5 Reasons it Rocks to be a Vegan Athlete

We all know that keep your body in shape is not only important as a football athlete, but important for your general well being.  Today’s kid have an obesity problem and even though we all have pizza parties to reward the team, take a minute and check out the current trend among the new breed of vegan athletes.

Most athletes know how much dedication it takes to not only reach their goals, but also go above those goals to achieve greater things down the line. Good nutrition is just as important as your workouts, and help you reach your goals sooner while also supporting your body long-term. For example, many plant-based athletes have actually embraced a vegan diet not just for ethics, but also for athletic performance.

Skip the energy drinks, the stimulants, the muscle enhancers, and all that other jazz that many athletes find they need to not only perform, but to also recover. Eating more plant-based foods is the answer to many health problems, even those just looking to gain more energy or improve their overall health.

Animal-based foods require so much energy for the body to not only digest, but also to break down and eliminate the excess wastes from the inflammatory proteins. This can contribute to fatigue, inflammation, and for many, digestive upset (which also robs your energy!). These foods also don’t have the raw source of nutrition like plant-based foods do because they’re higher on the food chain. What does this mean? Well, animals have to eat plants to get their nutrients, so when we eat animals, we’re basically taking one extra (unnecessary) step to gain nutrients from plants such as B vitamins, iron, protein, magnesium, and complex carbs that all naturally improve our energy levels. We should also remember that animal-based proteins are just that – animals – living beings that  have been killed for our consumption. Which do you think your body prefers to digest and process?

Plant-based athletes normally also recover much more quickly because there is less inflammation in the body, therefore athletes don’t need as much “down time” to get back on track. This allows athletes to spend less time dealing with muscle aches and pains, and have more time to practice their sport and reach their goals. In fact, these amazing athletes all testify that a plant-based diet immensely improved their recovery time. read the rest of the post….