Is plant-based best for sporting endurance?

In spite of the well-documented health benefits of more plant-based diets, less is known regarding the effects of these diets on athletic performance.

Recently, the remains of dozens of Roman gladiators were discovered in a mass grave. The clue to their identities were the rather distinct types of mortal injuries they found, like being speared in the head with a trident.

Using just their skeletons, they were able to reconstruct the death blows, show just how buff they really were, and even try to reconstruct their “diet of barley and beans.”

You can look at carbon isotopes and see what kinds of plants they ate; nitrogen isotopes…reflect [any] intake of animal protein. You can also look at the sulphur in their bones and the amount of strontium, leading commentators to submit that the best athletes in ancient Rome ate largely plant-based diets.

Then there were the legionnaires, the Roman army troopers, famed for their abilities, also eating a similar kind of diet, suggesting the best fighters in the ancient world were essentially vegetarian.

So, if the so-called perfect fighting machines, the great sports heroes of the day, were eating mostly grains and beans, should that tell us anything about sports nutrition and the preferred diets of elite athletes?

Plato pushed plants

Well, most of the Greeks and Romans were basically vegetarian and centering their diets around grains, fruit, vegetables and beans, so maybe the gladiators’ diets weren’t that remarkable. Plato, for example, pushed plants, preferring plant foods for their health and efficiency.

So yes, the Roman gladiators were known as ‘barley men’. But is that because barley gives you strength and stamina? Or was that just the basic food that people ate at the time, not necessarily for performance, but because it was just so cheap?

Well, if you look at “the modern Spartans,” the Tarahumara Indians, the ones that run races where they kick a ball for oh, 75 miles just for the fun of it, running all day, all night, and all day, maybe 150 miles if they’re feeling in the mood. What do you get if you win?

Actually, special popularity with the ladies, although how much of a reward that would prove to be for a man who had been running for two days straight is questionable, though maybe their endurance extends to other dimensions.

Probably, not since the days of the ancient Spartans have a people achieved such a high state of extreme physical

Dr Michael Greger is well known (and respected) for his pithy observations on the science of plant-based eating. In his following piece (republished under Creative Commons license) he examines several studies and warns of the importance in adhearing to proper scientific principles when considering the evidence. For more, don't hesitate to check out his very informative web site. www.nutritionfacts.org conditioning. And what did they eat? The same kind of 75 to 80 per cent starch diet is based on beans, corn, and squash. And, they had the cholesterol levels to prove it, total cholesterol levels down at an essentially heart attack-proof 136.

And it’s not some special genetics they have - feed them enough egg yolks, and their cholesterol creeps right up.

Modern-day Olympian runners eat the same stuff. What are they eating over there in Kenya? A 99 per cent vegetarian diet centred mostly around various starches. But as in all these cases, is their remarkable physical prowess because of their diets or in spite of their diets? Or have nothing to do with their diets? You don’t know, until you put it to the test.

In spite of the well-documented health benefits of more plantbased diets, less is known regarding the effects of these diets on athletic performance. So, they compared elite vegetarian and omnivore endurance athletes for aerobic fitness and strength. So, comparing oxygen utilization on the treadmill and quad strength with leg extensions. The vegetarians beat out their omnivore counterparts for cardiorespiratory fitness, but their strength didn’t differ. Suggesting, in the very least, that vegetarian diets do not compromise athletic performance.

National Runners' Health Study

But this was a cross-sectional study. Maybe the veg athletes were just fitter because they trained harder? In the National Runners’ Health Study looking at thousands of runners: vegetarian runners were recorded running significantly more on a weekly basis, so, maybe that explains their superior fitness. Though, maybe their superior fitness explains their greater distances.

Other cross-sectional studies have found no differences in physical fitness between vegetarian and non-vegetarian athletes or even worse performance, as one study of vegetarian athletes in India. Of course, there could be socioeconomic or other confounding factors. That’s why we need interventional studies to put different diets to the test and then compare physical performance, which we’ll explore next.

In 1896, the aptly named James Parsley evidently led a successful vegetarian cycling club to victory. Their competitors apparently had to “eat crow with their beef.” Evidently, some Belgian put it to the test in 1904, with those eating more plant-based supposedly lifting some weight like 80 per cent more times, but I couldn’t find the primary source in English. What I could find, though: a famous series of experiments at Yale, published more than a century ago, on the influence of flesh-eating on endurance.

Forty-nine people were compared: regular athletes (mostly Yale students), vegetarian athletes, and then just sedentary vegetarians. “The experiment furnished a severe test of the claims of those flesh-abstainers.” Much to the researchers’ surprise, the results seemed to vindicate the vegetarians, suggesting that not eating meat leads to far greater endurance compared to those accustomed to the ordinary American diet.

Hold out your arms

Check it out: the first endurance test was how many minutes straight you could hold out your arms horizontally: flesh-eaters versus flesh abstainers. The regular Yale athletes were able to keep their hands out for about 10 minutes on average. It’s harder than it sounds; give it a try. OK, but those eating vegetarian did, like, five times better! The meat-eater maximum was only half that of the vegetarian average. Only two meat eaters even hit 15 minutes, whereas more than two-thirds of the meat-avoiders did. None of the regular diet folks hit a half hour, whereas nearly half of the healthier eaters did, including nine that exceeded an hour, four that exceeded two hours and one guy going for more than three hours.

How many deep knee bends can you do? One athlete could do more than 1,000, averaging 383, but they got creamed even by the sedentary plant-eaters. That’s the crazy thing—even the sedentary abstainers surpassed the exercising flesh-eaters. The sedentary abstainers were in most cases, physicians who sat on their butts all day. I want a doctor that can do a thousand deep knee bends!

And then in terms of recovery, all those deep knee bends left everyone sore but much more so among those eating meat. Among the vegetarians, of two that did like 2,000 knee bends one went straight off to the track to run, and another went on to their nursing duties. On the other hand, among the meat-eaters: one guy reached 254, went down once more and couldn’t get back up, had to be carried away and was incapacitated for days, another was impaired for weeks after fainting.

It may be inferred, without reasonable doubt, that the once sceptical Yale researcher concluded that the meat-eating group of athletes was inferior in endurance to the vegetarians, even the sedentary ones. What could account for this remarkable difference?

Some claimed that flesh foods contained some kind of “fatigue poisons.” But one German researcher who detailed his own experiments with athletes offered a more prosaic answer.

In his book on what looks like physiological studies of uberdriving vegetarians (I told you I only know English) he conjectured that the apparent vegetarian superiority was just due to their tremendous determination to prove their point and spread their propaganda.

So, they just make a greater effort in any contest than do their meat-eating rivals. The Yale researchers were worried about this, and so, special pains were taken to stimulate the flesh-eaters to the utmost, appealing to their college pride. Don’t let those lousy vegetarians beat the “Yale spirit.”

The experiments made it into The New York Times. Yale’s flesheating athletes—sounds like a zombie movie—beaten in severe endurance tests. “Yale professor believes that he has shown definitely the inferiority in strength and endurance tests of meat eaters compared to those who do not eat meat.”

Some of Yale’s most successful athletes took part in the strength tests, and Professor Fisher declared they were obliged to admit their inferiority. How has the truth of this result been so long obscured?

Genuine scientific investigation

One reason, Professor Fisher suggested, is that vegetarians are their own worst enemy. In their fanaticism, they jump from the premise that meat eating is wrong—often based on scripture or some kind of dogma—and jump from that to meat-eating is unhealthy. That’s not how science works, and such logical leaps get them dismissed as zealots, and prevent any genuine scientific investigation.

Lots of science, even back then, was pointing a distinct trend toward more plant-based eating, and yet the word vegetarian— even 110 years ago—had such a bad, preachy rap that many were loath to concede the science in its favour. The proper scientific attitude is to study the question of meat eating in precisely the same manner as one would study the question of anything else.

Butternut Squash Soup

This savoury vegan butternut squash soup brimming with Autumn flavour is what cozy dreams are made of. Top with perfectly roasted pieces of butternut, fried sage and a few dried cranberries for the ultimate burst of autumn flavour. by Florentina at veggiesociety.com | serves 6

Ingredients

5 lb 1 lrg 1 1/2 cup

6 cups 3 1 Tbsp 2 1 8 1 1/4 cup

Method

butternut squash (aproximately 11 cups) large leek, white + pale green parts celery rib, diced raw cashew (or 1 cup cashew milk - optional) water + more sprigs sage sage leaves chopped sprigs rosemary sprig rosemary sprigs thyme bay leaf

S + P to taste (optional) dried cranberries for garnish (toasted pumpkin seeds, chives, parsley, basil etc...)

1. Preheat your oven to 200 C (400°C).

2. Peel the butternut squash, discard the seeds and cut it into small 1/2 inch pieces.

3. Prepare a large rimmed baking sheet. Add the diced butternut squash, rosemary, thyme and 1 sprig of the sage. Lightly drizzle with some olive oil, sprinkle with a good pinch of sea salt, black pepper and optionally some red chili flakes. Toss to coat well all over to prevent sticking, then spread it in a single layer. Roast in the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes until nicely golden around the edges giving everything a shake halfway. Once done discard the tough stems from the herbs and reserve some of the roasted squash pieces for garnish ( about a cup or so).

4. Meanwhile slice the white and pale green parts of the leek. (Reserve the green tops for later use). Place the sliced leeks in a bowl of cold water to rinse well. Allow them to soak for a few minutes so all the dirt and sand falls to the bottom of the bowl. Using your hands scoop out the clean leeks and transfer to a clean bowl.

5. Preheat a heavy bottom soup pot over medium heat. Sautee the leeks and celery in a light drizzle of olive until completely wilted and they start to get some color around the edges. Add the chopped sage and cook until fragrant.

6. Add the bay leaf, 1 sprig of rosemary and roasted butternut squash to the soup pot with the leeks. Pour in the water then add the cashews if using. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes or so. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, discard the bay and rosemary sprig.

7. Blend - Very carefully transfer the soup to a powerful blender and puree on the hot liquid setting until silky smooth. (Work in batches here if need be).

8. Adjust seasoning to taste then serve the soup garnished with a drizzle of cashew cream, the reserved roasted butternut squash, a few dried cranberries and fried sage leaves.

Fried Sage Leaves

Melt a couple of tablespoons of vegan butter or olive oil in a small skillet. Once hot add the sage leaves and fry until crispy taking good care not to burn them. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

CASHEW CREAM (OPTIONAL)

In a very powerful blender puree 1 cup of raw cashews with 3/4 cup water until silky smooth. (If using a Vitamin there’s no need to soak the cashews, otherwise make sure toggle them a quick 25 minute soak in hot water before blending).

CHEF'S NOTES

The Butternut Squash - Sweet and nutty butternut squash is my go to favourite of winter squashes for making creamy soups. It has a mild flavour with smooth buttery flesh, not stringy as most winter pumpkins. All things considered, you could certainly make this soup with acorn squash, kabocha, sweet or seminole pumpkin. The depth of flavour comes from roasting the butternut squash until lightly caramelized around the edges for all the natural sugars to concentrate. The absolute best!

Leeks - So much flavour in this vegetable! Grab a large one as you'll need about 2+ cups for your base. Slice and rinse well as leeks grown underground and tend to collect a lot of sandy soil in between the layers. Although the entire leek is edible and delicious, In this recipe I suggest only using the white and pale green parts. The only reason for this is so that your soup will end up a beautiful golden color everyone is sure to want to dive into with a big spoon.

The Herbs - Sage, rosemary and thyme deliver outstanding Autumn flavour to your soup. Frying some sage leaves until crispy will take your presentation over the top, a treat I would indulge in during holiday season.

Prof David Norton