Jump to content

Whey protein vs vegan protein powder questions


Len
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hey there guys, this is my first time posting, but I've known about this site and wanted to be a member for quite some time, I just only got around to it now is all.

 

I'm a hopeful vegan athlete, I've been vegan for a couple of years and am now looking to better myself physically as well as morally. I'd really appreciate some answers to these questions I have.

 

I'm 17, and 18 in a couple of months. I've been overweight for many years now (currently about 210 lbs) and have tried and failed to lose weight so many times over the years. Now I have a gym membership and am recovering from compulsive overeating, so I'm hopeful this will be the time I succeed. However now I'm not just looking to lose fat, I'm looking to build muscle too.

 

So with this in mind I've been to a local protein store only to see very little other than whey as far as the eye can see and a clerk who seemed to not know much of what he was talking about telling me that vegan proteins aren't very dependable or viable, so I left kind of disgruntled.

 

So now I've come to you guys. I've seen a lot about the Vega range of products and now have my eye on the Vega Sport post-workout recovery protein as well as the other product listed at the bottom of its page saying that they should be used in conjunction for better recovery and absorption (sorry I forgot the other products name), but this is just an idea, I could go for any product really whenever I have the money, and it could be more or less different products together, I really am not sure yet.

 

How would the two I've mentioned used in conjunction after a workout compare against something like whey isolate? I hear from many people that any plant protein powder is inferior in absorption or bio-availability or something. Is this true? And if it is, how much would this actually affect my progress? Like, I'm not some competitive-level bodybuilder so of course it's not all that important to squeeze every tiny bit of optimal muscle gain out of everything I can, as long as I can get tone and increase my strength I'm happy.

 

All of this said, do you have also any suggestions on how I could go about losing weight at the same time as trying to build muscle? Dietary wise I mean. At the gym I'm going to start doing both daily cardio and free weights in the form of squats, dead lifts, bench press, etc., rather than the strictly cardio routine I've been currently doing for a little while.

 

How much protein should I be getting per day? How many calories? What foods should I eat lots of and what should I stay away from? Are there any particular exercises I should do?

 

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I'd really appreciate help from you guys. Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Okay, so I'm no expert (though I do have a few years of experience with vegan athleticism) and actually signed up to this site after seeing you've been waiting a few months for a response to your questions. So here it goes.

When comparing whey or casein based proteins to the various plant based proteins there a lot of things to consider. Whey protein is somewhat better for muscle building than plant based protein powder, however there are many other factors that contribute to this that can increase or decrease the efficacy of protein powder. For example taking protein both before and after a workout, the nutrient ratio of 4:1 carbs to protein for optimal recovery, and spacing out protein consumption throughout the day keeping each consumption at about 30g are all important factors that can tip the scales in big ways. So in the end the difference between whey and plant powders aren't that important. (Besides animal proteins have been show to have a correlation with increased cancer growth....so yeah...) As for plant protein powders I have personally had a lot of success with the Vega Sport powder you mentioned, as well as the Sunwarrior Raw Vegan protein powder, and Now Sport's Pea Protein (Which is toted to have a high bioavailability)

Although the Pea Protein can be an iffy product for those with gout so just keep that in mind.

Now as for your calorie and nutrient requirements there are TONS of online resources for this. A favorite of mine in myfitnesspal, an app for Android or IPhone. It's great for people beginning their journey into better health and to call on my own experience again I've actually lost 25 pounds with it going from 165 lbs to 140 lbs.

Anyways, I hope this was helpful and that I managed to answer all of your questions. Good luck on your journey and remember to enjoy every moment of it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...