Vincent Bronson

Guide to Vegan Diet for Athletes Vincent Bronson

Vegan diets have become noticeably more popular in recent years. According to the Vegan Society in November 2018, the number of people in the UK choosing to follow a vegan diet grew from 150,000 to 600,000 in the last four years. Many people will choose to exclude all animal products from their diet for ethical reasons. Others may see it as a healthier way of eating. Having a plant based diet that excludes all animal products is great if that's the right choice for you, and it is certainly possible to be both vegan and a high performer, but you do need be aware of several potential risks to both your health and your performance if you follow a vegan diet which isn't well balanced and doesn't take account of potential nutrient deficiencies. It's also quite possible, of course, to eat a vegan diet that is high in processed foods and not particularly healthy. Basing your diet around wholefoods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds will help you to meet your nutrient requirements as an athlete and support your health generally. It is important to note that very little research has been done specifically on vegan athletes and their health and performance, so these recommendations are mainly drawn from research on non-athletic populations. But they are still well worth paying attention to, and hopefully more specific research on vegan athletes will be published in future years. This process has now begun with the publication in January 2019 of a paper looking at the benefits for cardiovascular health in endurance athletes following a plant-based diet 2