As promised, this is the second article on the topic of vegan nutrition in sports. The first article only served as an introduction, while you will now learn more about how a plant-based diet affects our bodies. The difference between the various types of nutrition is made clear through individual stories of top athletes. The information comes mainly from the Netflix documentary "The Game Changers" and scientific studies from all over the world.
James Wilks
Close combat expert James Wilks has been training with the US military for over 15 years and is a 5-time black belt when he suffers a double ligament tear in both knees. His daily training comes to an abrupt end and he suddenly has a lot of time on his hands, which he doesn't know what to do with at first. But instead of burying his head in the sand, he decides to research how he can get back on his feet as quickly as possible.
During his research, he comes across interesting studies on the subject of vegan nutrition. One of them deals with gladiators, who have always been considered strong and successful people. They were given the best treatment so that they performed as well as possible in their battle. Dr. Fabian Kanz is an Austrian archaeologist and tells of excavations of gladiator skeletons, which have shown that the fighters ate a predominantly vegetarian diet.
This realisation hit James Wilks completely unexpectedly, as it had always been taught for generations: Real men eat meat. Even athletes like Conor McGregor still suggest this image today by talking in interviews about how they only eat steak all day. The archaeologist's statement steered Wilk's research in the direction of vegan nutrition and he met the ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek.
Scott Jurek
Scott has already won the most difficult races in the world. One of them was the Death Valley race, where he ran 217 kilometres in 54 degrees in the sun. Before that, he prepared for the Western State 100-mile race. He wanted to do the best he could and started to change his diet to vegan. Even a week before the race, he doubted whether this change had been right. But on the day of the race it became clear: it was the right decision. He won the race seven years in a row.
But that's not all. In the USA there is the famous Appalachian Trail. 3540 km through the Appalachian Mountains. The record for this trail was an incredible 46 days and 11 hours. And Jurek thought: I can do better. He started a world record attempt and was to encounter some obstacles.
If he wanted to break the record, he had to run about 80 kilometres every day. 3353 metres of altitude uphill and downhill. That's two marathons a day over challenging terrain. Scott was as well prepared as he probably could be. But just one week after the start, he tore his quadriceps, a large bundle of muscles in his thigh. Most would probably have given up by now at the latest, but Jurek's only thought was that he now not only had to run further and faster, but that he also had to recover from the injury while running. Because rest days are not an option if you want to break a world record.
Scientific findings
Dr Robert Vogel is a cardiologist and co-chair of the NFL's Cardiovascular Health Subcommittee. He started an experiment with three football players in "The Game Changers" to study the effect of diet on the body. On the first day, player 1 had a beef burrito, player 2 had a vegan burrito and player 3 had one with pork. Two hours after the meal, blood was drawn from everyone, which then goes into the centrifuge to separate the fat from the blood. If the top liquid is cloudy, the blood contains a lot of fat. If it is clear, the fat content is rather low.
On this day, it was clear that players 1 & 3 had a significantly higher percentage of fat in their blood than player 2, who had received a vegan meal. The next day, all three had a vegan burrito and the blood results changed. All players had significantly less fat in their blood than the day before.
Dr Vogel summarises: "What you eat before an athletic endeavour can have a significant impact on performance." Because, if the fat content in the blood is low, it is good for endothelial function (blood flow regulation). Good blood flow regulation is important for the heart and also the muscles. When switching from an animal-based to a plant-based diet, athletes can therefore usually notice a considerable boost in performance.
The experiment has shown how proteins and fats from meat and from plants affect our bodies. But there are many more effects of a vegan diet on the body. You can find out exactly what these are in the next article.
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Edamame as a source of protein, healthy cashew nuts and much more await you with the vegan pumpkin curry dish from prepmymeal. The best ingredients that will not only improve your day, but also your blood.