The Plant-Based Athlete summary

As any vegan – especially an athlete – will know, there’s one question that gets asked over and over: “But how do you get enough protein?” Cue the eye roll. 

Protein is involved with building and repairing muscle tissue, and it’s integral to making essential hormones and regulating immune function. In short, it is important. But it’s also blown way out of proportion. Many athletes seem to think they’ll waste away if they don’t consume “enough” protein, and so they’re constantly on a quest to find more – usually in the form of meat, milk, eggs, and supplements, to the detriment of their overall health.

So if protein isn't all it’s made out to be, what should we be focusing on? That’s easy: carbohydrates.

Carb-rich whole foods, especially leafy greens like kale, have the highest ANDI score – that’s short for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index. This score rates foods based on their nutrient-to-calorie ratio. On top of that, both our muscles and brains prefer using whole, unprocessed complex carbohydrates as fuel. 

Fat. Everyone always seems to want to lose it, and yet it’s an essential part of our existence. Fat protects your organs, produces important hormones, supports cell growth, and provides your body with energy.

With 9 calories per gram, fat has more than twice the calorie density of carbohydrates or proteins. But eating fat won’t automatically make you fat. Because while you need fat on your plate, small amounts are best. Also, not all fats are created equal. In addition to monitoring how much fat you consume, it’s important to focus on which.

Do you dutifully pop a multivitamin every day? If so, join the club! The Council for Responsible Nutrition reports that 77 percent of adults in the US take dietary supplements of some kind.

But many professional athletes forgo supplements completely, including Team USA heavyweight boxing champion Cam Awesome, and Rebecca Soni, a swimmer who’s won six Olympic medals and set five world records.

As we saw in the last blink, supplements should complement a nutritious diet – not make up for the lack of one. And ultimately, the best performance-enhancing drugs are hydration, work ethic, and attitude.

You probably know that your body is 70 percent water. As such, you need to properly hydrate to nourish your cells and muscles. Not only will this keep you healthy, but it’ll also reduce soreness. Don’t worry about measuring out exact cups; just drink a dozen glasses of water every day. You’ll also be hydrating through all the fruits and vegetables in your plant-based diet.

Obviously, a plant-based diet is hugely beneficial for your performance as an athlete. But there are other good reasons to cut out meat, too. For one, it destroys the environment. The meat-production industry is responsible for 50 percent of global warming. Not only that, it’s likely one of the main factors behind the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the CDC has warned that three out of four new diseases in people will come from animals.

Another reason to quit meat is an ethical concern about harming living creatures for food or supporting horrific factory farms. That’s what drove both of the authors to adopt animal-free diets. And although they switched to plants to reduce animal cruelty, the change catalyzed incredible personal transformations.