33% of the world’s gas emissions are linked to our food system. Increased gas emissions are directly linked to temperature rises globally, the rise of the sea levels and extreme weather occurrences.
I am a competitive tennis player and understand that nutrition is important for my development.
I ask you what kind of nutrition intake is the best?
There are many myths about what is a must for the development of a tennis player, is it all true?
I think each one of us should be more accountable to our environment for the choices we make which includes what we put into our bodies
These were my questions and opinions, and as I come from India, which has the highest percentage of vegetarians (29.5%), the concept of a vegetarian diet was not new to me.
Thanks to our IB education philosophy and my curiosity, I started my research.
So I could make up my OWN MIND
DID YOU KNOW THAT
Lewis Hamilton ( F1 Racing ), Novak Djokovic (Tennis), Venus Williams (Tennis), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal Defender), Morgan Mitchell (Olympian Sprinter), Virat Kohli(Cricketer), naming only a few, believed that their sporting performance improved due to turning vegetarian.
Venus William said “I feel quite strongly that a nutrition program built entirely around plant-based foods and completely devoid of animal products is optimal. Conventional wisdom would say that an athlete cannot perform on plants alone, but I am living proof that this is false… I have not gotten sick or even suffered a cold. I am able to repair my body and recover well from workouts and bounce back fresh day in and day out.”
Djokovic said “Food is the fuel that determines how I play, how I recover, and how alert I am on the court. I attribute a great deal of my professional success to my diet.”
Patrik Baboumian said “Someone asked me: How could you get as strong as an ox without eating meat? My answer was: Have you ever seen an ox eating meat?”
Patrik has broken multiple world strength records, including the official Guinness World Record for the Super Yoke, carrying 555kg on his shoulders for 10m, fueled by nothing but plants. Just like an ox.
Some common benefits across the athletes I studied were
- Reduction in Inflammation
- Better Recovery
- Improved energy levels and sharper mental focus
As a junior competitive tennis player, I train for 20 hours a week and during tournaments often play 2 matches each lasting close to 2 hours each per day for 5 consecutive days. Hence, you can imagine how improving recovery is so important.
Vitamin C, Vitamin E and beta-carotene are found in higher levels in plant-based foods. The free radicals which are produced during exercise are neutralised by these antioxidants (2006 Sports Medicine review)
MYTH BUSTER ON THE WAY – many of us believe in these myths and I am here to break them….
MYTH 1: I have heard as you must have that the performance outputs between athletes who consume plant-based diets versus animal diets are very different.
Several studies have shown that THIS IS NOT TRUE
One such study was published in the Nutrients in 2023 where key metrix like VO2 max, muscle power, sprint tests were found to be similar among vegetarian and carnivorous athletes.
MYTH 1 Busted: A vegetarian diet, which is well planned, can support the same quantum of athletic performance as an animal-based diet
MYTH2 : Proteins and strength or muscle building, yes, it is true that animal based foods have more amino acids which inputs into making of muscles. In plant-based foods we do find the amino acids but the concentration of some are relatively lower. The digestibility of plant based proteins is lower than animal based proteins.
These are valid but not something that cannot be overcome. Several recent studies show that the strength as reflected in resistance training outcomes like 1-RM squat, grip strength, knee extension, and knee flexion, the difference with muscle strength with the consumption of animal-based protein or plant-based protein is not substantial.
MYTH 2 Busted: A well-planned plant-based diet, which focuses on more protein intake compared to an animal-based diet, is possible to support athletes’ performance and development
The above supplement with the huge environmental benefits of a vegetarian diet
- Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Less land and water consumption
- Lower contribution to pollution
It seemed to me to be a CHOICE I wanted to make for myself and for my planet without compromising my dream of being a competitive tennis player.
At a personal level, I come from a family where my father is a vegetarian and my mother is not. I consumed animal-based food till I was 9 years and when I decided to adopt a vegetarian diet, I had to convince my mother, I had to tell my friends when we went out but I was convinced and was ready.
I have also had to face situations when I travel for tournaments, where it would be much easier not to be vegetarian. There was one tournament where I ate fried rice for lunch and dinner for the entire week. But that’s when you see how people go out of their way – after the second day the cook realised I was vegetarian and when he got to know we were staying for a week – he made it a point to make the friend rice in different ways every day so it would not be boring for me.
But it did not stop there, I would face well-intentioned advice propagating that I need to eat meat to be a competitive tennis player. I felt bad and felt that my decision was not respected. But I realised that I needed to be the change agent and explain the concept to people.
The research I had done was how I would aim to convince people to open their minds to another way of thinking on what we eat and its impact on our own health, the health of the planet and what we are putting the animals through.
I hope I have been able to make you stop and think for a moment and consider these questions: “Do I need to be more accountable to our environment and myself, by thinking about what I eat?” AND “Am I ready to make even a small change to my diet?”
