Are your creatine levels different if you are a vegetarian?

Consequently, vegetarians face a series of unique nutritional challenges that omnivorous bodybuilders and athletes do not. People choose to be vegetarian/vegan for different reasons. Some for religion, some for ethics, some for disease, and some people just do not like the taste of meat.

Regardless, there is some evidence to suggest that a vegetarian diet may provide health benefits. For example, a vegetarian diet tends to be high in unsaturated fats, fibre, vitamin C, and low in saturated fat. These have benefits in regards to overall health.

However, good health does not necessarily translate to athletic performance or bodybuilding potential. A typical vegetarian diet tends to contain lower levels of iron, zinc, and creatine compared to an omnivorous diet. This can then be extended to lower levels of calcium and vitamin B12 for vegans.

When it comes to protein, vegetarians and even vegans are easily able to match the quantity of protein consumed by their meat eating counterparts. However, the biological value of such proteins tends to be lower than that of animal products (animal proteins have amino acids in a ratio more closely resembling what we need). Consequently, vegetarians (vegans in particular) need to consume higher quantities of protein compared to omnivorous people (Kniskern & Johnston, 2011).

Finally, creatine is found exclusively in animal products, and is an important energy source for bodybuilding and strength training. Without sufficient high quality protein, the bodybuilder runs the risk of a negative nitrogen balance which will lead to decreased growth and muscle protein synthesis. Vegetarians and vegans can benefit from eating nuts, beans and other legumes, rice and soy products which have higher values of protein than other plant sources.

The vegetarian can also consume a whey or casein protein to help them obtain the required protein. Vegan lifters can increase their protein intake through soy, rice, and nut proteins supplements. Meat eaters consume the most creatine, vegetarians consume less, and vegans consume the least.

Consequently, vegans and vegetarians tend to have lower muscle creatine levels than meat eaters (Maughan, 1995). This may significantly reduce their explosive power. Vegetarians can benefit from consuming eggs and dairy which contain some creatine.

Unfortunately very few, if any, vegan foods naturally contain creatine. It is therefore important for both groups to take a creatine supplement. It has been shown that because of lower baseline levels of muscle creatine in vegetarians, the result of creatine supplementation is able to produce larger gains than when meat eaters use the supplement.

However, this increase only makes up for the initial deficit, and does not increase the vegetarian's performance above that of the meat eater. Unlike animal proteins, plant proteins may not contain all the essential amino acids in the necessary proportions. As the body synthesises protein by combining individual amino acids, lack of amino acids in our body reduces the pool of amino acids for which this process involves.

Furthermore, low levels of certain amino acids will affect your ability to be successful with bodybuilding. For example, lack of lysine or L-lysine can affect your body's ability to absorb calcium, build muscle protein and create important enzymes and hormones required for muscle growth. Not many plant sources contain all 8 essential amino acids.