All pro level athletes know about the dedication needed to not just accomplish their goals, but to achieve even bigger targets in their lives. It's also a commonly known fact that fitness and exercise alone cannot get them there. Putting the right food into their bodies is equally important.
As a result, more and more athletes are harnessing the power of plant-based diet these days, and are veering away from animal consumption. They're doing it not only for ethics, but also because of the fact that plant-based foods provide certain things that animal-based foods can't. Below, we will acquaint you with the top 3 reasons why more and more athletes are turning to vegan diets.
Animal-based foods require more energy
A lot of energy is required by the human body to not only digest the animal by-products, but to also effectively break them down, and to eliminate any excess waste. All this can result in inflammation, fatigue and in many cases an upset digestive system. The animal food sources are also not raw nutrition source like plants, as they are placed higher in the food chain. What this implies is that animals eat plants in order to get their fill of nutrients and hence we are essentially taking an extra step when we consume animals to put the same nutrients into our bodies.
Better recovery
Athletes that only eat plant-based foods have a comparatively quicker recovery compared to other athletes, as they have less inflammation in their bodies, and don't require a lot of downtime to get back into action. This enables vegan athletes to spend less amount of time dealing with pains in the muscles. They can use that time to practice the sport instead, and accomplish their goals faster. In fact, there are several accomplished athletes including NFL players who actively testify how plant-based diet had such a positive impact on their recovery times and overall fitness.
Anti-aging properties
Although exercising is very important to keep ourselves in good shape and to stay healthy overall, it cannot be denied that it naturally ages the body. All the muscle tear downs that we experience are not easy on the body. However, we can reduce those ageing effects by eating the right foods and supporting the body the right way at the cellular level. Various animal-based proteins, dairy in particular, contribute to aging. In fact, they can even cause arthritis owing to their negative effects on the human body. Vegetarian proteins on the other hand are anti-ageing foods that can deliver even more protein compared to animal foods.
Alkaline protein sources
Whenever athletes contemplate going vegan, their primary concern is protein. They worry how will they get their fill of proteins if they don't eat chicken, egg whites, meat or fish? However, the reality is that you don't necessarily require these foods in order to be strong, healthy and to build muscle mass. There are several plant-based options that can help you build quality muscle mass too. What more, these options are alkaline, implying that they enhance the body's pH levels and prevent inflammation normally associated with animal-based proteins.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of foodworldnews.com
