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Plant-Based Bodybuilding

Lower levels of the cancer promoting growth hormone IGF-1 in those eating vegan is not expected to affect their accumulation of muscle mass.

October 8, 2012 |
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Plant-Based Bodybuilding, 4.6 out of 5 based on 7 ratings

Sources Cited

Friedlander AL, Butterfield GE, Moynihan S, Grillo J, Pollack M, Holloway L, Friedman L, Yesavage J, Matthias D, Lee S, Marcus R, Hoffman AR. One year of insulin-like growth factor I treatment does not affect bone density, body composition, or psychological measures in postmenopausal women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Apr;86(4):1496-503.

Phillips SM. Comments on Point:Counterpoint: IGF is/is not the major physiological regulator of muscle mass. In search of the skeletal muscle growth potential of

West DW, Burd NA, Tang JE, Moore DR, Staples AW, Holwerda AM, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones with resistance exercise enhance neither training-induced muscle hypertrophy nor strength of the elbow flexors. J Appl Physiol. 2010 Jan;108(1):60-7.

Sutter NB, Bustamante CD, Chase K, Gray MM, Zhao K, Zhu L, Padhukasahasram B, Karlins E, Davis S, Jones PG, Quignon P, Johnson GS, Parker HG, Fretwell N, Mosher DS, Lawler DF, Satyaraj E, Nordborg M, Lark KG, Wayne RK, Ostrander EA. Science. 2007 Apr 6;316(5821):112-5. A single IGF1 allele is a major determinant of small size in dogs.

Freda PU, Shen W, Reyes-Vidal CM, Geer EB, Arias-Mendoza F, Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB. Skeletal muscle mass in acromegaly assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and dual-photon x-ray absorptiometry. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Aug;94(8):2880-6.

Rowlands MA, Gunnell D, Harris R, Vatten LJ, Holly JM, Martin RM. Circulating insulin-like growth factor peptides and prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cancer. 2009 May 15;124(10):2416-29.

de Herder WW. Acromegaly and gigantism in the medical literature. Case descriptions in the era before and the early years after the initial publication of Pierre Marie (1886). Pituitary. 2009;12(3):236-44.

Yang SY, Miah A, Pabari A, Winslet M. Growth Factors and their receptors in cancer metastases. Front Biosci. 2011 Jan 1;16:531-8.

Zhang Y, Ma B, Fan Q. Mechanisms of breast cancer bone metastasis. Cancer Lett. 2010 Jun 1;292(1):1-7.

Kleinberg DL, Wood TL, Furth PA, Lee AV. Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I in the transition from normal mammary development to preneoplastic mammary lesions. Endocr Rev. 2009 Feb;30(1):51-74.

Acknowledgements

Images thanks to: Dan Bennett, dbking, Larry He's So Fine, alanpoulson, auremar, Derek Tresize by Josh Avery, Ed Bauer, and Nathane Jackson.

Transcript

We know excess cellular growth isn’t so good when we’re fully grown adults, since budding tumors may end up being the main beneficiaries of higher levels of circulating growth hormones.. but in some circumstances… a little extra growth is sought after, particularly for men in this culture, though not exclusively.

The growth hormone IGF-1 is the reason some dogs look like this, and others like this. What about those that strive to be the big dog. Yes, lower circulating levels of IGF in vegans lowers cancer risk, but might that interfere with their accumulation of muscle mass? There certainly are lots of plant-based body builders, but maybe they’re the exception. To look like this, does one have to risk looking like this?

True or false: Lower IGF-1 levels in vegans likely interferes with muscle accumulation. Is this fact or Is this fiction

Well, there’s a couple says you attack that question. For example, what’s the skeletal muscle mass like in acromegaly? people afflicted with giantism—where they have an IGF overload in the body. If IGF bulks up muscle you’d think they’d be musclebound, but no, they don't have any more muscle on average than anyone else.

What if you inject people with IGF-1? They injected women for a year and found no increase in lean body mass or grip, bench or leg press strength. What about men? Same thing basically. They had about a dozen 22 year-olds flex for 15 weeks under diffent hormonal miliews, and concluded that elevations in ostensibly anabolic hormones like IGF-1 with resistance exercise enhances neither training induced muscle bulk nor strength.

“Thus it seems that outside of (genetically engineered mice or a cell culture dish or other animal models) that the search for the true role of the growth potential for IGF-1 in adult muscle hypertrophy is a vain one.” So, although it’s never been directly tested, probably fiction.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

Why might we want low levels of IGF-1 in adulthood? See IGF-1 is a One Stop Cancer Shop. As we saw in How Plant-Based to Lower IGF-1?, vegan men have higher testosterone levels, which can be a risk factor for prostate cancer and enlargement, but given the average IGF-1 levels of those eating plant-based diets this may not be an issue. See Developing an Ex Vivo Cancer Proliferation Bioassay and Prostate Versus a Plant-Based Diet. Having said that, if they eat excess "high quality" protein, they may not retain their IGF-1 advantage. SeeHigher Quality May Mean Higher Risk, Animalistic Plant Proteins, Too Much Soy May Neutralize Plant-Based Benefits, How Much Soy Is Too Much?, and 

If you haven't yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here.

For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Stool Size and Breast Cancer Risk and Vegan Men: More Testosterone But Less Cancer

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/ Michael Greger M.D.

    Why might we want low levels of IGF-1 in adulthood? See IGF-1 is a One Stop Cancer Shop. As we saw in How Plant-Based to Lower IGF-1?, vegan men have higher testosterone levels, which can be a risk factor for prostate cancer and enlargement, but given the average IGF-1 levels of those eating plant-based diets this may not be an issue. See Developing an Ex Vivo Cancer Proliferation Bioassay and Prostate Versus a Plant-Based Diet. Having said that, if they eat excess “high quality” protein, they may not retain their IGF-1 advantage. See Higher Quality May Mean Higher Risk, Animalistic Plant Proteins, Too Much Soy May Neutralize Plant-Based Benefits, and How Much Soy Is Too Much?.

    If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here.

    • HemoDynamic, M.D.

      So what you are concluding is you don’t have to eat the Beef-Steak to be a Beef-Cake! 
      ;-}

  • Mike Quinoa

    I always get a chuckle out of those bunnies.

  • Marc

    What is your take on soy protein isolate as the main ingredient in “fake meat” such as veggie burger? Should we avoid consuming it everyday and aim at eating tempeh and natto instead, or is this unfounded fear?

  • Geoffreylevens

    It has been sort of defacto tested in the gym. You have only to look at competitive ”natural” body builders and compare them to the anabolic steroid and growth hormone injecting “big dogs” to see the results. Of course, there is that pesky issue of cancer risk.  So I guess it just depends on your goals;  A long healthy life as a more normally endowed person, or get really big and die young and screaming… ;)

    • Bradleyandflynn

      Geoff your post talks about anabolic steroids which we know enhances muscle growth in humans. This article deals only with igf1. I used Igf several times for pedriods of months as a bodybuilder. It had no benefit.

      • GeoffreyLevens
        • GeoffreyLevens

          oops… does not benefit everyone of course.  I had very low free testosterone, symptoms mostly low energy and depression. I tried HCG injections and also topical T cream, went from very low to dangerously off the charts high in blood and saliva tests and experienced zero effects on any level. Maybe, maybe slightly faster beard growth at high levels…  Physiologies differ.  I may be wrong buy someone who claimed to know him when, told me that Ahnold used growth hormone as his juice of choice.

  • abeleehane

    Why Michelle Obama ??

  • WholeFoodChomper

    Like Marc below, I’m also interested in hearing what your opinion is regarding isolated soy proteins, specifically TVP. I have just finished reading “The Fat Vegan” chapter in Dr. McDougall’s _The Starch Solution_ and he’s pretty clear about staying away from the stuff: “Removing meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, and dairy are well recognized dietary changes that lower IGF1 levels. Isolated soy proteins should be added to the top of that list.” What do you think the scientific evidence indicates? Is it safe to eat TVP?

    I can see based on Toxins’s response, that isolated soy proteins are best to be avoided, but what is your professional opinion Dr. Greger?

    • Toxins

      I
      would advise staying away from the
      stuff and i am sure Dr. Greger would agree! soy Protein isolate raises IGF-1 twice as much as does cow milk. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12629084

      • WholeFoodChomper

        Thanks, Toxins. Although, I am still curious what Dr. Greger and the current research has to say about it.

        Personally, I’m not that crazy about TVP, but my BF is fond of it as a meat replacement in certain recipes (chili, tacos, spaghetti sauce). I already took away meat and dairy from him, if I take TVP away too, I’m afraid he will give up on the whole plant-based eating plan. Although he has made some tremendous changes to his eating habits, he is not as gung ho about the plant-based eating thing as I am. Is TVP (eaten occasionally) worse than meat? (We use Bob’s Red Mill TVP, not sure if that makes a difference.)

        On a related note, what do others use besides TVP in recipes that usually require ground meat. We’ve tried lentils and tempeh. Again, I like them, but the BF is not keen on those either.

        Just trying to make plant-based eating as yummy and practical as possible. I’m finding that sometimes it just is not that easy.

        • GeoffreyLevens

          Have you tried big chunks of mushrooms, like Portobella? And combine that w/ beans for “ballast” and umami flavor adds like a little miso or nutritional yeast.

          • WholeFoodChomper

            Great ideas, Geoff. Actually, you reminded me that I once made an awesome chili with chopped portabellas as a base. The beauty of TVP is that it is super fast and easy and does not require all the prep time as the shrooms do. But, I do like the idea. Still holding out that may TVP is not that bad,

          • GeoffreyLevens

            TVP highly processed, no nutrients, yada yada. I think not even in same ballpark w/ critter though. Plant protein in concentrated form like that will jack up IGF-1 but also increases IGF-1 binding hormone as well that partially mitigates. Not bad on occasion but if eaten regularly just takes the place of truly beneficial foods. ALL mushrooms apparently have pronounced anti-cancer effects…

      • WholeFoodChomper

        Recently, I have come across a product called Instant Soy Milk Powder made by Now Real Food. I like it b/c I feel it is more versatile than buying soy milk, it provides more bang for the buck, and it conserves space (e.g. storage, camping, emergency prep kit, etc.).

        Any sense what the verdict is on powdered soy milk in terms of isolated soy proteins? The ingredients listed simply state that it is “Non-GMO (Non-Dairy) Soy Milk Powder.” Additional product info states: “Soy Milk Powder is a rich and creamy beverage mix that dissolves easily in water. It is derived from whole, non-genetically engineered soybeans and is a good source of vegetable proteins and Omega-6 fatty acids. … It also typically contains 28 mg of Soy Isoflavones per serving. …”

        What do you think? Use or avoid?

        • Toxins

          It seems perfectly fine to me! Its just dried soymilk judging from the ingredients.

          • WholeFoodChomper

            Thanks for chiming in, Toxins. That is what I suspected. Thank’d for your input on the matter. :)

  • Bataleon

    What is the reason for vegans and vegetarians having higher testosterone levels than meat-eaters? I’ve always thought a diet high in saturated fats promoted an increase in free testosterone levels. Thanks.

    • http://www.DonForresterMD.com/ Don Forrester MD

      I haven’t seen an article addressing that specific question however there are related studies. PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is a condition affecting up to 5% of women which has elevated testosterone and insulin resistance. It responds well to a whole foods plant based diet(PBD). There testosterone levels functionally go down for three reasons… higher fiber tends to decrease both female and male hormones going out of the body via the intestine due to increased fiber and transit time see… http://nutritionfacts.org/video/food-mass-transit/ and see… http://nutritionfacts.org/video/relieving-yourself-of-excess-estrogen/, the steroid binding hormone in the body goes up with a low fat PBD so more of the active hormone is bound in the blood and not available to tissue, and lastly b/o the lack of meat consumption the amount of artificial male hormones ingested disappears see… http://nutritionfacts.org/video/anabolic-steroids-in-meat/. As a cyclist I’ve always wondered whether as a vegan my testosterone level is lower and if it effects my strength however when you look at the advantages… better arterial health, less cancer, less body fat, less chance of diabetes/back problems/sexual dysfunction/dementia/macular degeneration/kidney stones… the list is long.. in my opinion there is argument against PBD. Of course if the ratio of male to female hormones determines femininity or masculinity sense both hormones are affected my guess there is overall effect. This would support your opinion that a diet higher in saturated fat with less fiber and more meat results in higher testosterone levels with it’s associated increase in Prostate Cancer. Hope this helps.

      • Bataleon

        Thanks for the extremely detailed reply, I found it very informative.

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