An Editor for Men’s Health Netherlands gained 4kg of muscle after embarking on a 12-week vegan diet.
Mart de Jong followed a high-calorie plant-based diet and visited the gym five times a week – under the guidance of an award-winning bodybuilder.
The 28-year-old writer said he consumed ‘large’ portions of spaghetti at 11am in the morning to reach his caloric goals.
He said: “In hindsight, this sounds quite bizarre, but if you have a goal, you just do it and you go completely full. My goal? I wanted to discover how much muscle mass could be achieved in 12 weeks.”
Muscle mass
Fellow Men’s Health star Martyn de Jong also tried the 12-week bulk experiment but included animal products in his diet plan. Both participants consumed the same amount of calories and exercised the same.
However, Mart (vegan) gained 4kg in weight – all of which was muscle mass. Martyn gained 4.5kg – but only 3.7kg was muscle.
Martyn (meat-based diet) also said he ‘paid for’ his muscle gain with his happiness and health – and that his blood sugar levels were ‘terrible’ during the experiment.
Meat vs Vegan Diets
Last year, a pair of identical twins also trialed vegan and meat-based diets to test the results.
Ross and Hugo Turner – aka ‘the adventure guinea pigs’ – compared the diets over 12 weeks between January and March. They ate a very similar number of calories and both did five or six sessions of endurance training each week.
Throughout the experiment, researchers from King’s College monitored the twins, tracking metrics like muscle mass and weight, as well as cholesterol.
According to Men’s Health, following the experiment, Ross’ cholesterol stayed the same at 6.5 (which he described as ‘quite high’) and Hugo’s (who followed a vegan diet) went down to 4.9. When it comes to body composition, Hugo lost 1kg of fat and gained 1.2kg of muscle mass, while Ross gained 2.8kg of fat and 4kg of muscle mass
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Are you able to share the vegan diet that was followed please?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax0P0m350SA&feature=youtu.be
At around 21 minutes in, Mart explains the foods consumed
I’ve been eating a (pesci)vegan diet for the better part of the last 12-years. That’s my own diet which is vegan BUT with the addition of wild caught fish 3-5x each month (preferably grilled salmon, mahi, other tunas, etc). The denser and heavier the fish the better. But wild caught is important.
My system of eating has also included a dramatic reduction in cooking oils, by using vegetable broth and cooking at lower temperatures. Like soda, cooking oils are terrible for you (despite what their marketing would have you believe). Highly processed, no enzymes, and 100% saturated fat. The healthy fatty acids and vitamin E can be gotten from sources that don’t damage your body. This additional tweak has improved my intestinal health immensely AND made it even easier to shed and keep off bad weight. Plus I have more energy.
Long story short, at the age of 44 I’ve been able to remain a size 36R at 6.03′ tall and approximately 155 ibs. I’ve been able to continually develop good lean muscle and definition with weight & conditioning training 3x week. I know for a fact that if I had the time allowance to train 5-6x week plus extra vegan calories, I could sculpt my body into something with measurably more muscle weight. But I like the lean muscle look for myself.
** It’s important to point out here that I practice a small amount intermittent fasting during the day, by not eating from 8pm to 11am the following morning (easy 15-hour fast). Late mornings are just fresh cut fruit and lots of whole leaf organic green tea. Normal lunch around 1-2 pm and dinner at 6-7 pm.
With my above diet, I’ve also been able to significantly slow my aging process. Everyone comments on my skin and believes I’m 7-10 years younger than I actually am. Also, no acne, age spots, or other animal hormonal signs on the epidermis that come with dairy, egg and meat consumption. Dairy is the REAL killer with this one.
My energy is also way up, and my sex life is stronger and healthier. I’ve never needed D*** pills.
I could keep going. I know many will find this all hard to believe, but believe it. If you research this you’ll find that the benefits I’ve experienced are consistent with anyone who eats a *healthy* vegan diet (even without the occasional fish). I specify healthy because sweets and desserts will still get you in trouble with your goals. Obviously the vegan version of chocolate ice cream is better than the dairy version, but it’s still loaded with sugar.
I couldn’t possibly share a better life recommendation. My wife jokes that turning her onto this way of eating is the best thing I’ve ever done for her.
Go vegan and become the best version of yourself. Good luck.