One argument that vegans often hear is that it is hard to get enough nutrients, or enough protein being vegan.

When you combine that with living a gluten free life (which is required if you have coeliac disease for example), the initial impression might be that a good nutritious meal plan for working out or bodybuilding would be hard.

But really, once you get used to being gluten free you realise it isn’t that much different than any other vegan bodybuilding/gym diet plan.

Foods to avoid

This is obvious for anyone living a vegan and/or gluten free life, but the main things to avoid:

this list is not comprehensive and is written only to give you a starting point!

  • Meat/milk/cheese/eggs/honey - for the vegan side (this is quite easy!)
  • Wheat, barley, Rye, Oats (except when they’re gluten free)
  • Also have to avoid ‘vegan meats’ such as seitan, and some soy based meats, as they are not gluten free.
  • A lot of sauces and flavourings can contain wheat, which means it has gluten in.

Most weight training or body building diet plans will often include lots of pasta, maybe bread etc. But this is all off limits.

But there are some great gluten free (and vegan) alternatives to these.

Foods you can eat on a gluten free & vegan diet

always check the ingredients and allergy warnings

  • Fruits
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Vegetables
  • Beans
  • Rice (some have traces of gluten - check packet)

For meat substitutes, you can get vegan gluten free options such as Beyond Meat Burgers, Impossible Burgers and some of the Quorn range. Tofu is also almost always gluten free (but sometimes not if it has flavourings)

Bodybuilding supplements

You can find some supplements which are both vegan and gluten free. Creatine is normally fine. However a GF + vegan protein powder is harder to find and can be more expensive, but it exists.

Further resources on bodybuilding gluten free diets