Can Vegans Perform As Athletes?

Most evangelical vegans believe that their diets are superior for health, body composition, and performance as well as for ethical reasons. But most meat-eaters would argue that vegan diets lack essential components, and that this causes vegan diets to have a negative impact on health and performance. So who’s right?

 

The research certainly shows that plant-based diets can be very healthy. Most vegans will eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, which provide antioxidants that are vital for maintaining optimal health. Their diets are also high in fiber, which has been shown to reduce the risk of certain cancers, and they don’t take in a lot of Trans fats –- the type of fat found in processed foods, especially meats.

 

 

On the face of it, this kind of diet seems like it would be fantastic for improving athletic performance.

However there are also a number of potentially quite serious issues with a vegan diet.

Protein

The first one of the issues to consider when you ask yourself if a vegan diet is great for athletic performance is protein intake. Protein is an essential macronutrient – without it you’d cease to function. General guidelines state that most people should consume around 45 to 55 grams of protein per day. However, this figure is based purely on the minimum amounts needed to survive. Anyone involved in high level sporting competition, or looking to build muscle mass and strength needs more protein than that.

Most athletes will consume around one gram of protein per pound of body weight. This target can be difficult to hit, even if you do eat animal products. A 160lb person would need 160 grams of protein, which would equate to roughly:

- 1 large chicken breast, 8 ounces rump steak, 1 small container cottage cheese, 1 whey protein shake, 3 large eggs.

Consider that none of these foods are allowed on a vegan diet, and you can see how difficult it would be to get sufficient protein. On the other hand, vegan protein shakes have indeed hit the market in recent times, with many being based on soy or coconut protein.

Essential Fats

Fats, while often given a bad name by the media, are also vital for performing as an athlete. Unsaturated fats, particularly essential fats like omega 3 help to reduce inflammation, improve recovery, decrease joint stiffness and maintain optimal health. These are found in high amounts in oily fish. The only vegan source of omega 3 is flax seed, which has a far lower concentration of omega 3 and isn’t absorbed as well by the body.

Despite popular belief, athletes also need saturated fats for hormone production. Saturated fats are found mainly in red meat and full fat dairy products – both off the menu for vegans. Palm oil anc coconut products are two places to turn.

Creatine

You might have heard of creatine as a nutritional supplement. It’s a natural substance that’s found in your body and also contained in high amounts in red meat. Creatine’s main role is to provide energy for explosive muscular contractions and to buffer lactic acid – two important factors for athletes. Creatine intake in a vegan diet is typically extremely low.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 plays a key role in brain and nervous system function. It’s mainly found in meat, eggs and dairy products, but only found in very low amounts in vegan foods.

Clearly, there are several nutritional drawbacks for vegan athletes. However, there are many ways in which you can make your diet more effective and improve performance, health and recovery, without ever needing to compromise your beliefs by eating animal products.

 

 

Supplements

Too many people think that supplements are a quick fix for weight loss, muscle gain and performance improvements, which definitely isn’t the case. However, as even the best diets can be deficient in certain key components, supplements do play a vital role for athletes.

As mentioned in the above section, vegan diets almost always lack creatine and vitamin B12, so supplementing with both of these is a good idea.

 

 

The other issue of healthy fats, specifically omega 3 can be addressed with a flax seed supplement. You’ll have to take more of this than if you were eating oily fish or consuming a fish oil supplement, but it’s still relatively easy to ensure an adequate omega 3 intake with flax seed. Plus you get the added benefit of the fiber it contains.

Vegan diets that contain a lot of plant foods are very high in most other vitamins, minerals and fiber, so you shouldn’t need extra multivitamins, greens supplements or fiber powder, but if you do want to stock up on these just in case, it shouldn’t do any harm.

Macronutrients

Vegan foods such as beans, pulses, nuts and seeds do indeed contain protein, but they also contain high amounts of carbs and/or fat. While you do need a substantial amount of carbohydrate and fat to improve performance, too much and an overconsumption of calories will lead to fat gain. Eating lots of beans, pulses and legumes may also make you feel bloated. To avoid this problem, vary your food sources as much as possible. Instead of relying on just two or three sources of protein, aim to get a wide variety.

Calories

Calories are key to athletic performance. You need enough calories to fuel your training and competitions, but too many will make you fat and unfit. Track your calories using an Online calorie calculator, a tracking app or write them down every day to make sure you’re eating roughly the right amount. Using online calorie counters, you will also gain the advantage of being able to see right away if your macronutrient ratio is out of balance.

Special Foods

Protein powders, while classed as a supplement, should be seen as food. You won’t be able to have regular whey, casein or egg protein powders, but you can go for hemp, rice or soy protein instead. The huge benefit protein powders have over vegan foods is that they’re far lower in carbs and fat.

To ensure a good fat intake, along with eating nuts and seeds and supplementing with flax seed, add coconut oil or olive oil to your foods. Coconut is a great source of saturated fat while olive oil provides heart-healthy monounsaturates.

Workout Nutrition

Whatever sport you play, workout nutrition is critical. Around one third of your daily calories should come in your “workout window” – from two hours pre workout to two hours afterwards. Before training, have a meal containing protein, carbohydrate and fat from whole-food sources. During training, you can consume sports drinks or protein powders, although this isn’t essential, then post-workout, have another protein, carb and fat meal.

While following a vegan diet may have some health benefits, as far as improving athletic performance goes, it’s probably not optimal. That’s not to say it can’t be done – with a few tweaks, you can perform very successfully as a vegan athlete, you just may find it tougher than you would with a less restrictive diet.