What is the reason for increasing number of veg*n athletes?

Question

http://blog.peta.org/archives/olympics/

Ronda Rousey just became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in judo. She is a Vegan.

Do you have the list of veg*n athletes went to Beijing?

What is the reason for increasing number of veg*n athletes?

Answer 1

My opinion is that our food sources are so tainted that they are feeling that they will be healthier cutting the worst culprits out of their diets, so better able to compete fully.

It's been proven study after study that Vegans are healhtier than the average flesh eater in pretty much all areas.  I think to the idea you must eat flesh to build muscle & stamia is a out dated notion, disproved long ago. It something the genral population is slow to uptake on but Athletes are using the most updated  info to excell in there sports.

Answer 2

Actually there is no increasing number of vegetarian athletes.  Highlighting one does not mean they are sprouting all over so to speak. If we are to base athletic success to diets alone, then it would be logical to conclude non-vegetarian diets are better as exemplified by the greater success of Michael Phelps who is not a vegetarian.

There is no magical sports training regimen or diet that all athletes follow. What may work for one may not necessarily work for another. A long distance runner will have very different requirements than a sprinter.

Answer 3

It is by far one of the healthiest life decisions out there.

It is not just athletes taking up  veganism, many "regular" people are too.

As weird as it may seem, veganism and vegetarianism are becoming a major trend with hundreds of athletes and celebrities pledging veg.

Answer 4

I think they are beginning to see other veg*n athletes do really well.

It really takes a lot to break through the ideas/dogma people get in their heads and are raised with. The meat/dairy industries have spent a lot of money politically and on advertising to make people think one can't live without those and even though people are constantly told they need more fruits/veggies and whole grains, instead people add more meat and dairy. We are eating more now than we ever have.

Protein has also been over-rated. It's actually very interesting. There are 21 amino acids that form "protein" and 9 of them are called "essential" because we don't produce them ourselves and must get them from food. That's where the idea of "complete" proteins came from. If a food source had those 9 in amounts humans needed that source was considered superior while a source that was low on one or two was considered "incomplete" and eventually inferior which has translated currently to thinking it is devoid of all protein which just isn't true. Many of these, if several servings are eaten (instead of animal products) provide enough of the amino acid the source is supposedly low in. Potatoes are a perfect example. Because of politics the Irish obtained most of their nutrients almost exclusively from potatoes. Some men would eat 7 pounds or more a day. But it could be done because the food is pretty low calorie and the men worked hard but also there weren't a lot of fattening toppings such as butter, sour cream, bacon bits, cheese sauce... (all animal products). It was only when the blight came and wiped out the potato crop that people started starving (sadly there was plenty of food grown in Ireland but the British took it). Those in Peru,  who also have relied on potatoes for decades, experienced blight in a couple varieties of their potatoes at the same time but they had 5000 varieties so were little affected.

So, since protein is the building block of life, pretty much every food (except sugar and some alcohols) has it. That coupled with the RDA being padded (for once) and we were getting way more protein than we needed even if we only were getting the minimum recommended. But many were getting at least twice and even three times what we should (this causes illnesses of affluence -- protein deficiency is usually only seen in those who are starving and they have many other issues besides lack of protein).

There's a lot of myths around protein such as that plant sources have to be combined (to complement the "missing" amino acids) but that started from a theory by an author (not even a doctor or scientist) and it turns out the body makes use as it needs it pulling it from food and discarding left overs (part of why too much is not good; it's hard on the organs that have to process and excrete it and because it's acidic calcium gets leached from the bones to provide an alkaline balance).

Another is that many have finally conceded that soy is "complete" but refuse to acknowledge the other plant sources that also are such as quinoa, chia, hemp and more.

There's more to it all but some studies have shown that those who abstain from animal products have better stamina and endurance, even if sedentary, over meat-consuming athletes.

At this article on whether humans are omnivores or herbivores (interesting all in itself) is a bit towards the bottom on veg*n athletes:

http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.ht...

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"Human performance is highest on meat-free diets

Vegetarian and vegan athletes are at the top in their sports. Carl Lewis, the runner, won nine Olympic gold medals. Lewis says that he had his best performance as an athlete after he adopted a vegan diet."

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Further it states (from just one of many studies):

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"In 1968, a Danish team of researchers tested a group of men on a variety of diets, using a stationary bicycle to measure their strength and endurance. The men were fed a mixed diet of meat and vegetables for a period of time, and then tested on the bicycle. The average time they could pedal before muscle failure was 114 minutes. These same men at a later date were fed a diet high in meat, milk and eggs for a similar period and then re-tested on the bicycles. On the high meat diet, their pedaling time before muscle failure dropped dramatically--to an average of only 57 minutes. Later, these same men were switched to a strictly vegetarian diet, composed of grains, vegetables and fruits, and then tested on the bicycles. The lack of animal products didn't seem to hurt their performance--they pedaled an average of 167 minutes."

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So, athletes, much like the rest of us, are being able to communicate much more than they were able to before and are breaking through the commonly accepted gospel about necessary diets and also seeing some who've bucked the trend by giving up meat do very well (or even beat them directly). Those who do try it usually find, much like non-athletes do, that they have more energy.

Answer 5

"Ronda Rousey just became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in judo. She is a Vegan."

She may be a vegan now, but she wasn't at the time of winning that medal.  The article you linked to states she decided to go vegan right after she won.

I don't think there is an increase of veg*n athletes.  Most of the ones you posted have been retired for quite some time (most of the pics you'll find of Pearl and Kowalski will be in black and white).  There have always been a few, but they are still a minority just like the general veg*n population.

Answer 6

People are beginning to look past the stereotypes to see that being a vegan is actually a lot better for your personal health, as well as for the animals and the environment.

I've done quite a lot of research and have my personal experiences as well. Now I pay a lot of attention to what I eat, and I can put on muscle like that and I have excellent stamina, low blood pressure and a really good resting heart rate.  

Answer 7

Possibly it is because plants contain no cholestrol, and clearly a vegan diet is the most healthy and beneficial to any human being.

I am so happy that more and more athletes are following the vegan diet,

we are maybe not as weird and freaky as some would like to make out.