Mike Isratel, centre of evidence based bodybuilding, on vegan diets
This is an old video but I've noticed that it doesn't seem to get referenced very often in protein/muscle building discussions.
For context Mike Isratel is a bodybuilder himself but also has a large YouTube channel discussing the latest science in evidence based bodybuilding. He's not vegan or anything and is actually very firmly at the centre of the bodybuilding community. He's someone that lots of other bodybuilders quote, and whenever a bodybuilding YouTube influencer wants to bring on an expert to discuss training and muscle growth etc Mike has become one of the go to universally respected experts.
This video is part of a series he did dispelling myths and this myth is that a vegan diet is bad for gains.
He's giving a kind of balanced overview of all the evidence, and also obviously aware that a very high percentage of his viewers will eat loads of meat and hold this view on veganism so he is definitely speaking mostly to them, from inside that world, rather than to us.
Although he isn't vegan, and he's not really a vegan ally or anything because he does endorse eating meat, some of what he says about vegans can be a bit patronising at times too but I think because of how firmly rooted he is in that world, that it's interesting that someone at the heart of that sphere has said this. Also because he's the kind of person Joe Rogan or someone else in that world might quote as an expert in the field which is where a lot of the myths get propagated.
Posted Jul 11, 2026, 1:31 PM UTC