Fitness and veganism

This is important for vegan athletes

Whether for health, ethical or climate protection reasons: more and more people are choosing a vegan lifestyle. But of course this diet – like any other – has both opportunities and risks. We'll tell you here what you as an athlete should know if you want to avoid animal products.

Many vegans are intensively concerned with the topic of nutrition - after all, their menu should look just as varied and delicious as that of people who eat everything. This is a big advantage of this form of nutrition .

Because it is important to think intensively about your own diet - especially if you want to get started in sport. The reason: When you train, you use more energy than in everyday life and produce more free radicals - and with the right diet you can neutralize them.

Background: Free radicals are intermediate products in cell metabolism that, to put it simply, are missing an electron - and they “steal” that from other chemical compounds. The result: you damage cells. This is advantageous if these cells are bacteria or viruses. If they are your own, they age prematurely and illnesses can develop.

If you take in certain vitamins and antioxidants, it ensures that your body...

• neutralize free radicals,
• Counteract cell damage and
• can regenerate better.

Nutrition has a big influence on your training success. We'll now tell you why a vegan diet is compatible with exercise and what benefits it can bring if implemented correctly.

Vegan nutrition: This is how athletes benefit

Rich in fiber

Vegans usually automatically consume a lot of fiber . Are you wondering why that is? It's simple: fiber is mainly found in plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grain products, legumes, nuts and seeds. They are particularly important for your body when exercising. The reason: They keep your digestion busy and fill you up for a long time without being heavy on your stomach.

Nevertheless, our tip is: always keep an eye on how much fiber you consume. Because sometimes too much of a good thing is simply too much - especially if the intestinal flora has been used to significantly less fiber for years. To give you a good gut feeling, it's best to introduce your body to the new food slowly.

Carbohydrate heavy

In addition to fiber, the vegan diet contains many carbohydrates, which give your body the energy it needs for metabolism, breathing and, last but not least, exercise. This is because the diet is based on grains, legumes, potatoes, fruit and vegetables - and these are rich in carbohydrates. For example, brown rice has around 73.4 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams, lentils around 52 grams and apples still around 11.4 grams.

If you want to improve your performance as a vegan fitness or endurance athlete, it's best to draw up a nutrition plan.

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There are carbohydrates with short and long chains of sugar molecules . The former are available more quickly, but also deplete quickly. In the latter case, it takes a little longer until they are broken down by enzymes and can then be used by the body. But they ensure a stable blood sugar level and prevent food cravings. You see: Both variants are important and are part of a balanced diet.

Do you want to quickly and easily replenish your carbohydrate stores between regular meals? Dextrose minis and cubes from Dextro Energy* fit in every pocket. And compared to bananas and other foods, they are more robust and last longer.

Much liquid

Another advantage of a vegan diet when doing sports or fitness is the fact that vegans consume more water. The reason: You eat a lot of fruit and vegetables - and some varieties are particularly high in water. Did you know that watermelons, for example, consist of 96 percent water? Cucumbers even up to 97 percent! This is particularly ideal for athletes. Because: If you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of water . If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables with a high water content, you will compensate for some of the fluid loss that occurs through sweating during exercise. But you should still drink enough.

Nutrition tips for vegan athletes

If you want to achieve your sporting goals as a vegan, there are a few things to consider. Find out what's important in sports nutrition for vegans.

Tip 1: Pay attention to a balanced diet

Proteins

Studies prove: Protein is essential for strength training . For vegans who do sports, it is therefore even more important to consume different sources of protein. Why different? Because plant-based protein sources rarely contain all eight essential amino acids in sufficient quantities - but your body needs all of them, as the term “essential” suggests. Otherwise, studies show, your performance may decline.

The solution: Combine different protein sources – such as legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. Specifically, for example, corn and kidney beans complement each other very well - as do rice and pea protein. In the end, you get all the amino acids your body needs and can build muscle without meat, fish, eggs and dairy products.

Do you do strength training and want to consume additional protein to effectively build muscle? Then protein powder can support you! If you, as a vegan, want to supplement your diet with functional foods, this can be easily combined with your diet, as there are now many vegan alternatives to classic protein powder that contain milk or whey proteins.

How about BCAA powder, for example? The shakes, which you mix with 10 grams of powder and 400 milliliters of water, have a high protein content, optimally support you in building muscle - and are of course vegan . With the BCAA powder from Dextro Energy** you can choose between fruity, fresh varieties such as Peach , Orange , Wildberry and Lemon-Lime.

Alternatively, we recommend Plant Protein Powder from Dextro Energy***. Depending on the variety, it contains 22 grams of protein per serving. Enjoy the protein powder made from plant proteins from peas, rice, sunflower and pumpkin seeds as a shake for breakfast, after training or in between. When mixing your shake, follow the dosage instructions on the packaging.

Fats

According to experts, fats should make up at least 20 and a maximum of 30 percent of athletes' daily energy intake. The reason: For example, during longer endurance exercise, your glucose supply will eventually be used up. Your body then metabolizes fats so that you have enough energy to exercise. Healthy fats are found, for example, in nuts, seeds and high-quality oils.

Another tip on the subject of oils : Use omega-6-rich varieties such as corn or sunflower oil as rarely as possible. The reason: These fatty acids are not generally bad - but vegans consume relatively many of them on average. In contrast, they only consume omega-3 fatty acids in moderation, according to studies . If you do sports, these omega-3 fatty acids are particularly important for you because your body cannot produce them itself. They are found, for example, in walnuts, chia and linseeds.

Vitamins and minerals

Vitamins and minerals are important for all of us. As a vegan athlete, you should pay particular attention to the recommended daily amounts. For what reason? Because in this way you ensure that muscle functions, regeneration processes and energy metabolism run normally. In short: they help you stay productive.

Among other things, vitamin B12 contributes to the normal functioning of energy metabolism, the psyche and the nervous and immune systems. That's why it's important that you cover your daily requirement of four micrograms - through your diet, which you can supplement with nutritional supplements if necessary.

Which minerals and vitamins are also important for you and which foods contain them, among other things? We'll tell you now. But be careful: your actual needs depend on various factors. Because, among other things, what sport you do, whether you are pregnant or regularly take medication influence it. That's why we unfortunately can't create a general nutrition plan for vegan athletes. But at least a starting point.

These foods contain many vitamins and minerals:

• B vitamins, especially vitamin B12 : whole grains, legumes, nutritional yeast, broccoli, nuts and fermented foods
• Calcium: Kale, sesame, dried seaweed, arugula, tofu and mineral water
• Iron: Nuts, pumpkin seeds, hemp and linseeds, pseudograins – such as amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa
• Iodine: iodized salt, seaweed
• Selenium: Brazil nuts, mushrooms, tree nuts, wheat bran, legumes, brown rice
• Zinc: Legumes, some grains, porcini mushrooms, parsnips, oil seeds and nuts

In order for you as a vegan to be able to give full power when exercising, it may be necessary to supplement your diet with supplements . If you constantly feel weak, unfocused and tired, we advise you to discuss with your doctor whether you should supplement your diet with nutritional supplements.

Tip 2: Drink enough

Now you're probably thinking: Didn't you say that vegans consume a lot of water through their diet anyway? And you're absolutely right. But when you exercise you have an increased need for fluids . That's why you should drink a lot even if you often eat fruits and vegetables that contain water.

You should drink around 35 milliliters per kilogram of body weight per day. However, this information is more of a rough guideline. The reason: Your actual needs depend on many factors – for example, how intensively you train or how warm it is.

Do you want to easily compensate for the fluid loss caused by training? Then we recommend a refreshing iso drink from Dextro Energy*. The carbohydrate-electrolyte drink helps you regulate your water balance**** thanks to potassium, magnesium and sodium.

Tip 3: Eat regularly

Opinions vary widely on this topic. Some athletes swear by five, six or even more small meals because it means they don't get cravings in between. Or because they find their bodies can convert smaller amounts of food into energy more quickly. From a purely organizational perspective, others can only manage a maximum of three meals a day – and they are still fit and healthy .

So who should you believe now? Are breakfast, lunch and dinner enough? Or should you plan a pre- and post-workout meal? The answer is: Unfortunately, there is no general rule . This is because we all have different goals and health requirements. For example, the needs of someone with high blood sugar are different than someone with low. There are also differences between endurance and strength athletes.

Our tip is therefore: record your meals and training results in writing. This way you can see if your performance changes after a change in diet, for example, and you can adjust your nutrition plan. Otherwise, listen to your gut feeling and try out which meal frequency suits you, your needs and your lifestyle best.

Fitness and veganism – a real dream team

A balanced diet and always keeping an eye on blood values: Of course, our tips do not replace advice from experts on vegan nutrition. Nevertheless, they can help you - for example if you want to start exercising as a vegan or if you want to change your diet as an athlete. We hope you enjoy training!

* contains carbohydrates

** Smart Protein BCAA: Mix of branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine) with a high protein content, without added sugar (NATURALLY CONTAINS SUGAR).

*** Smart Protein : Smart mix with high protein content, no added sugar (NATURALLY CONTAINS SUGAR).

**** Regulation (EU) No. 432/2012 for carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks: - Carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions contribute to maintaining endurance performance during prolonged endurance training - Carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions improve the absorption of water during physical activity

A varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle are important.

SOURCES

Saunders, AV, Davis, BC, & Garg, ML (2013). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vegetarian diets. The Medical journal of Australia, 199(S4), S22-S26. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja11.11507

Rogerson D (2017). Vegan diets: practical advice for athletes and exercisers. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0192-9

Schek A, Braun H, Carlsohn A, Großhauser M, König D, Lampen A, Mosler S, Nieß A, Oberritter H, Schäbethal K, Stehle P, Virmani K, Ziegenhagen R, Heseker H (2019) Fats in sports nutrition. Position of the working group sports nutrition of the German Nutrition Society (DGE). Nutrition Umschau 66(9): 181–188