Health

Building muscle? Here's how to get the protein you need without meat – The Globe and Mail

Published

6 months ago

April 1, 2024

Bowls of various legumes.Baiba Opule/iStockPhoto / Getty Images

Q: I’m a vegetarian who trains three times a week to gain muscle. Can I get enough protein without eating meat, chicken or fish?

Short answer: You don’t need to eat meat, or any other animal protein for that matter, to help build muscle from resistance exercise.

That’s providing, though, you consume enough protein each day from a variety of plant sources.

There’s one more caveat. To maximize muscle growth, research suggests you need to distribute your protein evenly across your meals.

Here’s a protein primer – how much you need for everyday health, the extra that’s required for adding muscle, plus how to get enough from a meatless diet.

Vegetarian eating patterns

Vegetarian diets range from those that avoid all animal foods to others that include only a few.

Vegan diets exclude all animal products – meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy.

Lacto-vegetarian diets includes dairy, but omit meat, poultry, fish and eggs. Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat dairy and eggs, but avoid meat, poultry and fish.

Flexitarians eat a mostly plant-based diet but occasionally consume animal foods.

Protein quality: animal versus plant

When it comes to synthesizing proteins, be it muscle tissue or other, your body relies on a steady influx of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.

Animal foods supply all nine essential amino acids in sufficient quantities. As such, they’re considered “complete” protein sources.

Plant proteins (e.g., pulses, nuts, seeds, whole grains), on the other hand, are low in or lacking at least one or more essential amino acids. The amino acid profile of soybeans is close to that of animal protein.

One essential amino acid, leucine, acts as a trigger for muscle protein synthesis when consumed in adequate amounts. Plant proteins generally have a lower leucine content than animal proteins.

Due to the fibre in whole plant foods, plant protein is not as readily absorbed by the body as animal protein.

It’s necessary to include an adequate amount of protein at each meal to activate muscle protein synthesis. Research suggests it takes 20 to 30 g of protein a meal to do so.

How much protein?

For sedentary people, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 g per kg of body weight a day.

The RDA protein target is too low, however, if your goal is to build muscle or hold on to it when you’re older.

To preserve muscle, older adults need more protein each day, 1.2 g protein/kg body weight. With age it takes a greater amount of protein to stimulate protein synthesis than when younger.

To gain muscle you need even more.

According to a 2022 review of 74 randomized controlled trials, a daily protein intake of at least 1.6 g protein/kg body weight is needed to increase lean body mass during strength training in adults under age 65. (Physical activity is the most potent stimulus for protein synthesis.)

Among adults 65 and older, consuming 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg each day led to a small gain in lean body weight with resistance training.

Consuming twice as much protein as the official RDA led to a gain in lean body mass of 2.9 to 3.1 pounds among 66 studies in the review.

Can a vegetarian build muscle with these higher protein targets?

According to Stuart Phillips, a professor in kinesiology at McMaster University and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health and Aging, “with a judiciously planned diet – I emphasize this – there’s no reason why a vegetarian can’t do fine on 1.6 g of protein per kg … a vegan would, based on all evidence, also be fine.”

Translating protein goals into meatless meals

For a 170 lb. (77 kg) person, 1.6 g protein/kg body weight/day equates to 124 g of protein.

To ensure protein synthesis is sustained throughout the day, you’ll need to divide that protein evenly across three or four meals. Three meals, each containing 41 to 42 g of protein, will get you to that daily protein goal of 124 g.

For plant-based eaters, you’ll get 41 g of protein from 2 cups of cooked chickpea pasta (27 g protein) and three-quarters of a cup of shelled edamame (15 g). Or 170 g of extra firm tofu (28 g), 1.5 cups of cooked quinoa (12 g) and a tablespoon of hemp seeds (3 g) delivers 43 g of protein.

If you eat dairy and eggs, you’ll find 24 g of protein in one cup of Greek yogurt, 28 g in one cup of cottage cheese, 12.5 g in two large eggs and 8 g in one cup of milk (ditto for soy milk).

Protein powders can be used to supplement your protein intake. Whey protein isolate (made from dairy) provides 25 g of protein a serving; plant-based protein powders typically deliver 20 g.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on Twitter @LeslieBeckRD

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Health

Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

Published

3 days ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.

It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.

Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”

Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.

Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.

Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”

But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”

“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.

Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.

Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.

Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.

“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.

“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

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Health

How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

Published

5 days ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

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Health

Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

Published

6 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

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