Vegan Bodybuilders vs. Meat-Eating Bodybuilders – 2023 Guide

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While overall health and wellness are becoming a growing concern in the world of bodybuilding, the sport is still beset by unhealthy attitudes and extreme techniques that lead to the perpetuation of dangerous ideas, putting the lives of pro bodybuilders and the amateurs that follow them at risk.

While the use of drugs, such as steroidsdiuretics, human growth hormone, insulin, and thyroid medications are unquestionably a large part of the danger bodybuilders face, high-protein diets that rely heavily on the consumption of meat and other animal products are also a major threat to health and wellness for bodybuilders at all levels of competition.

In This Article

In this article, we’ll look at the differences between vegan bodybuilders and those that eat meat to see which diet is better for long-term health and athletic achievement.

We will begin by examining the meat-eating bodybuilders lifestyle and diet, and then compare it to that of a vegan lifestyle and routine. We will compare them based on diets, performance, results, and overall health and well-being.

What Do Meat-Eating Bodybuilders Eat?

Both red meat-eating and vegan bodybuilders are likely to take supplements and consume protein powder as a source of protein to increase muscle mass. Though naturally, the vegan bodybuilder will focus on plant-based proteins, while meat eaters may eat eggs, whey protein and other protein powders sourced from animals. That point of divergence is where the big differences begin.

While humans who eat meat are technically omnivores, not carnivores—the human body does require plant-based nutrition as part of a well-balanced diet to receive ideal nutrition intake—some bodybuilders pursue extreme diet plans that wipe out fruits and vegetables entirely, and focus greatly on certain factors such as grams of protein. In this sense, meat-eating bodybuilders can actually eat diets that are totally the opposite of the plant-based diet that the vegan bodybuilding community and other vegan athletes eat.

Every bodybuilder is different, but if you take on the entire bodybuilding community as a whole and separate out the red meat eaters from vegetarians and those on a strict vegan diet, you’ll find a grossly disproportionate amount of animal protein and amino acids being consumed by the meat eaters. There’s a fear of carbohydrates that drives many meat eaters to extremes and the results can be devastating on the body.

From heart disease to chronic abdominal pain and even cosmetic issues like acne and bad breath, too much meat is a recipe for discomfort, bad health, and even death. Combine this with extremely unhealthy doping regimens and stimulant usage and it’s no wonder big-name, meat-eating bodybuilders like Mike Matarazzo end up dead at an early age.

Matarazzo is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks that eating an extreme meat-focused diet and engaging in dangerous doping practices is a healthy way to live. Toward the end of his life, Matarazzo underwent major heart surgery and had to stop training, but he still died at age 40. This is what meat-eating bodybuilders face when they buy into the lies that underlie extreme dieting and doping practices. We’ll cover this later in the article. For now, let’s stick to an examination of what meat-eating bodybuilders eat.

Mike Matarazzo
Mike Matarazzo

Eggs are major staples of many meat-eating bodybuilders’ diets. Eggs are high in fat and cholesterol, which is also known for the unhealthy elements that piggyback on the protein.

Though some meat-eating bodybuilders try to focus on lean protein, many seem to take a macho approach to their diet, focusing on “manly” foods like beef and pork and totally shying away from nourishing natural foods like greens and fruit.

The sugar content and calories of fruit is often demonized in the meat-eating bodybuilding community, but all-natural fructose, the sugars that occur naturally in fruit, is easily digested and metabolized by the body as energy.

Between unfounded paranoia over carbohydrates, fear of sugar and a rejection of fat, meat-eating bodybuilders are often extremely restrictive with their diets, swearing off entire categories of food that actually contain fiber, energizing complex carbohydrates, and other nutrition sources that fuel the body and make high-level athletic achievement possible. No wonder the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs are so common. Bodybuilders back themselves into a corner with ridiculous diets that devastate their bodies and focus on all the wrong elements of nutrition.

As you can see, there are many approaches taken by meat-eating bodybuilders that can be very harmful to their diet and also to their overall health. They often do not feed their bodies in appropriate ways, and end up suffering from health problems as a result. Of course, this is not to generalize all meat-eating bodybuilders in the same way, just to show that there is potential for some very serious side effects when taking this lifestyle in the wrong direction.

After all, when your only goal is muscle building and muscle growth, sometimes it can be easy to let other health considerations slip to the side.

What Do Vegan Bodybuilders Eat?

As you can see in our Famous Vegan Bodybuilders article, a vegan bodybuilder’s diet is often much more flexible than that of a meat-eating bodybuilder.

Vegan bodybuilders don’t labor under the delusion that carbohydrates are bad for the body. Carbohydrates are an important energy source that fuels athletic performance. However, that doesn’t mean vegan bodybuilders are snacking on white bread and eating whatever they feel like.

Even the vegan bodybuilders who describe their diets as being largely flexible and based on bodily intuition stipulate that they stay away from foods with artificial flavors or additives, GMOs, and other unnatural additives. So while this may be a “flexible” diet, it is still important to note that it is not as flexible as you would imagine a regular person’s diet.

GMO Foods
GMO Foods

A vegan bodybuilder’s diet is often focused on natural whole foods that provide efficient nutrition and energy to boost performance. This does mean a lot of protein intake, which vegan bodybuilders are able to consume in high volume thanks to natural plant-based protein sources like beans, nuts, grains, and soy. Tempeh and tofu are also common veganprotein sources, as is oatmeal, peanut butter, almond butter, lentils, quinoa, and brown rice.

That’s a whole lot of health food, the kind of stuff you aren’t likely to find from garbage-factory fast-food restaurants. A meat-eating bodybuilder’s diet, on the other hand, can easily be sourced from just about anywhere that serves meat.

Both types of bodybuilders take care with their diets, but a vegan bodybuilder’s diet is much more focused on health, wellness, and ethics. For a meat-eating bodybuilder, food is a means to an end rather than an important element that affects their entire state of wellbeing.

Opportunity from Limitation

As you can see, the specific limitations associated with a vegan bodybuilder’s diet can actually act as an encouraging factor toward eating a healthier diet. Because many of the risky foods consumed by meat-eating bodybuilders are simply not an option to vegans, they replace them with alternatives that are much healthier, while still providing the essential nutrients they need to fuel their workout.

However, this isn’t to say that a vegan diet will automatically be suitable for bodybuilding. It still requires careful thought, meal planning, and preparation in order to ensure that you are getting the proper nutrition for your intense vegan fitness schedule. If you are considering this route, speaking with a dietician is recommended.

Health Risks Associated with High-Protein Diets

Because the widespread use of high-protein diets is relatively new, there’s a lack of thorough research on the subject to back up the idea that eating tons of meat and ditching healthy fruits and vegetables is definitively detrimental to your health. However, the high occurrence of heart disease in individuals who eat this way is enough to support the idea that the lack of healthy diversity in a meat-eating bodybuilder’s diet is dangerous.

One thing to keep in mind is that scientific studies are written with a level of academic dispassion that can be misinterpreted by those who expect their information sources to do a degree of interpretation for them.

Academics strive to remain neutral, to present information without alarmism and to focus on the facts. When studies are published on the effects of a high-protein diet on the body, they aren’t going to scream from the rooftops that this is a dangerous lifestyle.

They’re going to present facts that support or refute a specific idea. When you read the studies that focus on high-protein diets and DIY diets that meat-eating bodybuilders put together for themselves, you’ll find plenty of information to shock and alarm, particularly when it comes to kidney function and other parts of the digestive tract.

High-protein diets based on meat intake are, in fact, so risky to the kidneys that some health experts recommend that anyone considering going on one of these diets get some kidney health tests run prior to starting. This is to make sure the diet won’t cause permanent damage to these vital organs.

Aside from the kidneys, eating that much meat is bad for your heart. Plus, fiber is an important element of digestion and meat-eating bodybuilders are likely to experience a range of excretory complications and discomfort due to their dietary choices.

The bottom line is that the extreme diets of meat-eating bodybuilders pose health risks to a number of vital bodily functions due to the high volume of protein, cholesterol, and sodium associated with such a lifestyle.

Due to the nature of this type of body building, these people tend to limit certain healthy sources of nutrients, focusing instead on (mainly) protein sources that have proven health hazards and side effects. Of course, there are varying degrees of meat eating diets, but it is always important to be aware of the risks involved.

Veganism and the Rise of Natural Bodybuilding

Extreme dieting, body image issues, and eating disorders go hand in hand and in the bodybuilding world. The response in some corners has been to rely more and more on performance-enhancing drugs to get results rather than taking a step back and making an honest assessment of what it takes to excel in this sport.

Some, however, have reacted with the opposite intention, forming a community of natural bodybuilders who swear off doping and focus on the natural results they can achieve through hard work, dedication, and careful nutrition.

In these circles, overall health and diet is just as important as crafting a great physique. They focus on a body’s overall health, rather than taking extreme measures just to achieve the solitary goal of a defined physique.

Vegan Bodybuilders
Vegan Bodybuilders

While there are plenty of meat-eating bodybuilders in the natural bodybuilding community, it’s no coincidence that this community hosts many vegan bodybuilders as well.

The focus on health, natural achievement, and being good to the body is a natural fit for a vegan. Many of the vegan bodybuilders profiled in the Famous Vegan Bodybuilders article compete on the natural bodybuilding circuit, which is gaining in popularity as more and more bodybuilders wise up to the risks associated with traditional extreme dieting and dangerous doping.

After all, a great body is supposed to represent a picture of health. These bodybuilders have renewed the focus from simply looking good, to feeling good as well. Women’s and men’s health is the primary focus, and the results speak for themselves.

Which Athletes Get Better Results?

Again, if you visit the Famous Vegan Bodybuilders page and get to know the athletes profiled in that article, you’ll understand that stereotypes don’t apply when it comes to professional, high-achieving vegan bodybuilders. You’ll see incredible muscle, strong bodies and competition-level achievement from vegans. In many cases, these athletes perform better in competition than their meat-eating counterparts.

The question of which athletes get better results is a matter of opinion, largely, but that depends on what your goals are. If you simply want the approval of the bodybuilding community and you want to achieve superhuman gains, it’s probably doping, not meat, that’s going to set you apart from other competitors.

Meat is not some magic key to bodybuilding success. Vegans can get enough protein, creatine, and other nutrients to build tons of muscle and win competitions.

And when it comes to health and wellness outside of bodybuilding itself, there’s no contest. Vegan bodybuilders get better results in overall health, lifestyle quality, and longevity.

Bodybuilders like Mike Matarazzo stand as proof that extreme techniques come at an extremely high cost. Going about it in a more honest, healthy way pays off dividends in the end by allowing you to enjoy your life and stay athletic without having to quit the sport you love due to health complications and other safety concerns.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many differences between vegan and meat-eating bodybuilders. Of course, there is no way to neatly categorize all bodybuilders into these two groups. However, we can say that overall, we start to see more health when we go away from focusing on bodybuilding as a way to simply pack as much growth building ingredients into our diets as possible.

Vegan bodybuilders tend to be extremely healthy because they focus on their overall health as a means to achieving a certain physique. Their meal plan is as much about feeling good as it is about looking good, which should really be what bodybuilding should be all about anyways.

13 thoughts on “Vegan Bodybuilders vs. Meat-Eating Bodybuilders – 2023 Guide”

  1. Next time you write such article, please do not make it too obvious that it is a vegan lip-service. Yeah, I understand that this is a vegan website, but atleast back your article with some truth. For example, you talk about how meat eater bodybuilders have phobia to carbs, and a bodybuilder died because of eating meat so much, in reality all mainstream meat eating bodybuilders from Jeff Nippard to Sean N. advice for eating carbs, and even a carnivorous diet is not that harmful since Eskimos exclusively ate meat, and were fine.

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  2. This is very biased and really unnatural analysis of a meat-eaters bodybuilding diet. Perhaps go online and watch movie stars who build themselves for a role as well as body builders who eat meat.
    None of them consume extensively or even consider red meat in their diet. Whole eggs are not consumed as a dietary requirement.
    Egg white and lean chicken protein, primarily from chicken breast is consumed cause of its neglible fat and high protein content, as well as fish is consumed.
    The author is blatantly making up stuff regarding high amounts of red meats like pork and beef consumption. Perhaps you could next time simply say they feast on Ribs glazed with barbecue and eat hamburgers and become obese while the vegans are in shape and the real bodybuilders. When you wanna hype things up, do it right.

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  3. I don’t think this article was meant to discriminate, discredit or shame meat eating, high protein body builders (Being a meat eating runner myself) I think the point of the article was to simply create an idea that maybe going vegan or vegetarian may hold more benefits than most people think and show research to back up the effects of a more sustainable green diet I think at the end of the day everything is good in moderation but technically our bodies were never really designed to eat a lot of meat to begin with. Even going through genetics and our bodies build our teeth aren’t made to tear meat, one of the reasons why we don’t have mouths like lions or any real meat eater incisors, our teeth are shaped for grinding and only provides evidence that we do need more vegetables and greens than we perhaps may think. I think that whether you choose a vegan or meat diet both sides have the same potential to create really good high performance bodies but sometimes as meat eaters we discredit certain research that clearly shows how important it really is to maintain high level, quality vegetables through out our diet and while protein is obviously key to building muscle a lot of meat eaters often discredit how bad too much meat in a diet can really be. Great article! Very helpful but I do agree that you can’t use one bodybuilders health and instance as a means to say that meat eating diets in general are not safe. At the end of the day it really does come down to moderation and making sure you know your body and what it can and can’t handle and that’s different for everyone! Great article Jordyn!

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    • Hi Armando, thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I certainly wasn’t trying to make any particular bodybuilder the poster boy for heart disease based on their red meat consumption and clearly you realised that:) It’s always nice to see open minded and helpful comments here and again thank you for taking the time to contribute to this page:)

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  4. This article is full of BS. Mike whom I knew took large amount of steriods had nothing to do with meat. You fucking vegans seriously. I eat 400-500 carbs a day as do most bodybuilders when not in contest prep and even then we carb load right beforw the show. So u dont know what the fuck your talking about. And he could have had genetic predisposition for his heart issues. All vegan bodybuilders are scrawny period. And if there not its because they used performance enhancing drugs. Im a fitness dir and I see sick looking vegans come in and complain there tired they bruise easy dark circles due to low hemoglobin wich red meat replaces you stupid fucks. Cave man did just fone didnt they. Were basically the same as we were then hunter gathers. I dont know of any bodybuilder that shys away from macros and or greens. Your fake news ,, lol disgusts me. And moat bodybuilders dont eat much red meat your just showing how ignorant u are. We live on chicken and fish and get omega 3 fatty acids and supplement with branch chain aminos and MCT oil etc etc. Your a sad jouranlist or blogger whatever uour calling your self. Stop spreading bullshit. Save it to fertilize your vegan garden. Stay the fuck outra a sport u obviously dont know shit about. And dont use a tagic story to spread your bullshit. Mike was loved by many and a great guy. Go chew some leaves.

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    • yeah, but it doesn’t sell as well as when you state that he died coz he ate too much meat. I mean, on a vegan products promoting website, this is just another example of their bias. it’s like saying white people don’t experience discrimination, coz they’re white.

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