Can a vegetarian be a muscular man?

Recently, I have been paying attention to the issue of vegetarianism. I saw a netizen raise this question: Can vegetarians build muscles like Schwarzenegger? First of all, the answer is yes, vegetarians can also build muscles.

Today let’s talk about how vegetarians can solve the problem of protein.

01 Why does the human body need protein?

Why does the human body need protein? Because protein is the main medium for genes to function. The main enzymes are proteins, various homologous molecular signaling pathways are proteins, and the basis of cell structure is protein...

Those who have studied high school biology should know that the three major organic substances of humans are sugars, fats, and proteins. Those who have studied college biochemistry will know that these three can be converted. Then someone will definitely ask, if this is the case, then can't we just eat sugar and then convert it into protein?

There are two problems here:

1. The efficiency of converting sugar into protein is very low. The simple and crude evidence is that you eat so much high-fat and high-sugar food, why don’t you grow a body of muscle but a body of fat?

2 Essential amino acids. I believe many people still remember this stuff, and the formulas of the past can be recited now: selenium, phenylpropionate, isoprenaline, valproate, methylsulfoxide, and eight essential amino acids.

These are amino acids that must be obtained from food.

Serious reminder: Don't think you can lose weight by not eating meat. The efficiency of sugar conversion into fat is very high. You can still gain weight by eating fruits. It is best not to start from the intake category. (The only way to lose weight is to consume less than you consume)

02 How does a vegetarian diet solve the protein problem?

As we all know, the main component of meat is protein, which is also the main source of protein for humans. The following figure shows the protein content of common foods.

It can be seen that beans have a very high protein content and are easy to grow. They are the main source of protein to replace meat .

This is thanks to the great Chinese people. When meat was scarce, they kept trying various herbs and finally found the perfect source of meat substitute: beans. This is one of the greatest contributions of the Chinese people, no less than the four great inventions.

The great people of our country have developed a spirit of daring to try and continuous innovation, constantly developing ways to eat beans, making beans a great industry.

03 Various bean delicacies

If you have no talent, then go into the bean industry

1. There are many ways to cook beans. They are suitable for all Chinese cooking methods, including steaming, frying, stir-frying and boiling.

2. Grind the beans and make them into a business. If there is too much water, it is soy milk. If there is too little water, it is tofu. If there is not too much or too little water, it is tofu pudding. If there is hair, it is hairy tofu. If it is left to stink, it is stinky tofu. If it is left to stink for too long, it can be made into soy sauce. It is really a treasure on earth.

Of course, beans are indispensable for vegetarians . Great gourmets also use beans to make a variety of tempting vegetarian delicacies.

This is braised vegetarian meat strips

Of course, you can also eat nuts, for example, some of our distant relatives, some monkeys, live on nuts.

As for essential amino acids, contrary to other answers, plants are the main source of essential amino acids.

Leucine: bananas, peanuts

Lysine: beans and other protein-rich foods

Phenylalanine: beans, wheat products, peanuts, etc.

Isoleucine: beans, brown rice, almonds

Valine: beans, black rice, peanuts

Threonine: fermented grains, peanuts

Methionine: Beans

Tryptophan: brown rice, bananas

Arginine: Soy products

So, next, it’s up to you to exercise.