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Plant-based diets are becoming more popular among athletes and for good reason.
These diets offer a number of benefits for athletes, including increased energy, better recovery time and enhanced performance.
Can A Plant-Based Diet Help?
You can meet the nutritional needs of an athlete by adopting a plant-based diet. By choosing foods that are nutrient-dense, you can ensure your muscles have enough protein to repair themselves after exercise. In fact, many plant-based athletes get enough protein from their diet alone without even trying.
Plant protein is found in many foods such as:
- Legumes (beans, lentils)
- Grains (quinoa and amaranth)
- Nuts and seeds
- Vegetables
Important Nutrients Plant-Based Diet Can Offer
Protein
When it comes to building muscle, protein is an essential building block. Your body needs protein to build strong muscles and repair them after they've been broken down during exercise. Fortunately, you don't have to have meat or dairy products to get enough protein.
Plant-based sources of protein include legumes (like beans), nuts and seeds, grains (such as quinoa), and soy products like tofu and tempeh (which are also great sources of iron). If you're wondering how much plant-based protein you should be having every day, talk with your doctor about your nutritional needs based on your weight and activity level.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are a vital source of energy for the body, and plant-based foods are a great way to get them. They have had a bad reputation in recent years, but they aren't necessarily bad for you. However, they should be consumed in moderation.
Carbohydrates include starches and sugars like:
- Whole grains (rice, oats)
- Fruit (bananas)
- Vegetables (carrots),
Fats
Plant-based fats are healthier than animal fats. Rather than focusing on saturated fat, consider the type of fat you're consuming. Saturated fats come from animals and are generally solid at room temperature (e.g., butter).
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are found in plant foods, such as seeds, nuts and avocados, which tend to be liquid at room temperature (e.g., olive oil).
Zinc, Iron and Calcium
Zinc, iron and calcium are nutrients that are especially important for athletes. Another nutrient that’s especially essential for athletes is vitamin B12.
Some vegans (and omnivores) get enough B12 from fortified foods, like cereals or nutritional yeast, but others need to take a supplement or have fortified foods every day.
You Don't Need To Have Meat To Nourish Your Body
As a vegan/vegetarian athlete, you can get all the nutrients your body needs while also improving your health. A well-balanced vegetarian diet can be even more nutritious than a diet that includes meat products. Many studies have found that people who regularly have vegetables and fruits are less likely to develop obesity, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
Vegetarian diets have many benefits for both the environment and animals:
- It takes far fewer resources to produce a vegetarian meal than it does for animal products like meat or dairy.
- Animals typically used for food in industrialised countries are treated inhumanely during their lives at farms or slaughterhouses, often subjecting them to extreme cruelty, such as neglect or physical abuse.
Apart from the obvious humanitarian reasons, there's also a personal 1:1 reason for switching to a plant-based diet. For starters, a plant-based diet can also help athletes feel better overall. A plant-based diet is naturally low in saturated fat, which helps reduce inflammation throughout the body.
Athletes often suffer from dehydration due to sweat loss during exercise. That can lead to fatigue and muscle soreness when combined with poor nutritional choices, such as eating meat or dairy products, which require more water than plants do. Additionally, animal products contain cholesterol, which can interfere with blood flow, resulting in pain during physical activity.
Plant-based diets have been shown to improve energy levels during exercise by increasing blood flow through vasodilation of blood vessels, leading to more oxygen delivery to muscles. Plant-based diets can also boost your reaction time and make you quicker and more energetic, as vegan/vegetarian food is often lighter compared to dense meat.
Takeaway
As you can see, there are many ways to meet your nutritional needs as a vegan athlete. However, it's important to know that if you’re a vegan athlete, you don’t have to focus solely on protein from plants—you can get plenty from other sources such as legumes and nuts.
In fact, most people who have plant-based diets tend not to worry about getting enough protein. Rather than focusing on getting enough protein each day (which is often times unnecessary), they focus on having real food that nourishes their bodies with proper nutrition.
The bottom line here is this: You will not become deficient in any major nutrients if you follow the above advice and have enough calories each day.
