E-Mail IMAGE: Trials performed by researchers at the University of São Paulo with healthy young adults show that the right level of protein intake is the key to muscle health, regardless of... view more Credit: Hamilton Roschel Protein intake is more important than protein source if the goal is to gain muscle strength and mass. This is the key finding of a study that compared the effects of strength training in volunteers with a vegan or omnivorous diet, both with protein content considered adequate. In the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, 38 healthy young adults, half of whom were vegans and half omnivores, were monitored for 12 weeks. In addition to performing exercises to increase muscle strength and mass, the volunteers followed either a mixed diet with both animal and plant protein, or an entirely plant-based diet, both with the recommended protein content (1.6 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day). At the end of three months, there was no difference between vegans and omnivores in terms of muscle strength and mass increase.