I love seeing articles like this in the New York Times (thank you to the author, Mark Bittman!), because being vegan does not mean you have to be weak and wimpy… Jurek’s easy days are 40-mile runs!
He says, “When you’re a vegan, to increase your calories as you increase training you need more food. This isn’t an elimination diet but an inclusion diet.”
An inclusion diet, I love that.
Jurek also says: “None of this is weird. If you go back 300 or 400 years, meat was reserved for special occasions, and those people were working hard. Remember, almost every long-distance runner turns into a vegan while they’re racing, anyway — you can’t digest fat or protein very well.”
Many people who get into yoga move in the vegetarian/vegan direction, but it's great to hear about other athletes doing this as well.
I wonder if there have been any studies looking at how the switch to a vegan diet impacts people's athletic performance?
great article christina. it is fun to use a new word to change the thinking on a subject; it really shifts perception of the benefits of that lifestyle choice. hey, if no one else does it, you surely can run the study!
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