Top 10 Vegan Foods to Help You Gain Weight

Top 10 Vegan Foods to Help You Gain Weight

Vegan or plant-based diets are gaining in popularity as there are many potential health benefits associated with this way of eating. A plant-based diet has been found to reduce the risk of many common diseases, including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and various types of cancer (1,2,3).

When trying to gain weight on a vegan diet, there are a couple of factors to consider. Firstly, it is necessary to increase your calorie intake, so that you consume more energy than you burn. This may be more challenging for vegans, because many vegan foods are low in calories. Secondly, you’ll need to ensure that you are eating adequate protein. In combination with some form of resistance exercise, this will help you to build muscle mass.

As a general rule, adding around an extra 500 calories per day is a good "benchmark." When you exercise, you can increase this a little more. It is important to obtain the extra calories from across the range of food groups; protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Resistance exercise is any type of exercise that causes muscles to contract against a force or resistance. This can be free weights, weight machines or your own body weight. Examples include weight lifting, pulling resistance bands, squats, lunges, push-ups, and even certain yoga poses. Resistance exercise builds and tones muscles and makes them stronger, as well as increasing bone strength.

For good cardiovascular health, it is also recommended to include 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, like walking, running, cycling, or swimming. However, you may need to keep this light when trying to gain weight, as aerobic exercise burns a lot of calories and may make weight gain more challenging.

Many bodybuilders and gym-goers are convinced that you need animal protein to build muscle. There are, however, many successful vegan bodybuilders and athletes. Some bodybuilders are also concerned that inflammation caused by animal proteins might actually hinder athletic performance.

If you are following a plant-based diet and want to gain weight, this article may be useful for you. It includes high-calorie vegan foods, along with high-protein vegan foods for supporting muscle building.

Foods for Vegan Weight Gain

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A printable list of vegan foods for weight gain including granola, tofu, smoothies, nuts, seeds, lentils, beans, and peas.

Tips For Vegan Weight Gain

  • Eating many little snacks throughout the day generally helps to encourage a higher overall food intake. This means breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2-3 snacks each day. Also aim for a slight increase in portion sizes of about 25-30%.
  • Regular meal times are also important for regulating appetite. Eating within a 2-hour window whenever possible is advisable. For example, you could always have breakfast between 8 and 10am, and lunch between 1 and 3 pm. The body gets used to regular mealtimes, and eventually you will feel hungry at these times, even if this doesn’t happen right away. By contrast, irregular eating patterns can disrupt appetite control, which may lead to over- or under-eating.
  • When it’s not possible to stick to your usual mealtime, try to have a substantial snack, and then eat as soon as you can.
  • Caffeine can suppress appetite, so it’s best either to avoid it or to drink it only after meals. Limit caffeine consumption to 1-2 coffees or black teas per day.
  • As mentioned above, include resistance exercise 2-4 times per week for muscle building. You might find it beneficial to consult a personal trainer who can create a program for you to follow.

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Data Sources and References

  1. Ros E. Plant-based diets and cardiovascular health Trends Cardiovasc Med. 2018 Oct;28(7):442-444. doi: 10.1016/j.tcm.2018.04.008. Epub 2018 May 9. 29793834
  2. Olfert MD, Wattick RA. A plant-based diet for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes Curr Diab Rep. 2018 Sep 18;18(11):101. doi: 10.1007/s11892-018-1070-9. 30229314
  3. Thomas TL. Nutritional Status and Diet in Cancer Prevention Semin Oncol Nurs. 2016 Aug;32(3):273-80. doi: 10.1016/j.soncn.2016.05.007. Epub 2016 Jul 29. 27539281
  4. Gilani GS. Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores (PDCAAS) for soy protein isolates and concentrate: criteria for evaluation Br J Nutr. 2012 Aug;108 Suppl 2:S168-82. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512002383. 23107528
  5. Proll J, Petzke KJ, Ezeagu IE, Metges CC. Nutritional quality of the protein in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa, Willd) seeds J Nutr. 1998 Nov;128(11):2014-22. doi: 10.1093/jn/128.11.2014. 9808658
  6. Hulmi JJ, Laakso M, Mero AA, Häkkinen K, Ahtiainen JP, Peltonen H. The effects of resistance training with or without peanut protein supplementation on skeletal muscle and strength adaptations in older individuals J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2015 Dec 16;12:48. doi: 10.1186/s12970-015-0109-4. eCollection 2015. 26677350
  7. Davison K, Howe PR. The Impact of Cocoa Flavanols on Cardiovascular Health Phytother Res. 2017 Jan;31(1):165-166. doi: 10.1002/ptr.5729. Epub 2016 Oct 9. 27723148
  8. Ros E. Health benefits of nut consumption Br J Nutr. 2015 Apr;113 Suppl 2:S111-20. doi: 10.1017/S0007114514003924. 26148914
  9. Duarte NM, Cruz AL, Silva DC, Cruz GM. Pea proteins oral supplementation promotes muscle thickness gains during resistance training: a double-blind, randomized, Placebo-controlled clinical trial vs. Whey protein J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2020 Jan;60(1):75-84. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.19.09741-X. Epub 2019 Sep 23. 31565912
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