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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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14.12.2024 |
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Supplementing with vitamin B12 gives vegans a muscular physique
The more vitamin B12 circulates in your body, the more muscle you have. Portuguese biochemists came up with this theory, who otherwise could not explain why Portuguese vegans have as much muscle as omnivores.
Meta-study
Study participants included lacto-ovo vegetarians, vegans and meat eaters. Because meat eaters tend to consume more protein than lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans, the researchers expected meat eaters to have a higher muscle percentage than the other two groups.
And because vegans usually consume less protein than lacto-ovo vegetarians, the researchers expected also that vegans would have an even lower muscle percentage than lacto-ovo vegetarians.
Results
In addition, the study participants with a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet had a body composition with 4.8 percent more fat mass than the meat eaters.
Both differences were statistically significant. However, among the vegans [VEG], the researchers found no statistically significant differences with the meat eaters in terms of their muscle and fat percentage.
Click on the text fragment below for a larger version.
Could vitamin B12 supplementation explain why the vegans had relatively high muscle mass? According to the figure below, that might be possible. The more vitamin B12 circulated in the bloodstream of the study participants, the greater their muscle percentage.
Conclusion
"In the current study, plant-based diets were associated with a lower percentage of muscle mass, which could be induced by lower food protein intake."
"However, the observed lower percentage of muscle mass seemed to be attenuated in vegans, most likely due to B12 supplementation [...]."
"The molecular mechanisms underlying this intricate relationship between micronutrient supplementation and muscle mass deserve to be further explored."
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