W
hen it comes to fitness,
everyone’s looking for
the edge. Whether you
are starting out and
trying to get fit, lose
weight, build some
muscle or at an elite level, we are
bombarded with information about the
best and fastest way to reach that goal.
The fitness industry is rife with heavily
marketed products and exercise regimes;
and social media displays images of superfit
bodies to increase sales. Whilst knowledge
is power and information displayed might
suggest ‘surefire’ or ‘quick results’, it can be
difficult to settle upon the reality that
reaching your peak fitness level relies on about
80 per cent diet and 20 per cent exercise.
Plant-based eating is now trending as
the fastest growing ‘diet’ for getting lean. It
has also long been viewed as the optimum
eating plan for people suffering with cancer
or heart disease, inflammatory conditions
and other serious health problems. It has
been shown to reverse the severity of these
conditions, and in some cases, assist in the
cessation of symptoms entirely. There is
now a move by many world-class athletes
to go vegan as a way of reaching new
heights with athletic performance. There
are also many athletes who are not
interested in the notion of plant-based
eating as a ‘diet trend’ as their nutritional
choice is based on the desire to eat only
the healthiest foods possible, a refusal to
eat animal products for compassionate
reasons or a combination of both.
There are many indicators that elite
athletes would use to assess improvements
in athletic performance depending upon
their individual sport. For many people,
trying to improve cardiovascular fitness,
lose weight or gain lean muscle, a regular
assessment of changes to muscle to fat
ratio is one tool that is useful.
Dropping body fat usually means that
the heart rate will be lower at rest and also
during exercise which increases endurance;
and there will be a leaner, more sculpted
look to the body shape. As a personal trainer
with 15 years experience helping people
with exercise and healthy eating programs,
an interesting example of how effective
plant-based eating can be is drawn from
one of my clients. A regular guy, vegan,
new to exercise, this guy presented with
three clear goals - to lose weight for health
reasons, build some muscle and find a
form of exercise that he would enjoy and
maintain. Within five months, he lost 10
per cent body fat and 6kg. He was trainingAthletic performance - the vegan edge
By Sarah Wooding BSW Social Work and Counselling, Dip Personal Fitness Training, Diet and Nutritiononce or twice a week and had only made
some slight variations to his diet such as
reducing portion size and increasing greens
to offset reduction in rice/legume portions.
If we compare this example to non-vegan
clients who continued to eat meat/dairy but
make the same changes to portion size and
increase greens, cut carbs and also add in
one or two exercise sessions a week - we
would never see a 10 per cent reduction in
body fat. That 10 per cent drop in body fat
provided the impetus and energy for that
client to increase the number of training
sessions (weights and cardio) each week
and to implement a range of other nutritional
changes leading to overall improvement
performance and goal achievement.
The good news for vegans looking for the
performance edge is that cutting calories
is not the key to achieving these goals. It’s
about the health benefits of the calories
consumed. All the foods we eat regularly
such as seeds, nuts, leafy vegetables, olive
oil and avocados are packed with nutrient
density that fuel energy, promote the use
of fat for energy rather than fat storage,
enhance digestive and absorption processes
as well as speak to our bodies on a cellular
level promoting better immunity by
increasing anti-oxidant levels. There’s no
need to resort to ‘high protein’ or ‘low fat’
diets as a plant-based eater, as these diets
are tailored for people who consume the
saturated fats that cause all the problems
to begin with.
When athletic performance improves,
muscular output and intensity increases
and so does the volume of loading on
joints and muscles. Regular gym-goers and
athletes can relate to this ‘sore’ feeling. We
know that protein feeds the growth and
repair of muscles and this is why the next
questions are usually, ‘But where do you
get your protein?’, ‘Aren’t vegans usually
weak and skinny?’, and ‘How can you get
protein from plants?’.
I’m sure Robert Cheeke, world-class
natural body-builder, and Patrik Baboumian,
leading strongman competitor, could flex a
little muscle to answer these questions!
Australia’s Morgan Mitchell, female
Olympic team sprint racer could also run
this question out of contention. The reality
is that even for elite athletes, the daily
protein requirement can be as little as 10
per cent of daily calories or up to 30 per
cent depending on the individual.
For a vegan woman this might be
between 30 to 50 grams protein a day and
for a male it could be between 50 to 100
grams. That being said, every food we eathas small amounts of fat, carbs and protein
and the plant-based eater has no problem
in reaching protein requirements.
In Robert Cheeke’s book Shred It there
is a useful guide to calculating protein
requirements for plant-based eaters engaging
in strenuous activity. This flies in the face
of traditional non plant-based protein
intake calculators that can recommend
between 1.5 to 3 times a person’s own
bodyweight in protein per day!
The old protein issue is the very reason
why elite athletes like David Carter, NFL
player, and Matt Frazier, ultra-marathon
runner, have made the transition to plant-
based eating only. The message is clear.
As if killing animals isn’t enough reason to
stop, the World Health Organisation has
published numerous studies that show
heavy consumption of meat and dairy
leads to an acidic response in the gut that
impacts negatively upon the entire body.
If you take a look at an Alkaline/Acid
Food Chart you can see that meat and
dairy top the list of foods with an acidic
pH and leafy greens are the winner for
balanced pH. (See Julie Cove’s Alkaline-
Sisters.com for further info on healthy
alkaline eating and for making digestively
effective food combinations).
Foods with a high acid response cause
low energy, fatigue, poor memory,
inflammation and joint pains, blood sugar
crashes, and bloating. There’s a whole host
of other health problems that ensue when
the body is acidic for long periods of time,
including significant damage to functioning
at a cellular level and therein lies the risk
for more serious health problems. If we
pare this back to basics of people looking
for the motivation to exercise, the energy
and to achieve results, plant-based nutrition
offers so many positives.
Our goal for healthy eating should be to:- graze from a wide range of vegetables,
with as much greens as possible - limit fructose to low acid fruits such as
lemon, lime, avocado, - say no to sugar and drink a minimum
of 2 litres of water a day - limit caffeine – it’s acidic
- eat portion-controlled protein sources
that are easily digestible like quinoa
(full amino acid profile for ready use
in the body), white beans, lentils,
chickpeas, and more seeds than nuts - healthy fats like avocado and olive oil
- plant-based, alkaline protein powder
- plant-based supergreens
Performance enhancing drugs? We call
them nature’s gifts.
OLIHVW\OH health