Plant-powered athletes finding success
By now we all ought to know what a well-balanced meal looks like, but there still seems to be so much misinformation, even by those who either are in the health care field or claim to be nutritionists, not to mention the misleading advertisements and news reports. A recent article on a healthy breakfast just about floored me. Bacon and eggs as a good breakfast as well as sausage, geez that sounds like a prescription for a heart attack. Talk about fat and cholesterol, oh my!
For the past few years, my curiosity has led me to some great sources. Several renowned medical doctors and scientists have spent decades studying for me so I don’t have to dig through all the misinformation. Read “The China Study” by Dr. Colin Campbell or John Robbins’s “The Food Revolution” and find out what our “normal” diet is doing to us. There are also numerous DVDs, one being the acclaimed “Forks Over Knives”. It’s also important to know that the average MD receives about two hours of nutritional education
Back to that bacon-and-eggs breakfast. A bit of protein is a great start, but a tofu scramble does the trick without the grease, fat, and unwanted cholesterol. Before you yuck the tofu, do you know how a hotdog is made or what is in your breakfast sausage? I know what’s in my tofu: soybeans.
Ask yourself, are the hospitals full of people sick from going meatless? In reality cancer and heart disease have been directly linked to meat and dairy, not fruit and veggies. It is important however; to eat a wide variety of plant-based foods, and not live off popcorn and salads alone and think you’re going to look and feel like a million bucks.
A breakfast smoothie is one way to get all your dietary needs met. There is nothing wrong with fruit in the morning, and if you like to be regular, fruit and fiber is the way to go, literally. There are numerous recipes for a powerful start to your day without the load in your gut or clogging arteries from fatty animal products.
But don’t take my word for it. Take Ironman triathlete and ultramarathoner Brendan Brazier’s word for it, he has won triathlons at Olympic distance, Half Ironman and full Ironman, which is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle and marathon (26.2 mile) run. He has set the Bigfoot Half Ironman course record twice and was twice Canadian 50k champion. Still skeptical, maybe some other successful athletes would peak your interest.
Scott Jurek is a vegan ultramarathon runner, and has led the sport with amazing performances including multiple wins and course records.
Steph Davis is a vegan rock climber who has tackled some of the toughest climbs in the world and achieved a number of firsts.
From martial arts, weight lifting, football, tennis, mountain biking, track, basketball, on and on there are plant-powered athletes winning and setting records, as well as Olympians.
If plant powered athletes can be this competitive then that works for me. I don’t need to hear “in today’s opinion news” mumbo jumbo. There are enough plant-based athletes who are all the living proof I need that we don’t need to ingest meat or dairy to be fit and healthy.
CINDY AASE
Sagle