From: taltar@fraser.sfu.ca (Ted Altar)
Subject: Re: WANT TO GAIN WEIGHT
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 18:46:00 GMT

rcass@kean.ucs.mun.ca writes:


>	I WOULD LIKE TO GAIN WEIGHT AND MAINTAIN A VEGETARIAN DIET. I'VE 
>BEEN EATING O.K. AND I HAVEN'T KEELED OVER YET. STILL I FEEL SOMETIMES LIKE 
>THE "VEGETARIAN WANNABE" KEVIN. I EAT PLENTY OF CHEESE FOR FAT PLUS FATTY 
>SNACKS AND NUTTY THINGS LIKE TAHINI AND PEANUT BUTTER. HOWEVER, I STILL 
>FEEL LIKE I'M BARELY SKIN AND BONES. IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WITH 
>A RECOMMENDATION/PLAN FOR GAINING WEIGHT AS A VEGETARIAN.
. . .


GAINING WEIGHT:


DO I REALLY NEED ANIMAL FLESH?

Just to clear up any misunderstanding we saw earlier voiced (not
from you Rob) there is absolutely no special need or advantage of
obtaining protein or fat from meat.  Indeed, the evidence
clearly suggests that plant sources for proteins and fats
are just fine, if not even better, with plant foods we don't
have the same associated problems of heart disease, cancer,
etc. that we have with animal products.

Again, *improper* diets can just as readily occur among
vegetarians as among omnivores.  The foolish macrobiotic
diet is a notable example.  One has to provide proper
nutrition to growing and mature bodies and meet the dietary
guidelines dealing with food variety, moderation, balance
and developmental appropriateness of diets for your age,
activity, metabolic rate and body type.

For example, a diet that can easily sustain most adults,
whether or not meat is included, is not necessarily going to
be appropriate for infants, young children or underweight
adults.  In this case, diets that are low in caloric and
nutrient density and fat and high in bulk may be quite
beneficial in adulthood, but may post risks in infancy,
simply because of the greater limited capacity of the
stomach (1).  Such a diet may also make it more difficult
for the underweight adult gain weight.  A similar principle,
then, applies both growing vegetarian children and
underweight adult vegetarians, namely, the calory-dense
foods need to predominate in the diet.

A proper lactovegetarian, lactoovovegetarian or a vegan diet
all can equally provide good nutrition for children (2) and
adults.  Once must of course be particularly alert to the
misconceptions and prejudices of omnivores who presume to
give advice when they themselves have little knowledge of
vegetarianism and have not read any of the literature
directly for themselves.  We seem to have a few here on
r.f.v.

A varied wholefood vegan or lactovegetarian diet contains
adequate levels of energy and protein to sustain good health
in all age groups, as evidenced by studies of vegans or
lactovegetarians across the world.  National and
international recommendations for protein intake can be
easily met even on a vegan diet.


GAINING MUSCLE, NOT FAT

Now, if you are trying to gain weight, presumably you do not
want to just gain fat, but rather muscle.  To gain muscle
you must start using them through appropriate exercise.

Maybe the most efficient type of exercise for gaining muscle
bulk is by weight lifting.  Consider buying some used
weights or better still, join a gym or club (like the "Y")
where one might be better motivated to maintain a weight-
lifting regime and where other members can give you hints.

The principles of weight-lifting for muscle build-up are
really very simply:

    
    1.  Stress the muscle to its maximum by lifting the
            maximum weight you can sustain for 8-12
            repetitions, and to repeat those repetitions
            within 2 minutes.  One does about 3-4 sets of
            repetitions.  This fatigues the muscles and one
            can actually feel, along with the localized and
            temporary muscle fatigue, slight swelling from
            the increase blood flow (the so-called "pump").
    
    2.  exercise the major muscle groups by appropriate
            movements with the weights.  To exercise, for
            example, the biceps on one's arms one simply
            holds one's arm straight and then lifts (or
            pulls depending on the equipment) weights by
            bending at the elbow only.  Muscles that bend
            joints are call flexors and muscles that
            straighten joints are call extensors.
    
    3.  both flexors and their corresponding muscle
            extensors should be exercised.  If you have
            exercised your biceps then you need to also work
            on the triceps.  Similarly, the major (large)
            muscle groups of both the upper and lower body
            should be exercised, so as to maintain a
            developing muscle balance (you don't want to
            look like Popeye who only exercised his
            forearms!).  A good work-out need only take 30
            minutes.
    
    4.  You need to rest your muscles between workouts so as
            to allow them to regenerate new tissue.  About a
            one or 2 day rest is recommended.  If you are in
            a rush to body build, you can exercise the upper
            body one day and the lower body the next day and
            by so alternating each day in this manner you
            can work-out every day of the week if you so
            wish.  Young people can build muscle by even
            working-out just once a week, but as you get
            older you need at least 2 work-outs per week to
            build tissue and even sometimes just to maintain
            existing muscle bulk.
    
Besides building muscle, weight-lifting also helps to
strengthen and build bone mass for young people and helps to
maintain bone mass for elderly people.  Be patient.  It
takes at least one year before a difference in body mass
becomes noticeable.



WHAT TO EAT AS A VEGETARIAN?

You don't necessarily need more protein since the average
diet usually has sufficient protein.  The key for someone on
the lean side trying to gain weight is to eat caloric-
protein-rich foods like pulses, nuts, legumes, grains, and
seeds.  These are energy-dense, and their use ensures that
appropriate levels of nitrogen and essential amino acids are
available.  Potatoes and other vegetables also provide
useful amount of calories/protein.

From a wider health perspective it is significant that, as
the COMA Report on Diet and Heart Disease pointed out,
animal protein is often associated with saturated fat, while
plant protein is usually associated with fibre.  The NACNE
Report also stated that the `healthful' diet will contain
larger amounts of cereal and vegetable protein, and less
protein from animal foods."

    . . . "Care should be taken that infants, when weaned,
    have an adequate intake of dietary energy and this can
    be ensured by the use of suitably prepared pulses,
    grains, nuts and seeds.  These foods should be used as
    staples, with smaller amounts of bulky, less energy-
    dense fruits and vegetables, so that the latter do not
    fill the small stomachs of infants and preclude the
    consumption of adequate energy and protein.  These
    guidelines are easy to follow, once understood, and
    allow children to be reared in good health on a vegan
    diet, as evidence by the studies cited."

Similarly, for an growing or mature adult trying to gain
weight, here too energy dense foods are important.  One must
eat more calories, plain and simple, and this is made easier
by eating caloric-dense foods.

It may help to delimit high water absorbing foods as these
will give a feeling of fullness before one has consumed
enough calories.  This is particularly true of vegan infants
and children (due to the limited stomach capacity again) and
to some extent the same may apply to the underweight adult
vegetarian.  Cooked cereals, for instance, absorb different
amounts of water.  Rice and wheat increase 2-3 times whereas
maize increase 6 times in volume.  Legumes increase about 3
times.  Gruels, therefore, may have an inadequate caloric
density for children or underweight adults.  This can easily
be overcome by increasing the intake of:
        cereals
        nut butters and nut milks
        legumes
        vegetable fats (i.e., refined oils)
        fatty foods like tofu

while LIMITING the intake of:

        fruits
        vegetables
        gruels
    

If you are lacto-vegetarian, then whole cheese is a good
calory-dense food.

One should also use common sense to avoid sating appetite
with low energy juices before a meal.  Parents with vegan
children should follow this advice.

As an underweight adult, again consider eating more meals,
like having a snack before bed.  Easy to prepare/eat things
like granola with soymilk (or whole dairy milk), are the
kinds of whole foods that can be used as a convenient snack.

Hope this helps.

                                   Cheers,
                                         ted


REFERENCES:

1.  Sanders, T. (1978).  The health and nutritional status
of vegans.  PLANT FOODS MAN., 2:181-2.

2.  Jacobs & Dwyer (1988).  Vegetarian children: Appropriate
and inappropriate diets.  AM. J. CLIN. NUTR., 48:811-8.

3.  Truesdell & Acosta.  Feeding the vegan infant and child.
J. AM. DIET. ASSOC., 85:837-40.

4.  Vyhmeister et al.  (1977).  Safe vegetarian diets for
children.  PEDIATR. CLIN. NORTH AM., 24:203-10.

5.  Acosta (1988).  Availability of essential amino acids
and nitrogen in vegan diets.  AM. J. CLIN. NUTR., 1988,
48(suppl):864-74.

6.  Lappe, F.  DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET.  N.Y.: Ballentine
Bks, 1991

7.  Department of Health and Social Security. PRESENT DAY
PRACTICE IN INFANT FEEDING.  3rd report.  London: HMSO,
1988.

8. Nutrition standing committee of the British Paediatric
Assoc.  (1988).  Vegetarian weaning.  ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN
CHILDHOOD, 63:1286-1292.

9.  "Drugs in animals affect human growth"  HEALTH BULLETIN,
1965 (Nov 6):6