Protein

[neilly]

I am a long term vegetarian of 25 years. I have never felt the need for taking protein supplements but am considering it now. Does anyone have any thoughts on the benefits etc of this. I run c30 miles a week, all off road and do about 5 hours a week of resistance/strength work but feel I am getting no where. Do you think increasing protein could improve things?
Neil

[Splatcher]

Er...no. Unless you're not eating a normal veggie diet at the moment. I've been veggie for as long as you, & never considered supplements except for a year 20 years ago when I went vegan. And then it was just vitamin B12. Why do you think you're getting nowhere? Nobody keeps on getting faster indefinitely. Just get your share of brown bread, pulses, cheese & eggs & you'll be getting more than enough protein. Unless you want to be a bodybuilder of course.

[Grouse]

Stop buggerin about n get some meat pie down yer gregory.

[Vegan Runner]

With a good, varied diet protein should never be an issue. Even as a vegan it's waaay down my list of things to worry about.

[that_fjell_guy]

I'm technically piscaterian, and I confess I do use protien. Mainly I use it as an additional, easy way of getting it into my system after a hard, long run, or occasionally if I do a hard session in the gym. If I see a benifit its mainly in my ability to think better!! I'm not really sure as to other benifits per say. I'm just a bit rubbish at the 'veggie' thing I guess!

[cyclops]

as long as your diet includes protein from somewhere then you'll be fine. however, lacking protein isn't great as muscles require it - read this:

To repair damaged muscle fibers, your body has to make new proteins because the muscle fibers themselves are made out of protein. To make new proteins, your body needs an adequate supply of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Your body gets some of the amino acids it needs from dietary protein. When you consume protein, your digestive tract breaks down the protein and absorbs the amino acids, which can then be used to make new proteins in your body.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/48...#ixzz20retvVkj

I have protein shakes after work outs and long or demanding runs to keep myself topped up.

[Hes]

I've been vegetarian for 17 years and currently run about 30-35 miles a week. At the moment I feel strong and quite healthy but at the beginning of the year I was struggling with lots of niggles and feeling tired all the time and I was working up to a long distance event. A veggie friend of mine who is a cyclist and climber with a very physical job suggested I use protein shakes after each run. He found that they really helped him loads. To be honest, I'm really bad at remembering to do things like that but I did do it regularly for a while and I think it helped. I still do make a shake up now and again if I have a tough run ahead of me or I know I won't get a chance for a decent meal for a while afterwards.

[shaunaneto]

Glad it's not just me thats looked at this from a veggie point of view.

So long as your diet is on the 50/25/25 you should be alright in general. I'm leaning towards 'targeted snacking', which for me is eating before, during, and after exercise. Especially after exercise. This way I am able to compensate for the extra requirements needed with running without overdoing it with my general diet, something I had been doing. Much to my waistlines expansion!

Stacks of protein options for veggies/piscaterians/vegans though. Scott Jurek manages it, I think some pulses are actually among the best quality sources of protein you can get.

If your really concerned record and analyze your diet over a period of say 4 weeks, bit of a chore but it'll highlight any nutritional deficiencies. I did it and clocked I was only getting between 20% and 50% of my protein requirements. The link below is for a website that helps with this sort of thing;

http://caloriecount.about.com/

There are probably others and if you have a smart phone probably some Apps too

[that_fjell_guy]

Cheers! I'll take a look! The problem with me is I'm lazy really. I just eat what's in the fridge or cupboard so the shakes an easy option...if potentially inaffective!

[Hes]

Me too, thanks Shaunaneto. I live on my own and the main problem is that I often work in the evenings or go running and so I spend as little time as possible cooking or preparing food and tend to rely on salads and easy stuff like baked potatoes, beans on toast etc. I do like cooking and enjoy cooking for other people but can't really be bothered just for myself but recently I have started thinking that my running stamina could be improved if I paid attention to my nutrition. I had no idea what ratio of protein/carbs/fat I am supposed to eat and so I'm grateful that there is some good information provided on this thread by people, cheers!

Cheers! I'll take a look! The problem with me is I'm lazy really. I just eat what's in the fridge or cupboard so the shakes an easy option...if potentially inaffective!