Running on vegan The best sports fuel you can get There have never been so many professional vegan athletes and the numbers are skyrocketing. Viva!’s Veronika Charvátová explains why plants provide the best fuel for your body s more and more people are discovering, a vegan diet can shift your sports endeavours to the next level. There’s no magic to it – a diet based around fruit and vegetables, pulses, wholegrains and nuts and seeds offers huge advantages thanks simply to its nutrient content. Its power lies in these key components:
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Plants provide healthy carbohydrates – essential for sustained energy release and to replenish muscle energy stores. Plants have better protein – easier for your body to digest and a better ratio of amino acids than animal protein. Plants provide healthy fats – all the essentials, naturally low in saturated fats and no cholesterol – great for your heart and blood vessels. Plants are rich in antioxidants – they help you to recover from faster workouts and keep the airways healthy and mucus-free. Plants contain fibre – it helps to keep your digestive system healthy – important to maintaining energy levels. BETTER STAMINA Here’s an interesting point. In game breaks at high level tennis matches, you frequently see players eating a banana – you never see them chewing on a pork chop! And there’s a reason for that. Scientific research reveals that plant-based diets increase an athlete’s aerobic capacity (how much oxygen you breathe in), which improves performance and extends the time before you feel exhausted – important for both strength and endurance training. Other studies have discovered that runners fuelled by plants have increased stamina
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compared to their meat-eating counterparts. The complex carbohydrates from plants provide sustained energy release and the lack of hard-to-digest animal protein makes you less tired. MORE OXYGEN A healthy vegan diet makes your body work better by improving blood flow and oxygen supply to the muscles and that’s because your blood vessels are healthier when you eat plant foods, that are low in saturated fats and high in antioxidants and fibre. They contract and relax better and faster, regulating blood flow more precisely. Your blood also flows more smoothly because it’s slightly less thick (viscous) than that of meat-eaters, leading to a better exchange of oxygen and nutrients between the blood and body tissues. The natural nitrates from vegetables slightly widen your blood vessels, meaning more blood supplied to the hard-working muscles, improving your efforts. They also stimulate faster energetic recharging of muscles and delay fatigue. FASTER RECOVERY When you’re physically active, your muscles naturally suffer micro-damage, which your body immediately starts to repair and a plant-based diet with its antioxidants, phenols, polyunsaturated fats, protein and fibre helps your muscles to heal faster. Even better, it limits the extent of the damage in the first place! And there’s more! Wholesome vegan diets lower the levels of inflammation in your body, which is important for muscle recovery. Many meat-eating athletes take antioxidant supplements but when you go vegan, you don’t need the extra help. Plant foods also make you sleep better, which helps muscle regeneration. Complex carbohydrates – those that your body breaks down slowly as opposed to sugars – from wholegrains,
