5 Elite Vegan Athletes Weigh In On The Best Foods For Protein

If anyone knows a thing or two about good sources of plant protein, it’s professional vegan athletes. From boosting athletic performance to improving recovery times, veganism has benefitted many elite athletes at the top of their game.

So what do they actually eat to fuel their bodies through incredible feats of strength, endurance, and skill? Here are what five top athletes think are the best sources of protein from plants.

Katya Gorbacheva

US-based nationally qualified powerlifter Katya Gorbacheva competes with the Vegan Strong PlantBuilt Team. She has bench pressed 85.7 kg (193 lb), squatted 165 kg, and deadlifted a whopping 182.5 kg. And she does it all without any animal products.

Gorbacheva previously told Plant Based News (PBN) that she gets all the protein she needs from tofu, seitan, and vegan meat alternatives. Her diet is also packed with fruits, vegetables, and grains like buckwheat, which is particularly rich in the amino acids lysine and arginine.

Tofu is among the best sources of plant-based proteins since it’s made from soy beans, which are comparable to meat for protein content. Tofu is nutrient-dense and rich in isoflavones which may help lower cholesterol.

Seitan is made from vital wheat gluten and is packed with protein while being low in fat. While it’s not a good choice for people with a gluten intolerance, for anyone else looking to fuel their bodies while training, it’s a great option.

Patrik Baboumian

Vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian recommends beans as a great source of protein. He transitioned from vegetarianism to veganism is 2011, the same year he won the title of Germany’s Strongest Man. He has set multiple world records and appeared on Netflix film The Game Changers in 2018.

To power those massive muscles, Baboumian eats a lot of legumes, nuts, and seeds. In a 2019 YouTube video, he described what he eats in a day, though he noted his diet was always evolving. Along with vitamin supplements, in the video he has a soy isolate protein shake and a fruit smoothie with more protein powder added in. For lunch he prepared a tomato salad alongside fries, falafel and vegan sausage, as well as grilled peppers. His next meal was lots of vegetables and tofu.

Diana Taurasi

Dianan Taurasi has only just retired from a stellar career playing basketball for WNBA team Phoenix Mercury. She is the league’s all-time leading scorer and has six Olympic gold medals to her name. She has been vegan since 2016, and told Bon Appetit in an interview that she “felt the change instantly” with her body able to recover faster and her performance on the court improving.

In the interview she revealed that her breakfasts consisted of soy milk smoothies blended with hemp, flaxseed, and chia seeds. Soy, hemp seeds, and chia seeds are particularly rich sources of plant protein. For lunch, Taurasi said she would eat air-fried tofu, broccoli, and rice, while dinner would be vegetable-packed enchiladas topped with loads of vegan cheeses.

Meagan Duhamel

“I wasn’t a world champion before I was vegan, I was a world champion because I was vegan,” Meagan Duhamel told Bon Appetit. Duhamel is a Canadian Olympic figure skater with a gold medal for pairs figure skating in the 2018 Winter Olympics and seven national titles. She went vegan in 2008 and shares vegan recipes and nutrition tips through her social media account @lutzofgreens. She is now retired and coaches other skaters. According to Great Vegan Athletes, she has said that one of her “proudest accomplishments has been going vegan.”

To support her athletic performance, she would eat homemade protein cookies made with chickpeas and peanut butter as well as lentil pastas. On @lutzofgreens she shares protein-packed recipes such as a Beyond Meat fried rice made with quinoa and lentils and a chickpea avocado salad. She describes the salad as “a great option for athletes! High in protein and rich in healthy fats” which athletes need “because it’s the primary fuel for low to moderate intensity exercise.”

Kendrick Farris

Olympic weightlifter and American weightlifting record-holder Kendrick Farris has credited his vegan diet with helping his body recover faster and giving him more mental clarity. He has also said he doesn’t worry about tracking his protein intake because what matters is how food makes him feel. He told Men’s Journal in 2018 that black beans and trail mix with almonds, cashews, and pistachios are among his go-to foods, and all are packed with protein. Farris also recommend to PBN a few foods that he thinks are great for building strength.

One is hemp. More than 25 percent of the calories from hemp seeds are from high quality protein, containing good amounts of all the essential amino acids. They’re also rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, vitamin E, and various minerals. Hemp can be consumed as seeds or as a protein powder.

Farris told PBN bamboo shoots are another good food for strength training. They aren’t widely consumed outside of Southeast and East Asia, but they are worth seeking out for their nutritional value. They’re packed with vitamins, fiber, and minerals, and are a good source of protein. Their protein and nutrient content both increase with fermentation too, and jars of fermented bamboo shoots are pretty readily available at health food stores.