Nutrition Part 3 - Eat To Nourish

For some reason I have bumped into all these recent articles about health on the vegan diet (yet more mainstreaming perhaps?) It seems that athletes are now pursuing a vegan diet to bulk up (yes, incredible isn't it?) and 'run cleaner' as one runner said.

Say hello to the beefy vegan! Hugh Jackman, seen here in his role as Wolverine in X-Men, said he used to use lots of animal protein and protein powders to bulk up but knew that that wasn't sustainable, "... that at some point my body (and probably my heart) would rebel. Not to mention that I often felt extremely lethargic eating so many hard-to-digest calories.” On a vegan diet "Not only was it possible – it was easier and healthier.”

Brendan Brazier is an Ultramarathoner and Ironman competitor. He explains that being vegan doesn't magically make you a better athlete, but that it makes you healthier which allows you to work harder. Besides avoiding the risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes associated with meat and dairy, a vegan diet is alkalizing, he says, which minimizes muscle inflammation and lactic acid build-up. Vegan athletes are thus able to reduce their recovery time.

If you favor meat over vegetarian fare, you might want to reconsider your menu. According to a study published this week in the British Journal of Cancer, vegetarians are less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer. The most striking difference was in cancers of the blood – leukemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

It seems that the notion of a vegetarian diet being better for you does, in fact, have strong scientific backing. This isn't the first time research has suggested a meatless diet as an effective measure for fighting a myriad of diseases and health conditions. Previous studies have linked vegetarian diets with lower blood cholesterol and blood pressure, lower body weights and a reduced risk of cancer.

The current study comes days after the American Dietetic Association published an evidence-based review showing a vegetarian diet is associated with numerous health advantages, including a lower risk of dying from heart disease. In the report, the association concluded that well-planned vegetarian diets – including the totally vegetarian vegan diet –are healthful not only for adults, but also for infants, children, teenagers, athletes and pregnant women.

In one of his talks Thich Nhat Hanh says to only eat what you need to nourish your body. Whenever I feel like I may weaken in my selection of a food item I think of this. That's all it takes.