These pro athletes are vegan -- why they switched and how you can benefit too
Not eating meat could actually help your fitness goals.
Some elite athletes, like Venus Williams, adhere to a vegan diet.
Maybe you've seen the Netflix documentary The Game Changers, or you've heard of Scott Jurek, a man who trains for and wins 100-mile footraces without eating animal products. Even Tom Brady reportedly eats a diet that's 80% plant-based. Everywhere you turn, there seem to be more and more elite athletes going vegan, or at least vegetarian.
Common sense has long said that high-level athletes need as much protein and calories as possible -- and many people assume a vegan diet is lacking in both. But then why do we keep seeing athletes pop up like Patrik Baboumian, a world-record holding powerlifter who follows a strict vegan diet?
It turns out that a lot of popular ideas surrounding veganism, vegetarianism and plant-based diets in general may be false. Elite athletes can and commonly do excel at their sport without eating animal products -- and it may work for you too.
Why are so many athletes following plant-based diets?
Patrik Baboumian is the world's strongest man, and he's vegan.
I spoke to Registered Dietician Brittany Modell to learn more. She told me that athletes have different reasons for adopting a plant-based diet, including health, environmental and ethical concerns. Although various athletes have their own motivations, many have been public about the benefits they've seen.
Andre Patton, a wide receiver who plays in the NFL, has said that he feels the difference from eating a vegan diet, and that he wakes up in the morning more energetic and ready to go.
American tennis legend Venus Williams eats a vegan diet to reduce fatigue and joint pain associated with Sjögren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with in 2011.
Patrick Baboumian -- who once carried the heaviest weight ever recorded -- has said that he has lowered his blood pressure and increased his recovery time by avoiding all animal products. Babomian also cites environmental concerns for his decision to go vegan.
Does the evidence support the experience of these athletes?
A plant-based diet is more than capable of giving you the nutrients that you need.
This is just anecdotal evidence -- but there's research that seems to support the claims.
Harvard Medical School says that a vegan diet reduces heart-damaging inflammation, and a meta-analysis of various studies concluded that vegetarian diets are helpful in managing long-term inflammation. Multiple other outlets have echoed the same thing -- eating more plants and less animal products will help lower your inflammation.
Medical researchers are thinking more and more about inflammation as a root cause of a lot of our ailments. Inflammation is a necessary immune response, but sometimes it goes too far. It's been proposed to be a common factor in heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer. Stress, anxiety and other mental health challenges have also been linked to inflammation.
On a day-to-day level, inflammation can cause swollen and painful joints, chronic bloating and fatigue -- three things that would make any athlete's performance suffer. Hence, it makes perfect sense why so many people say they feel better when they switch to a more plant-based diet.
The myths about the vegan diet
Carbs are more important for athletic success than you may think.
While both personal experience and research supports a vegan diet being possible even for athletes, beliefs about animal products being necessary for performance still float around.
One common mistaken idea is that animal protein is critical to athletic performance. Muscles need protein and amino acids to repair themselves and grow, but the exact amount of protein we should be consuming has been under some debate. While some athletes try to consume as much protein as possible, Modell tells me that most Americans end up eating more than the daily recommended amount of protein, which is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. For someone who weighs 150 pounds or 68 kilograms, that's about 55 grams of protein per day.
Modell explained that athletes actually need sufficient carbohydrates to perform, especially in endurance sports. Carbs are often overlooked, especially because of the pervasive rumor that eating them makes you gain weight. But your body stores the glucose from carbohydrates as high muscle glycogen.
Glycogen is essentially the fuel your muscles use to perform, and more readily available fuel means a higher energy output. So, a higher intake of healthy carbohydrates allows athletes to perform at high intensity levels. A plant-based diet filled with whole grains, fruits and vegetables typically gives people the fuel they need when exercising.
Another common belief is that you can't get all of the essential amino acids without eating meat. While animal protein, like meat and eggs, does contain all of the amino acids your body can't produce on its own, simply combining two sources of plant protein -- like beans and rice -- will also give you all the amino acids you need.
Can a plant-based diet work for you?
Plant-based food is still incredibly delicious.
If you're wondering whether cutting out more animal products can work for you, the answer is almost certainly yes -- assuming you're still eating a varied diet with plenty of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and plant protein sources. While a plant-based diet won't turn you from a pickup soccer player into Cristiano Ronaldo, you may see athletic performance gains stemming from quicker recovery times. Plus, you have a good likelihood of enjoying outcomes like lowered cholesterol and a healthier heart.
You certainly don't have to go full vegan to reap the benefits of a plant-based diet. Start with just one day a week where you eat a vegetarian diet, like a "Meatless Monday," and see how your body responds. Or, just try cutting out junk food in your diet and replacing empty calories with plant-based foods like nuts, legumes or veggies.
The bottom line is that if you're interested in the benefits of a plant-based diet, you should experiment with what you're eating, try to add more plant-based whole foods and figure out what makes you feel best.
