4 Athletes Who Follow A Plant Based Diet
It has been long believed by some that a plant-based diet does not provide the adequate protein necessary for athletes. This misconception has caused many to steer clear from vegetarian diets or veganism. However, within the past few years, many athletes have adopted a vegan diet or something similar, and some have spoken to the benefits of abstaining from animal products.
Here are four such athletes who fuel their bodies with the power of plants and have found plenty of success doing so.
Tia Blanco
Tia Blanco has certainly made waves as an incredible surfer. And the two-time International Surfing Association World Champion has been vegan for the past six years! Her decision to go plant-based was influenced by her vegetarian mother, and we’d say it’s worked out just fine. Blanco currently runs an Instagram account called @tiasvegankitchen where she shares vegan, organic recipes to her 30.1k followers.
Specifically, the surf star sticks to a protein-rich diet full of beans, nuts, and seeds. She also enjoys quinoa and vegan protein shakes.
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick announced he was vegan back in 2016. It’s well known at this point that he was more or less exiled from the NFL as a result of his decision to protest police violence by taking a knee during the national anthem. But many don’t realize that he also faced backlash for his dietary choices. His veganism was actually cited as a reason why he wasn’t picked up by an NFL team back in 2017.
Naturally though, this now looks to have been an excuse. While it’s perfectly believable that some in the NFL would frown upon a plant-based diet, evidence suggests such an eating habit does nothing to detract from an athlete’s performance.
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is truly on top of the tennis world these days – almost undeniably the best active player when fully healthy. He opened the 2019 season by winning the Australian Open, and months later, after he was named the favorite at Wimbledon, he won there too. Health issues held him back a bit during the hard-court season, but he’ll enter 2020 expected to win most of the tournaments he plays in also.
The Serbian tennis star has adhered to a strict gluten-free vegan diet ever since he realized that his food allergies were impeding his abilities as an athlete. In the morning, the five-time Wimbleton champion typically sticks to drinking a smoothie. For lunch and dinner, Djokovic will eat brown rice, gluten-free pasta, or quinoa with vegetables. He also has a taste for carrot ginger soup and kale salad.
David Haye
David Haye has credited his plant-based diet with his amazing athleticism. In a 2017 interview with The Sun, the former boxer revealed that he’d ditched animal products in 2014 and, claimed to have never felt better. He asserted that he believes that plants are all people need to eat in order to thrive.
“People say, ‘Where do you get your strength from?’ I say, ‘where does an ape get his strength from?’” explained Haye. “He’s 20 times stronger than a human and doesn’t have a meat-based diet. They eat plants all day long. It’s a myth that you need meat for strength.”
Haye went on to say that he has a full-time chef that prepares his plant-based meals.
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