One previous clinical trial had looked at muscle responses in vegans and omnivores who ate a laboratory diet and engaged in weight training for 10 weeks. That study found no significant differences in muscle protein synthesis over time. However, volunteers in that study consumed 1.6-1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is much higher than what is needed to maximize muscle protein synthesis and build bigger muscles with weight lifting, Burd said. It also gave those on the vegan diet the bulk of their plant protein in supplements, which is not a realistic recreation of how vegans normally eat, he said.
Burd and his colleagues wanted to know whether the habitual consumption of a varied vegan or meat-based diet of whole foods — rather than ingestion of just a single meal or getting one’s protein from limited sources — would influence the rate of muscle protein synthesis over time. READ MORE
