Can You Build Muscle with ONLY Plant-Based Protein? | Simon Hill interviewed by Andre Duqum

In this enlightening clip from the Know Thyself Podcast with André Duqum, I talk about the foundational aspects of a nutritious diet. We dove into the conversation towards vital dietary principles that can significantly impact our health. This discussion emphasizes the importance of reducing saturated fats, increasing unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated ones, and the numerous benefits of a diet high in fibre. I stress the significance of preferring plant-based proteins over animal proteins, considering the current trend where 75-80% of protein intake in Western diets comes from animal sources. Moreover, we thoroughly examine the detrimental effects of ultra-processed foods, which constitute a significant portion of calorie intake.
In this segment, we delve into:
• The critical distinction between saturated and unsaturated fats and their health implications.
• The paramount importance of dietary fibre and how to increase its intake.
• The advantages of plant-based proteins and debunking common myths about protein sources.
• Strategies to significantly reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods in our diets.
Stay informed with the latest insights in nutritional science and join the conversation on pioneering research and developments in dietary practices for optimal health.
Stream the full episode on KZbin: • Nutrition Expert Revea...
Want to support the show?
The best way to support the show is to use the products and services offered by our sponsors. To check them out, and enjoy great savings, visit theproof.com/f....
• The Proof with Simon Hill - theproof.com/p...
• Book: The Proof is in the Plants - theproof.com/b...
• Apple Podcast - podcasts.apple...
• Spotify - open.spotify.c...
• Instagram - / theproof
• Twitter - / theproof
• Facebook - / theproofwithsimonhill
• Plant-Based Ferments Guide - theproof.com/f...
• Two-week meal plan - theproof.com/m...
• Plant Performance - theproof.com/p...
• Use the products and services offered by our sponsors. To check them out, and enjoy great savings, visit theproof.com/friends.

[@carinaekstrom1]

To even consider using animal protein to fulfill needs where they are lacking seems so backwards, when all you have to do is add one or two more plant food sources, and at the same time you'll be protecting long term human, animal and planetary health.

[@zlmdragon.]

a steak a day, keeps the death away

[@asdf1991asdf]

What are you talking about? Plant protein isn't even remotely the same as animal protein. It isn't as bioavailable, and it is qualitatively different.

[@carinaekstrom1]

@@zlmdragon. If you're about to starve to death, I suppose.

[@carinaekstrom1]

@@asdf1991asdf You didn't watch the video? It's true it's not the same, plant protein is much healthier. Did you think "bioavailable" means the same as overall better?

[@LVArturs]

@@carinaekstrom1 there are compounds that are unique in animal products and have health benefits - some can be synthesized without animals, but some can't, starting with collagen. And I will take those benefits, especially if issues with the long-term healths you list manifest outside of my lifespan.

[@alisolkanu4763]

Am vegan for 5 yrs and just started lifting weight two months ago and already gain 2lbs. Too much BS bro science nowadays.

[@Alaskaventureswithbrodie]

That was honestly one of the most shocking things to me when I went plant based was realizing that all plants have protein!

[@chrishabgood8900]

yes but its bound up in the fiber, less absorbable.

​@@chrishabgood8900show me the science. You're implying that plant protein is inferior when consumed as food.

[@alisolkanu4763]

@@chrishabgood8900 another Bro science BS. How do vegans build muscle then. The gorilla is not muscular ?

[@alisolkanu4763]

@@chrishabgood8900 your body will absorb all the protein from the food. Where did you get your Rubbish studies from

[@Petunia-fl9lu]

yes but they don't have other things you need

[@maitherapeutic]

Plant based diet opens the third eye, you build muscle on power, intuition, sensory abilities... not food you little men

[@dannyspitzer1267]

Good info

[@Bstar2024]

Almost lost interest in this when I see his feet on the chair but bared with the rudeness for 5mins. That’s all I could manage.

[@someguy2135]

Besides what Simon listed, animal agriculture (due to standard practices) increases antibiotic resistance and the threat of zoonotic diseases, epidemics and pandemics.

[@someguy2135]

Also water pollution and ocean dead zones. Commercial fishing is a direct attack on biodiversity!

[@BillMcHale]

This is a great video, your videos have generally been very helpful as I rework my dietary lifestyle (still need to add the physical activity. With so many folks schilling weird diets and supplements (that you buy from them) I automatically give more trust to folks who urge getting all you need from what you eat.

[@YeshuaAlBhagwani]

While I agree with the notion of getting everything you need from the food you eat, supplementation is still nice. I just don't like someone selling me anything, whether it's supplements, or a belief system. With someone like Simon though I can tell he just genuinely wants people to lead happy, healthy lives so my defenses don't go up when he is talking.

[@cmntr_]

If you don't live near the equator, chances are your vitamin d blood levels are too low in winter. That is one thing you cannot help sufficiently with diet. Also there are people who have metabolic diseases, and no matter how well they eat, they may never be able to reach the recommended intakes for certain nutrients. And then we get to larger populations that are deficient in vitamin b12, iodine etc simply because the soils their food grows on is unhealthy or low in said nutrients as well. Supplements are also very useful for folks in more nutrient-demanding life phases such as pregnancy or later life. Don't dismiss supplementation entirely please.

[@BillMcHale]

@@cmntr_ Please don't get me wrong, I am not really talking about taking a vitamin or two, indeed for some folks, it is essential, and good look on some variation of a vegan style diet without B12 supplements, what I was talking about was the guys who push diets like carnivore or paleo and then sell tons of supplements.

[@cmntr_]

@@BillMcHale oh i see. A friend of mine fell for a keto influencer and bought, of all things, effervescent vitamin c tablets. She wasn't 'allowed' more than 50 grams of fruits and veggies a day because of their high carb content. I would have found it funny, had it not pushed her further into disordered eating.

[@TenguMonk]

Is there a full video of this?

[@jjjames6894]

In the show notes ie description

[@torstrasburg8289]

One Thumbs Up doesn't cut it, perhaps ten would. Important stuff. Knowledge makes for a better life, so thanks for sharing some of its wealth that you worked so hard to acquire.

[@parkoursomebody4906]

Do you REALLY need that much protein, as a vegan athlete? I ask because I am 70kg and one of the smallest guys in the gym. But to apparently meet my protein needs I would need 2 scoops of protein powder per day to take care of half, plus a whole can of chickpeas, a whole can of lentils, throw in some soy milk. I couldn't digest all that as a one-off man versus food challenge, let alone do it every day for the rest of my life. Am I missing something? How do you meet this apparent target without dying of an inflamed gut?

[@asdf1991asdf]

Don't be vegan. It is unnatural, suboptimal, and unnecessary.

[@perrydimes6915]

But all plants have protein. I actually weigh about the same as you do, and I don't eat protein powder, still over 100g of protein -- just 1 serving of tofu, 1 serving of lentils or other legumes, and throw in 1 serving of soy milk for good measure. Aka one "protein" with every meal (granted, soy is a bit higher than lentils which is a bit higher than beans, but they're in the same ball park). That adds up to around 75-80g, and just for comparison, that's around 800 calories total, max. You can easily get the remaining 20-25g of protein from things you don't track as protein, which add up. To give an illustration, suppose you ate a 2000 calorie diet, with the above 800 calories coming from three servings of protein-rich foods, and the remaining 1200 calories coming from 1.6 kilograms of boiled potatoes (pure carbs, right?) well actually, that would give you 25g of protein, easily hitting the goal of 100g of protein, total. Most whole plant-based proteins (tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, etc) have 7-10g of protein per 100 calories, so for three servings of ~300 calories each (which is the recommendation for your generic 2000 calorie diet), you would get 63g-90g of protein per day, well within the RDA from those foods alone. Fill in the rest with starches, cruciferous vegetables, fruits, and dark leafy greens, plus some nuts and seeds and you will easily hit 100g without even trying. Of course you can adjust this up and down to desired protein levels, how much you like beans, how many calories you typically eat, etc. But it's not a Herculean task. It's hard to think of a whole food that is completely devoid of protein, so if you are getting enough calories, you're good. Not the same story for ultraprocessed foods though, you could eat 2000 calories of Oreos and end up with a measly 11g of protein -- and that's one container. And I'll be honest in my college days I came pretty close to eating a whole container in a day....

[@shiftgood]

Ultra processed foods like: French Fries, Oreos, doritos, Pepsi, doughnuts, Ketchup, Popsicles, Lucky Charms etc. are all just plants and their oils.... right? I mean there are just a few tiny amounts preservatives mixed in. So is it that the preservatives are the real culprit? Because otherwise "processed foods" really is just ground up blends of plants and their oils. Which are super healthy....right?

[@ThingsYoudontwanttohear]

I think it is more insightful to look at what was taken out and replaced with calories, instead of looking at tiny amounts of additives.

[@Lieutenant-Dan]

Look up the ingredients to Subway's meat...that's an example of ultra processed food. Just because something has preservatives doesn't mean it's ultra processed. If you buy a pot of soup containing all whole foods like lentils and veggies but with some added preservatives, that's not an ultra processed food.

[@vatsmith8759]

The 'grinding up' of these foods in the factory changes the way they are digested. If the body has to 'grind up' the food itself the nutrients are extracted over a much longer time period as the food travels through the gut, which is the way body evolved to deal with them, instead of getting them all in one quick hit from UPFs. It's not just what's in the food that matters, the matrix holding the ingredients is also a significant factor.

[@shiftgood]

@@vatsmith8759 These "nutrients" don't really seem like nutrients if the rate at which they're absorbed matters. And having "fiber" around to block the absorbtion of them so you poop them out instead is somehow the beneficial part. It just doesn't make any sense... seems like we're being clowned.

[@vatsmith8759]

@@shiftgood Look at it this way, our bodies evolved to run on certain types of 'natural' fuel so if you use something different like a 'factory-made' fuel you shouldn't be surprised if you end up with problems.

[@tsebosei1285]

It's nice to hear eating my veggies I also get protein

[@asdf1991asdf]

Not really

[@PauIdenino]

​@@asdf1991asdfYes really

[@Petunia-fl9lu]

consult the DIAAS and then see how much you are not getting

[@lucastulpin]

Great video!

[@TheProofWithSimonHill]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it

[@gavinbrinck]

i love this, thank you so much !

[@martinkevin4827]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@LVArturs]

11:00 There are papers about feeding mice and humans Alaska pollock - it increases muscle even without any training, for some hitherto unexplained reason.

[@bkflex55]

Plz link. Thanks!

[@zlmdragon.]

"unexplained reason" it's called biology, signaling molecules triggering the chain of events. Some amino acids, signal protein synthesis.

[@LVArturs]

@@zlmdragon. in one study on rats they looked at taurine and various amino acids - none of them fully explained the results of this fish protein.

[@LVArturs]

@@bkflex55 can't post links, some titles are "Dietary Alaska Pollack Protein Induces Acute Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Rats, Regardless of Specific Amino Acid and Amino Acid Balance of Diet" "Chronic Intake of a Meal Including Alaska Pollack Protein Increases Skeletal Muscle Mass and Strength in Healthy Older Women: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial"

[@LVArturs]

@@zlmdragon. look at the first title in my previous comment - they couldn't pinpoint the reason in aminos.

[@jlangeles23]

I'm an otherwise healthy Omnivore trying to step away from referring to single macro-nutrients: Like Protein! By not talking about Aminos as a whole... There are some ESSENTIAL amino acids that we need in a given amount, so personal, and dependant on factors like genetics, lifestyle, physical activity, health status, etc. The discussion isn't only Meat Vs Plants, but the NUTRITIONAL value of the specific diet is what should matter the most. For Protein turnover in the body, no doubt aminos is the thing, but there are many other aspects when it come to give the body what's needed to operate optimally (Micro-biome, hormonal balances, age, genre, health challenges, physical performance, etc). Personally, I consider in a daily basis a combination of "amino-acids sources", FIBER, fermented foods (Plant or animal), watching the Omega 6/3 ratio, and trying to go easy on Sugary foods (Notably Fructose ..). Pure personal "Anec-data", just a -by definition- valid opinion from my side! 😎

[@jlangeles23]

BTW, I'm curious about the Chronometer app capabilities counting Amino Acids...I'll try it.

[@johnnyfog8134]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@739jep]

Is it difficult to get enough protein as recommended for athletes here from plant sources AND keep calories low?

[@CharlieFader]

It really depends on how low you want to keep them and what are your preferred macro ratios. Depending on the situation a protein powder could help.

[@739jep]

@@CharlieFader thanks for the response , I completely overlooked the possibility of consuming plant based protein powders 😂

[@CharlieFader]

@@739jep and there’s a huge variety of plant-based powders nowadays. It’s so easy.

[@ZmogusJaponija]

From my personal experience it is MUCH easier than via animal protein diet...unless you eat chicken breasts all day long. But if you are aiming at somewhat balanced animal diet, usually you get saturated fat with protein (e.g. whole eggs, diary). And in WFPB diet you consume low calorie, high protein foods, such as beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, etc. But yes, there is also powder option.

[@739jep]

@@ZmogusJaponija thanks for the tips. Lately I’ve been making the effort to become more plant based , although I must admit this is where I think I have some trouble. The options you gave are great options but still , the amount of protein per calorie is a lot lower I think when compared to chicken , fish , prawns , egg whites etc.

[@stennlake]

Simon, amino acid profile is one thing. The other aspect you didnt touch on is amino acid ratios. Animal proteins have the required ratios for better absorption, plant proteins do not. In order to get these, you need to mix plant protein types e.g pea protein and rice protein are complimentary in that respect BUT you'd have to eat an awful lot of it to get the required protein. Not really feasible unless you opt for a plant based protein powder. If you do, you need to realise you are eating an incredibly processed food whose long term effects are not totally understood.

No, you just didn't really listen because the truth... The truth is scary 🤷

[@stennlake]

@SamuelNoaGreen elaborate please

[@Seanonyoutube]

Great lighting, really brings out your beautiful ears

[@nicolasbonnet3495]

The exclusive use of food from the plant world is only a recent occurrence in human history. I will not say a modern fashion as some religions advocate it. Whether someone finds killing an animal for feeding oneself disgusting or not, many studies over the evolution of man have shown that meat consumption was correlated with an increase in body height and brain development..

[@CharlieFader]

Cooked food in general correlates well with that, and cooked starches in particular. Either way, what is more important is to live in good health for a long time, and scientific studies consistently show that plant foods aid in that.