3 musts of a vegan diet for athletes

One of the newest trends to combat health issues is going vegan. Surprisingly, the first reaction to someone going vegan is ‘where will you get protein from?’ It’s not uncommon to see vegans struggling to prove that a plant-based diet is healthy. Here are some suggestions, if you plan to go vegan:

Eat a variety of foods

Plants have more than enough proteins, and if consumed in the right quantity, athletes can easily get through without using supplements. If you eat oats in the morning, a salad at lunch, and legumes for dinner, your body will pool together all the essential amino acids from these foods and make proteins.

Choose healthy fats

Moderate to intense training requires both carbohydrates and fat for fuel. Hormones and other molecules produced from fat are important for maintaining the balance of the biochemical reactions that drive life. Choose healthy fat options like almonds and walnuts, or seeds such as sesame, basil, flax seeds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Eat whole foods

When I realised that I wasn’t recovering well post my workouts, I switched to a low-fat high-carb vegan diet that helped in muscle recovery. A diet high in fibre helps keep bowel movements regular, decreases unhealthy cholesterol levels, and prevents hypertension and diabetes.

(The author is the first vegan to scale Mount Everest and is an ambassador of FIAPO’s #DontGetMilked campaign)