Can A Vegetarian Build Ripped Abs?

It's late at night now and I had a very tiring day with my girlfriend, Janice. I had my particular concerns because she wants to convert me into a vegetarian. That's what you get when you fall in love with an animal lover. Well, the reason why I am still writing this at such an ungodly hour is because I need to tell you that it is still possible to build muscle even though you are a vegetarian.

Does a vegetarian lose out to a non-vegetarian when it comes to building ripped abs? While many people think that going vegetarian is good for health, does it beneficial to building lean, well-defined abs?

If you have made the choice to become a vegetarian, then try to focus on the health benefits of your abdominals training instead of giving up. This is because you are sacrificing your physique and performance potential. Even the health benefits of vegetarian protein sources are inferior to those provide by protein alone. Soy protein has become a headline sweetheart praised for cardiac protection, cholesterol lowering and cancer prevention.

However, some of the components of soy are now suspected to actually increase the risk of cancer in women. Besides, another main ingredient significantly drops the testosterone concentration in male rats. On the other hand, whey protein contains all of the essential amino acids, has been shown to prevent the formation of cancer tumors and reduce the progress of existing tumors in both rats and humans. It can be used to improve immune function, helps fight infection and lowers bad cholesterol. Whey protein provides the same health benefits as soy and outperforms it with none of the risks. On the other hand, the quality of plant proteins for rebuilding muscle and other tissues is simply inferior to the protein found in whey and eggs.

Vegetarians must combine plant-based proteins with grains to get the proper quantities of all amino acids. However, you don't need to combine them all in the same meal. You probably need to get complex proteins within the same day, but not necessarily at the same sitting.

You bigger concern is that if you don't eat animal products, you have to devour how much plant food daily to get all the protein and other nutrients you need. For 18 grams of protein that you get in a single scoop of good whey protein powder mixed with juice or water, you can eat 2/3 cup of soybeans. That's great but depending on your body weight and training goals, you may need up to 100 grams of protein each day. Can you imagine your diet plan to be a cup of split peas, a cup of soybeans, lima beans, cup of lentils and two cups of soy milk?

Above all, you would still have to pile on more food because you have not yet eaten the carbohydrates you need, and even then you may still run low on zinc, iron, calcium and vitamin B-12.

The bottom line is if you decide to be a strict vegetarian, you can still achieve ripped abs but don't expect it sooner than non-vegetarians.