A great multitude of people have a misguided belief that athletes cannot perform well on a vegan diet. After all, their bodies require loads of animal protein, for development of their muscles and their responses.
But if you delve a little deeper you’ll discover that this is far from the truth. There are several professional and elite level athletes who have completely cut out meat, egg and dairy foods from their diets, for multiple reasons, and yet continue to perform at the top level. We’ll acquaint you with 3 such well-known athletes in this short article. If you’re keen on learning more about all such sports persons, here are some more of them who’re truly harnessing the potential of plant-based diet very well.
Lionel Messi
Counted amongst the greatest footballers to have ever played the beautiful game, Lionel Messi has won a total of 32 trophies for Barcelona so far. The winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2019, Messi also holds the record for scoring the maximum number of official goals in football. Needless to say, he continues to be an inspiration for other footballers across the world.
However, one more way that he inspires a great multitude of sports persons across the world is because of his plant-based living. Having had a poor World Cup in 2014, Lionel Messi decided on changing his diet, so as to improve his performance on the pitch. He brought a qualified nutritionist on board and started giving lot of importance to organic whole foods, particularly vegetables, nuts and fruits, in his daily diet. In addition, he reduced his meat consumption, and the results are for everyone to see!
Venus Williams
Easily amongst the most famous tennis players to have come from the United States, Venus Williams is the winner of four Olympic gold medals and has won Wimbledon women’s singles tennis championship five times. Venus switched to vegan diet after getting diagnosed with Sjorgen’s Syndrome in the year 2011. Her doctors recommended diet alterations to relieve some of the associated symptoms of the condition, like joint pains and extreme fatigue. Ever since she did that, Venus has exhibited far more power and drive in her game.
Lewis Hamilton
Formula One racer, Lewis Hamilton is another well-known vegan athlete in the sports world. Considered a top rated racing driver, he has won Formula One world championship fur times for Mercedes. Hamilton doesn’t hold back in expressing his love for vegan diet and urges his fans to follow the same path on his social media accounts.
In a recently posted Instagram story, Hamilton shared a video of a slaughterhouse footage that was captioned something like if you can’t bear looking at animal slaughter with your eyes, why put it in your mouth. Needless to say, the 6.8 million people following him on Instagram would have had some kind of affect by his advice. It came as a fresh breath of air to see an athlete showing his love for vegan diet, not for performance improvement, but for his love for animals.
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