Over 50, women and plants

How much protein do vegans need?

By GyroscopeUpdated November 14, 20266 sources

The same 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg a day as anyone, about 100 to 130 g at 180 lb. Plant protein carries a little less leucine per gram, and soy, a pea and rice mix, or a bit more protein closes most of that gap. In a 10-week trial, a vegan diet with as much protein as a meat diet built the same muscle. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.

Vegans hear about protein constantly, usually from people who aren’t vegan. “Where do you get your protein?” is a running joke for a reason. The answer from vegan circles, that protein is never a problem, isn’t quite right either, and the old line that plants can’t build muscle is wrong.

We think a vegan diet can build and keep muscle as well as any other, if the protein is actually there. The 2025 to 2030 US Dietary Guidelines list protein among the shortfalls in vegan diets, and say to vary plant protein sources for a better balance of amino acids. We’d hit the same range as everyone else and lean on soy, seitan, tempeh and lentils, because they carry the most protein per calorie among plant foods.

Plant protein is like paying in a currency with a slightly worse exchange rate. You get to the same place, and it costs a little more to get there.

What the trials found

In a 2023 trial, 22 young adults lifted hard for 10 weeks on about 2 g of protein per kg a day. One group ate meat and dairy and the other was fully vegan, with mycoprotein, a fungus-based protein, as the main source. The vegans gained 6.8 lb (3.1 kg) of lean mass and the omnivores 5.7 lb (2.6 kg). Thigh muscle grew 8.3% in both groups, and the differences weren’t significant.

A 2025 review by Reid-McCann and colleagues pooled the randomized trials of plant against animal protein. Overall, plant protein built slightly less muscle, with no difference in strength. Soy against milk protein, across 17 trials, showed no difference at all. Single plant proteins other than soy fell well short. In adults 60 and over there was no clear difference.

Why plants need a bit more

The difference is leucine, the amino acid most tied to switching on muscle building. In a 2018 analysis of protein powders, plant proteins averaged 7.1% leucine and animal proteins 8.8%. Whey had about 11%. It takes about 38 g of pea protein or 40 g of soy protein to get the leucine in 25 g of whey. A bigger portion or a mix fixes it. See is pea protein as good as whey?

Plant foods ranked

From USDA FoodData Central. Firm tofu varies a lot by brand, and USDA has a second record at about half that protein per gram, so check your pack. Quinoa’s reputation as a protein food is bigger than its protein.

A vegan 100 g day

The same 100 g from eggs, Greek yogurt, chicken, lentils and cottage cheese comes in about 790 calories. Plants cost a couple of hundred calories more for the same protein, and they bring fiber that the animal day doesn’t.

What we’d do

• Hit your range with the daily range calculator.
• Put soy, seitan, tempeh or lentils at every meal, and use a soy or pea and rice powder for a light breakfast.
• Vary your plant proteins over the day, as the US guidelines suggest.

Filter the per-calorie calculator to plants to see every option. Our plants guide and the myth that plant protein can’t build muscle like meat go deeper.