and 96g of protein, equivalent to 1.6g/kg, the top of the recommended range.

Breakfast (28g protein): overnight oats made with 50g jumbo oats, 120 ml oat milk, 20g vanilla protein powder, 2 tsp chia seeds, 2 tsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp almonds, 1 tsp pumpkin seeds, 2 tbsp of blueberries and 100g soya yogurt (recipe from The Vegan Athlete’s Cookbook by Anita Bean).

Post training recovery shake (21g protein): 20g pea and rice protein isolate, banana, 200 ml oat milk.

Lunch (28g protein): 400g lentil and sweet potato curry from FIID, 125g cooked basmati rice and quinoa mix, orange, Tribe Triple Decker Bar (pea protein, nuts and seeds).

Dinner (19g protein): Tikka Masala Chickpea and Quinoa bowl (recipe from Mindful Chef), apple.

Cookbook recommendation

 I highly recommend The Vegan Athlete’s Cookbook by Anita Bean. This has a wide range of different main course recipes, all of which contain at least 20g of protein, as well as ideas for healthy snacks. It also gives a great deal of useful information about the nutritional content of different plant foods, not just protein. The book guides you through the transition to being plant-based as an athlete and shows how to ensure that your diet is appropriately balanced. It is well worth buying, whether you have been vegan for a while or want to try a plant-based diet for the first time.

Conclusion

It is perfectly possible to meet your protein requirements as a vegan endurance athlete. But you do need to be aware of the varying protein content of different plant foods, the lack of certain essential amino acids in particular food groups, and that generally the proportion of protein in a plant food is significantly lower than in an animal food. I hope this blog will help you to make good decisions that support an optimal diet for your chosen endurance sport.

Jo Scott-Dalgleish BSc (Hons) is a BANT Registered Nutritionist, writing about nutrition for endurance sport. Based in London, she also works as a Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, conducting online consultations with triathletes, distance runners and cyclists to help them eat well, be healthy and perform better through the creation of an individual nutritional plan. To learn more about these consultations, please visit www.nutritionforendurancesports.co.uk

References

 ¹ Vitale K and Getzin A. Nutrition and Supplement Update for the Endurance Athlete: Review and Recommendations. Nutrients. 2019. Jun 7; 11(6): 1289 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31181616/

² Phillips SM, Chevalier S, Leidy H. Protein “requirements” beyond the RDA: implications for optimising health. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016. May; 41(5):565-572 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26960445/

³ Aragon AA and Schoenfeld BJ. Nutrient Timing Revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window? J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013. Jan 29; 10(1):5 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360586/