High protein, vegan diets

[catalina1]

Hey folks, hi, I don’t know if anybody else has noticed this, but on YouTube lately, it appears that a lot of vegans, who were following a McDougall type of diet with high carbs , have all of a sudden switched to high protein, vegan diets. They say they feel better with the higher protein, and, it helps in their exercises as most of these people are now lifting weight. So my question is, is there any real advantage from switching from a high carbohydrate, vegan diet such as McDougals, to a high protein, vegan diet ? Will it add to my weight loss and is it better because I’m lifting weights?

[VeggieSue]

I know the person who has been posting this. Joey has been tweaking the plant based diet for years every time he cheats on the McDougall basic plan and gains weight. His latest fad is keeping his calories under 1400 because some test he did showed that's the ideal intake number for weight loss based on his answers. And he's always trying to build muscle and "protein" is the magical word in the body building community.

I suggest you ask this question to Jeff Novick in his forum here. Not only does he have a degree and license in nutrition but his first degree was in dietetics with a minor in exercise physiology:
https://www.jeffnovick.com/resume

[curcubit]

I guess I have switched to a higher protein diet, but don't watch vegan youtubers as I can't relate to them. I am 63 and what a 30-40 year old eats doesn't make sense to me. But I started being more intentional about adding more vegan protein after watching my 80-something parents and in-laws quality of life decline due to frailty and lack of mobility/strength. I read up on the work of Donald Layman, Christopher Gardner, Stuart Phillips, Valter Longo, Mark Messina, and Fritz Horstmann...researchers/PhD who are subject matter experts on nutrition/protein. The most impactful is the work of Stacy Sims, PhD who works with postmenopausal women in building strength.

I turned to this, because I had been doing resistance training 3x week for 2 years and not seeing many gains. My weight was on a plateau. I would like to loose 25 pounds. My macros in that period where 15% fat 12-15% protein and the rest WFPB carbs. Lots of oats, rice, potatoes, beans, etc. I aim for closer to 15-20% fat, 20-25% protein the rest in CHO. The higher fat comes from the soy products. It takes intention and planning to hit those targets. I rely on vegan plant protein powder (mostly sprouted grains, seeds and pea), seitan which I make myself, TVP, lupini beans, high protein pasta and tofu/tempeh. The other big switches are: not working out in fasted state (something I have been doing for 15 years or so). Now I eat a small snack before lifting: a protein cookie I make myself (bananas and protein powder) and I have breakfast immediately after lifting (before I would eat 1-2 hours later). Dr. Sims says postmenopausal women need to eat soon after to generate the right metabolic signals to turn on MTOR after fasting all night. I also take 5 grams creatine. And I am lifting much heavier (which I increased gradually), something I tried to do on a lower protein diet but it was too hard and stressful on my body then.

I have been doing it for 3 months now and very happy with the shift. I have significantly increased my muscle mass...I have biceps now! I have more stamina for hiking, yardwork, etc. I have lost 5 pounds and my clothes fit better. I don't have access to special scales or DEXA scans, but it seems I am doing some body recomposition in the right direction. I did not want to try to loose weight and loose muscle at the same time, but build muscle and loose fat.

I can't really say I am more sated. Maybe higher protein helps, but if so, its subtle. The other nice change is my stool frequency has normalized. When I was doing a 50/50 plate I was going #3-7 times a day and night and a #5 on the Bristol chart. I was really eating alot of fiber before. Now I go 2-3 times a day and it is so much more pleasant...I am a Type #4 on the chart and it feels more normal. I am still eating alot of fiber compared to SAD, but less than before.

Sims PhD says eating higher protein while weight training does upregulate IGF-1 but in the context of strength training does not increase cancer risk. I have not chased down the studies that show that to be true. Maybe I will do that today. Anyway, I do think plant protein has different outcomes to animal protein in this regard.