The Plant-Based Athlete Book Summary - The Plant-Based Athlete Book explained in key points

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The Plant-Based Athlete summary

Name: The Plant-Based Athlete
Rating: 4.5 (283 reviews)
Author: Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke

Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke

A Game-Changing Approach to Peak Performance

4.5 (283 ratings)

25 mins

Topics

The Body Sports Diets Healthy Living

Table of Contents

The Plant-Based Athlete
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Reach peak athletic performance on a plant-based diet.

What do the Tennessee Titans, Venus Williams, and Tarahumara ultrarunners have in common? Well, besides being bastions of athleticism, they all love plants – more specifically, they love eating plants.

Athletes throughout history have benefited from swapping out meat for plants. That’s because they knew a little secret: not only does a vegan diet not impair endurance and strength – it actually increases both. It can also help stave off a host of diseases like cancer, strokes, and diabetes.

These blinks make the case for a plant-based diet, using the authors’ personal experience, elite athletes’ success stories, and research both old and new. They lay out all you need to know about a lifestyle that will make you feel healthier, happier, and fitter than ever before.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

the difference between calorie and nutrient density;
why plants repair muscle tissue better than meat; and
what the most important macronutrient is.

Plants are nutrient-rich and calorie-poor – so you’ll lose weight while eating more.

“Plant-Based Diets Take Over Sports World.”

“Why NFL Players and Other Athletes Are Going Vegan.”

These recent, real-life headlines clearly demonstrate that the world has taken notice of a secret hiding in plain sight: a plant-based diet will improve your physical performance. Not only that, it’ll ward off injuries and enable you to live longer.

Anyone in any sport can benefit from adopting a meat-free lifestyle. Olympic medalists like swimmer Rebecca Soni and figure skater Meagan Duhamel swear by plants’ performance-boosting benefits. Mike Tyson made an epic boxing comeback at the age of 52; leading a plant-based lifestyle for ten years had replenished his youthful strength and power. And ultrarunning legend Scott Jurek has long espoused the recovery-enhancing power of plants.

Whether you’re an elite champion or a weekend warrior, eating whole-plant foods will level up your athletic prowess and overall health. That’s because at the foundational level, plants boast qualities that make them far superior to animal products.

The key message here is: Plants are nutrient-rich and calorie-poor – so you’ll lose weight while eating more.

Ready for a crash course in the makeup of food?

Macronutrients are the building blocks of nutrition; they’re what provide calories – that is, energy – for your body. The three main macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Micronutrients, on the other hand, are the minerals and vitamins that play a crucial role in keeping you healthy. Plants contain an abundance of micronutrients that help your body produce energy, boost your immune system, and repair muscles.

A food’s calorie density reflects how many calories it contains per unit of measurement. On food labels, this is usually listed as calories per gram. Plants like cruciferous veggies, fruits, and grains are high in volume but low in calories, so you’ll feel full sooner compared to calorie-rich, low-volume foods like meat or oil.

Then there’s nutrient density – how many nutrients per calorie a food or beverage contains. Plants have a high nutrient to calorie ratio. Combined with their low-calorie density, this means that you can eat more – and more healthily – and you’ll still lose weight. As an added bonus, shedding extra pounds can often make it easier, and more enjoyable, to exercise.

The goal with all these components is not necessarily to eat certain quantities of each; it’s about achieving a diverse mix. We’ll get into the nitty-gritty of exactly how to do this in the following blinks. First up? Protein.

Protein is important, but it’s massively overhyped.

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.

Complex carbohydrates deliver the most nutrient bang for their buck.

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 is an essential part of your diet – but not all fats are created equal.

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.

Supplements should play second fiddle to real foods.

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.

Good habits and a winner’s mindset will take your plant-fueled body to the finish line.

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.

A plant-based lifestyle helps your athletic performance, animals, and the planet.

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.

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What is The Plant-Based Athlete about?

The Plant-Based Athlete (2021) debunks the myth that our bodies need meat, eggs, and dairy to achieve peak athletic success. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with professional athletes, it shows that a plant-based diet actually results in better performance, recovery time, and overall health.

Who should read The Plant-Based Athlete?

Athletes looking to increase energy levels, speed, and recovery times
People who want to improve their digestion or lose weight
Anyone seeking long-term health for themselves and the planet

About the Author

Matt Frazier, a vegan ultramarathoner and entrepreneur, is the founder of No Meat Athlete – an online platform that aims to support and grow the plant-based athletic community. He’s the author of The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, and his work has been featured in Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, Huffington Post, People, Forbes, and Business Insider, among others.

Robert Cheeke is known as the Godfather of Vegan Bodybuilding. He’s the author of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, Shred It!, and Plant-Based Muscle. He regularly contributes to No Meat Athlete, Forks Over Knives, and Vegan Strong, and he travels the world sharing his transformation story from skinny farm kid to two-time natural bodybuilding champion.

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