Men's Health magazine: Green Day

Green Day

Want to live longer, lose weight and improve your performance?

Then it’s time to veg out

By Cassie White Photography by Ben Rollison

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We get it: meat is great. It delivers all nine essential amino acids, helps you stack on muscle and enables your body to carry out a host of vital metabolic functions. But most of all, it just tastes awesome.

Sadly, the evidence that you can have too much of a good thing continues to mount. A recent study by Harvard University, for example, found that consuming just one extra serving of red meat each day could increase your risk of heart disease by 16 per cent. Enjoy a couple of bacon rashers or a snag with your breakfast? The same study reports your chances of premature death have just spiked by 20 per cent.

Now, we’re not suggesting you give your butcher the heave and live on a ruminant’s diet of mung beans and tofu. Tucking into a tender slab of steak is every man’s lip-smacking right.

But here’s the truth: your current diet is probably out of whack. A report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed that not only do we eat almost three times as much meat as the international average, but that 90 per cent of us consistently fail to eat the recommended daily serve of five vegetables.

Rethinking your nutritional balance is a smart move, argues Dietitians Association of Australia spokesman Dr Trent Watson, who describes an ideal diet as 40-50 per cent carbs, 20-30 per cent fat and 15-20 per cent protein. “You can follow a plant-based diet and meet all your dietary needs just as well as someone who eats meat – without a doubt,” he says.

So how do you start righting the ledger? Simply committing to a meat-free day once a week will get you under way. In return, you’ll slash your chances of keeling over from heart disease, cancer and stroke, according to a study from Oxford University.

Crucially, it won’t affect your athletic performance either. Don’t just take our word for it: the following three elite athletes all credit regular meat-free days for keeping them at the top of their game. Together, they offer dynamic proof that you can eat less meat while maintaining power and hard-earned muscle.

Learn their secrets – and recipes – to hit your own physical peaks while still enjoying your food.

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THE PEEL DEAL

Plant Powered

There’s no need to miss out on flavour when you drop meat. Patrick Friesen, head chef at Papi Chulo in Sydney, delivers maximum taste with his favourite, easy-to-make meat-free meals

RECOVERY

Grilled beans with ssamjang and mozzarella

Peter Siddle Fast bowler

10 flat Roman beans, split lengthwise 2 bunches asparagus, split lengthwise ● 6 spring onions ●2 pc buffalo mozzarella (or bocconcini), torn into pieces ●2 tbsp ssamjang (a dip used often in Korean food that is made from Korean chilli paste and fermented soybean paste. You can find it in most Asian grocers) ●

Indefatigable and relentless, Peter Siddle is the trusty workhorse of the Australian Test attack. The 29-yearold’s not just celebrated for being Kevin Pietersen’s bowling nemesis, though.

He’s also achieved surprising renown for becoming a full-time vegan.

Giving up meat had dramatic effects – the paceman lost 8kg after his big dietary switch. This delivered immediate benefits by improving his agility around the field. But Siddle believes the most noticeable difference was his accelerated rate of recovery.

“My body feels better after the day’s play and getting ready for the next match,” he says. “And that has really helped my performance.”

The demands of fast bowling are immense. Pounding in at speed, a paceman generates a force around seven times his body weight every time his front foot hits the crease. Siddle credits the amount of bananas he eats for helping him bounce back fast. The Gippsland speed-demon wolfs down at least 15 every day, with about half of them mixed up in smoothies. “Muscle glycogen is what you wear down during performance and bananas are the quickest way to replenish that loss,” he explains. “I have them for snacks, throughout play and innings breaks, and after workouts.”

While we don’t recommend you put away Siddle-satisfying amounts,

DAY ON A PLATE Breakfast ■ One-litre smoothie with bananas, kale, spinach, celery and coconut water

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research in the journal PLoS One found bananas are just as effective as energy drinks for delivering exercise performance and provide a nutritional cocktail of carbs, fibre, potassium and vitamin B6.

Siddle admits his vegan transition wasn’t entirely painless and required a period of adjustment. As his metabolism started running almost as fast as his bowling, he couldn’t feed the furnace quick enough. “On the field I was cramping a bit, too, so I did start to second-guess myself,” he says. “But it was just my body getting used to a different way of eating.”

Today, closing in on 200 Test wickets and boasting eight fivefors in long-form cricket, Siddle’s performance speaks for itself.

For that, he credits his vegan diet for keeping him healthy and injuryfree. “My bowling average has come down and I’ve made the highest scores of my career – and I think it’s because I can stay on the park and play consistent cricket.”

Lunch

Hearty vegetable salad When it comes to throwing together a meal, Siddle will experiment with anything that’s in the kitchen. “My favourites are avocado, a lot of eggplant, pumpkin and leafy greens like spinach and kale.” You can’t go wrong with salad combos like that, says Watson. “Eating a wide variety of salad will provide Peter with the right quantities and combinations of vitamins and minerals to optimise health and performance, particularly antioxidants, which will fight against the oxidative damage of intense exercise. More colour equals more nutrients!”

●

Korean bean dressing ● 100ml white soy ● 100ml water ● 50ml

sugar syrup (boil 50ml of water and 50ml of sugar until sugar dissolves; 3-4 minutes) ● 50ml rice-wine vinegar ● 1 tsp sesame oil ● 1 clove garlic, very finely grated For the dressing: mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Lightly coat the beans, asparagus and spring onions with oil and salt and barbecue over high heat to get a nice charred flavour. Once they’re cooked, remove them from heat and toss in the Korean bean dressing. To serve, smear a tablespoon of the ssamjang on each plate with the back of a tablespoon. Drop the mozzarella randomly on the plate, then top with the beans and asparagus. Great with a side of rice. Serves 2

Vietnamese vegetable curry Curry paste 1 clove garlic ● 1 long red chilli ● 1 bunch coriander stems (keep the leaves for garnish) ● 1 shallot ● 1 lemongrass stalk ● 1 pinch salt ● 2 tsp Vietnamese curry powder ● 1 tbsp vegetable oil (If you don’t want to make your own paste, just use 2-3 tbsp of store-bought Thai or Vietnamese red curry paste) ●

Ingredients ■ ½ cup roasted

pumpkin, in chunks ■ ½ cup roasted eggplant, in chunks ■ 2 handfuls baby spinach ■ ¼ avocado, diced ■ 1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved

■ ½ carrot, grated

■ 1 handful chickpeas

■ ½ cup cooked quinoa

Dinner ■

Tofu burrito with homemade guacamole and salad

■

Piece of fruit

■ Lemon juice, to taste ■ Salt and pepper

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl and drizzle with lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and serve.

Snack ■ Banana or apple

What the dietitian says Unless you’re matching Siddle’s cardio output, keep to 1-2 bananas a day, advises Watson, who also recommends Siddle broaden his nutrient intake by eating more wholegrains. “Breads and cereals would provide a range of B-group vitamins, zinc and protein,” he says. “He could probably benefit from adding additional vegan-friendly protein, like nuts, seeds, legumes and powders, especially for recovery after high-intensity sessions.”

For the curry ● 250ml vegetable stock (or water) ● 25ml coconut cream ● 200g puffed tofu ● 1 zucchini, sliced ● 350g wood ear mushrooms, hard stems removed (or shiitake) ● 2 sprigs dill ● ½ bunch sorrel, sliced thinly To garnish ● Thai basil leaves (optional) ● Coriander leaves ● 1 lime Method Pound all the ingredients for the curry paste in a mortar and pestle until smooth. Slowly fry the paste in a pan with a splash of oil until it becomes soft and fragrant. Add the vegetable stock (or water) and bring to the boil. Add the zucchini, mushrooms and tofu and cook for 10 minutes on a low simmer or until the vegetables soften. Finish with coconut cream, picked dill and sliced sorrel. To serve, garnish with coriander, basil and lime leaves. Squeeze some fresh lime in to lighten the whole dish up. Serve with steamed fresh rice noodles or steamed rice. Serves 2 a pril 2014

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STRENGTH

POWER SURGE Derek Boyer Powerlifter Derek Boyer’s feats of strength read like something out of a superhero comic. He’s pulled a Kenworth truck using nothing more than a rope. He’s flipped a car 10 times in under four minutes. He’s even leg-pressed a 96-tonne road train. “When it’s cold and dark and pissing down rain, and you’re cuddled up on your girlfriend’s couch watching TV, I’m still out there training,” he says.

But training alone isn’t what’s made Boyer the strongest man in Australia for 15 years running and a fixture in the Guinness Book of World Records. The guy clearly likes meat. So it’s surprising to hear him insist that ditching it once a week is essential to lifting seriously heavy metal.

In fact, he scoffs at the idea that going without means you’d be living on rabbit food or bingeing on Mighty White just to fill the hole. “I see a lot of guys get carried away with performance, but they miss the big picture of overall health,” he says. “There are a lot of very tasty vegetarian options that are high in

DAY ON A PLATE Breakfast ■

12-egg-white omelette with spinach, onion and mushroom

■

Black coffee

■

Water

Lunch ■ Yellow lentil dhal and Mexican bean salad Dinner ■ Tofu and vegetable stir-fry 78

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protein, packed full of nutrients and beneficial to any guy looking for better performance.”

At 140kg, Boyer has a pretty big engine to feed. Often, that means starting the day with a 12-eggwhite omelette, but he says another breakfast staple of body-builders worldwide is good old-fashioned oats. “They’re a great source of carbs and are energy producing,” he explains.

“I flavour mine with sultanas – simple but effective.”

To maintain his almost inhuman levels of strength, green is gold, says Boyer. Spinach, cabbage, rocket and broccoli are his powerhouse foods, due to their high magnesium content, which he says is vital for performance and recovery.

“The greener the better,” he stresses.

And if Derek Boyer is telling you to eat your greens, you’d better listen.

DIGESTION

REBOOT YOUR GUT

Clayton Fettell Triathlete

Snack

Almond butter protein shake Boyer’s vego day pièce de résistance is this “cracking” between-meal shake, which he was inspired to create after studying how vegetarian Indian wrestlers stacked on size. “They live almost solely on almond butter,” he explains.

These guys, says Watson, are proof you don’t need meat to compete at high levels. “In Third World countries, most of their protein is derived from plant-based sources.” Boyer puts away three of these shakes a day, but unless you’re gunning for the next strongman title, it’s probably best if you stick to one.

Ingredients ■ 2 heaped tbsp almond butter ■ 600ml cold water ■ 1 banana ■ 4 eggs

■ ½ tsp cinnamon

■ Splash vanilla essence

■ 2 tbsp cultured Greek yoghurt

(optional)

Add all the ingredients to a blender and whiz until smooth.

What the dietitian says Boyer’s protein is distributed evenly throughout the day, which is key for muscle gains, says Watson. “His lentil and Mexican bean salad is providing some good-quality carbs to fuel his training and his almond butter protein shakes are keeping his kilojoules up to maintain his lean muscle mass.”

Picture this. You’ve just swum almost four kilometres in choppy open water, then saddled up to ride a gut-busting 180 kays, only to immediately smash out a marathon in searing heat. But instead of spending the next fortnight groaning on the couch, you do it again the next weekend.

And the weekend after that.

That’s how Clayton Fettell spends most of his year, training 6-8 hours a day, backing up week after week to compete. But it’s not just phenomenal fitness that ensures his survival. The right fuel is absolutely crucial, says Fettell, who, since scaling back his meat intake in 2011, has won numerous Ironman events in Australia and the US. “Not many people can keep going like I do in this sport and I put it down to my nutrition.”

Fettell eliminates meat from his diet for three or four days every week. He uses these meat-free days as a reset button for his digestion. “Vego days balance everything out and give my insides a rest,” he explains. “On those days I’ll usually go dairy-free as well, because that’s also hard to digest. And if you’re not digesting your [energy] gels properly in a triathlon, it’s going to be a long day.”

Faced with his gruelling schedule, Fettell needs foods that deliver the maximum nutritional bang for his buck.

To maintain stamina and energy for his races, he fuels up beforehand on healthy fats, munching through 150 grams of nuts throughout the day.

The hefty distances he has to cover means the 27-yearold doesn’t want to carry any excess weight. He avoids stacking on extra kilos by focusing on quality over quantity with his meals. Smoothies and salads are loaded with superfoods such as chia seeds, hemp seeds and LSA (a premade mix of linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds). He’s also an advocate for chlorophyll, which, he reckons, acts like a brush for his intestines and “cleans out any junk”.

“Greens help balance out the acidity in my body, which comes from training hard and nailing myself,” he explains.

“If your nutrition isn’t right, your body will just crumble.”

Breakfast

Chia seed pudding Ingredients

k ds ■ 3-4 tbsp chia see ■ ½ tsp cinnamon left) ■ 1 tbsp LSA (see ds see p hem p tbs ■1 ■ 1 banana, sliced rries ■ Handf ul bluebe

■ 1 cup almond mil

chia Pour almond milk and e it a giv , jar ss seeds into a gla lid. the on ew scr good stir and (or rs hou ee thr for ate Refriger oa int set to it for ) ght overni pudding consistency. er to In the morning, tra nsf t of res the h a bowl and top wit the ing redients.

FETTELL’S DAY ON A PLATE Green smoothie ■ Handful kale

■ Handful baby spinach ■ ½ avocado

■ ½ cucumber

■ 2 sprigs mint

■ 300ml coconut water (or chilled

tap water)

■ 1 tbsp chlorophyll ■ 1 tsp spirulina

■ Pinch cinnamon

Add all ingredients to a blender and whiz until smooth. Add more water to thin it out.

Lunch Leafy green salad with pine nuts, roasted veg and goats’ cheese, topped with olive oil and Himalayan salt.

Dinner Three-egg omelette with English spinach, fresh herbs and cherry tomatoes, sprinkled with hemp seeds and nutritional yeast.

Snack Apple and one tablespoon of coconut oil, handful of mixed raw nuts (Brazil nuts and macadamias are his favourites). “When I eat fruit, I’ll always have it with a spoonful of coconut oil, which balances out carbs and sugars in my stomach,” he says. Adding some fat to carb-rich foods like this will lower the glycaemic index, explains Watson. “But unless you’re on the Ironman circuit, be cautious with this approach, as adding excess fat will quickly blow your kilojoule budget.”

What the dietitian says Fettell’s meat-free day is low on carbs, which is unusual for an endurance athlete, notes Watson. “But based on his performances, it’s evident that he is balancing his carb intake on other days.” He also gets huge psychological benefits from following a nutritious meal plan, which helps get him through the taxing Ironman events, says Watson.

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