Bengali Vegan, Fitness Freak, and Medical Student — A Chat with Pratap Bhoumik

Every vegan’s journey into veganism is unique for the person but predictable to a large extent. Although the most ethical thing to do, many vegans have passed through the phase where they have had to deal with shocked families, and judgmental friends and acquaintances. And then, if the transitioning vegan is a Bengali from the land of illish, one is subject to prosecution for letting the community down.

“Aaaaaay baba… ei kirokom bangali… maach khaina mangsho khaina… kirokom bangali tui!!” (translated: good lord… what kind of Bengali is this… doesn’t eat fish, doesn’t eat meat… what kind of Bengali are you!!)

Today we have amidst us a Bengali, who has turned an ethical Bengali vegan and it does not end here. He is a fourth year medical student, fitness freak, and has sculpted his muscles on plants. And it does not end here either. He is an active vegan, who frequently creates videos dispelling the many nutrition myths and is a reckonable source of inspiration for those aspiring to build muscle mass on a plant-based diet.

Let us find out all about him from Pratap Bhoumik himself!

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Vegan India! – You were born into a non-vegetarian family, turned vegetarian a few years ago, and now you have become a lifelong Bengali vegan. Who/what inspired you to make this gradual transition to veganism? What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? You call yourself a “vegan for life.” Tell us, what will make you stick to being vegan for the rest of your life?

Pratap Bhoumik – I was a non-vegetarian my whole life until three years back. It was a hell of a ride, being a Bengali and having a family who indulges in savories made out of chicken and fish, and me coming out of all this as a Bengali Vegan who is completely different and in some sense entirely opposite, came as a shock and surprise for my family and friends. I admit I was a regular munching on chicken wings and other KFC stuff on actually daily basis.

Being a weight trainer and boxer, it was in my routine to go through studies, news, and articles regarding health and fitness. I had a realization, and it came with a feeling of guilt that what I have been doing my whole life so far was like slowly ending myself and disturbing the entire system. Yeah, I know hearing all of this from one person is like, it hardly matters, but you have to start somewhere… someone has to start!

The journey of my transition I would never say was easy, it was quite tough because the desire to gorge on ice creams and chicken wings and mishti dahi and other sweets dipped in ghee and all the milk stuff was inviting indeed.

But yes, I would say this that with the persistent urge to keep myself healthy and for the sake of the animals and nature, I went vegan and I am completely fit and I proudly call myself a VEGAN FOR LIFE. Who needs any more reasons to be healthy, strong, fit… being a Bengali vegan feels just normal… it’s not even out of the blue!

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Vegan India! – As a fitness freak who is into body building and boxing, how has vegan food helped your body and performance? What would your best tip be for people into strength training considering to switch to a vegan diet? How long does the body take to adjust?

Pratap Bhoumik – Plant-based foods are naturally rich in carbs due to which it helps me stay energized throughout my workout session and they are also rich in antioxidants, which means the body will recover from a hardcore workout session fast and in a short time period. Plant-based foods give high energy during workout sessions as well.

My tip for people like bodybuilders who are switching to a vegan lifestyle is, there is no need to worry about the protein status of your body, you can get ample amount of protein from a variety of plant sources and all you need to know are those sources and start exploring them. Don’t forget to add vitamins B-12 and D. For shedding fat, start eating more green veggies as they are high in protein and low in carbs and will make you feel full.

Some people will have issues related to gas and bloating due high fiber content in plant foods. The reason behind this is before turning vegan, you were not hitting your daily fiber requirements. Give your body at least one week to adjust and you will never regret your decision.

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Vegan India! – You must be getting asked, “where do you get your protein from?” What is your best answer to this question? You have also made numerous detailed videos debunking myths around eggs and meat. Could you share the links of some of these videos.

Pratap Bhoumik – I have been weight lifting for three years now and I never faced protein deficiency problems since I turned vegan two years back. I had many confusions related to protein, for example, I wanted to reduce my carbs and keep my protein level high and that raised a question in my mind – how can I do it? This took me to different articles and research papers of various vegan athletes and what I learned is that combining two high protein sources with high protein green veggies, for example, lentils + kidney beans + broccoli can help me hit my low carb goal and high protein goal for the day .

Everyone has been taught from the beginning that we need animal protein for muscle building as it has high nitrogen index and bio availability, and that it is complete protein package – but this whole concept is wrong!

Our body has amino acid pool and if we provide protein from a variety of sources, the amino acid pool will adjust and store amino acids providing sufficient amount of amino acids for our recovery and daily requirements. In the long run, vegan food out performs animal-derived food because vegan food has no cholesterol, has high amount of antioxidants, no hem iron, and it does not increase our c-reactive protein to high-risk levels. I can go on and on but I have made many videos related to animal protein on YouTube and my videos are grounded in science, and research-based fitness and nutrition. Here are links to some of my videos:

Plant Protein Source with Higher Protein than Eggs

Why Eggs are Dangerous

I also discuss my daily food choices on Instagram here.

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Vegan India! – You are also a medical student. How does the knowledge of medicine help you in understanding the human body and its nutritional needs? Also, why do you think mainstream medicine still propagates the myths around animal-based foods, such as milk should be consumed for calcium, eggs for protein, etc.?

Pratap Bhoumik – Being a fourth year medical student, all my professors and even my friends can’t believe I am vegan because of the fact I am building muscle and all my blood reports are fine. Knowledge of bodybuilding helped me in some subjects like anatomy but when it comes to food-related topics like milk protein leaches out bone calcium due high amount of sulfur amino acids, eggs are not the best source of protein, and many more such topics, I have usually had these kind of arguments with my professors and when I presented them researches, you can imagine what kind of scenario it created in class! Not everyone agrees with my point, but like I have said in my videos, I am always available for a debate!

Modern science is slowly and steadily accepting the consequences of animal-products on our health and environment.

Being in the medical field is surely helping me to understand the various aspects of nutrition on our health and bodybuilding is teaching me the science of the workload of the body. Combining both, I am sharing the experience with my family, friends, and clients, and surely my future patients would get benefited with my food discoveries along with the medicine approach. I do believe there is no better medicine than food itself!

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Vegan India! – As a Bengali vegan, do you cook or prepare food yourself? If yes, could you share with our readers the recipe of your most favorite protein-packed dish?

Pratap Bhoumik – I live in a hostel but whatever I cook, I prepare fast, covering all macro and micro nutrients because I believe the fact that – everyone should know what they are putting into their  bodies – each and every ingredient.

I do share my full day of eating or what I eat in my whole day through videos on YouTube and out of those, my favorite recipe is my, THE MASS BUILDING SHAKE having 50g of protein and all essential micro nutrients, even omega 3s of the day are covered in a single meal.

Here’s the recipe of my THE MUSCLE BULIDING SHAKE for pre and post workout. Ingredients: Soy milk, Plant-based protein powder, Oats, Flax seeds, Chia seeds, Walnuts, Peanut butter, and Ice cubes. Method: Just blend all! I would like to say at the end of this interview that I want to spread whatever knowledge I have free of cost, and my motive is to make fitness and nutrition simple and easy.

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