Vegan for Life - Jack Norris [77]
• If you are trying to lose weight, make sure you are eating plenty of protein-rich foods and consider adding a protein powder shake.
• Eating a high-protein food right after working out can increase muscle mass.
Every person is different, so it takes some experimenting to find the right balance. The menu on page 204 is one example of a high-protein diet for athletes.
Endurance Athletes
Endurance athletes may need less protein as they become better trained because, according to the 2009 position paper, protein turnover may become more efficient with training. At the earlier stages of training, you may need as much as 1.2 to 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight—which translates to 1.3 to 1.55 grams per kilogram for vegan endurance athletes (0.6 to 0.7 grams per pound of body weight).4
It can be easier for endurance athletes to meet protein needs simply because they consume more calories. If you are not losing weight and are consuming high-protein foods, you’re likely to get plenty of protein. But you might want to calculate your individual needs and track your intake for a few days using the chart on pages 19–20 just to make sure.
When Protein Falls Short
While protein isn’t a huge worry for vegan athletes, it’s possible to experience muscle damage from a diet that doesn’t meet needs. A sixteen-year-old competitive swimmer in Italy who was avoiding almost all high-protein foods suffered temporary, but serious, muscle damage, presumably due to inadequate protein.5 His muscle damage didn’t occur unnoticed; he suffered obvious fatigue and muscle pain. It’s a rare and unusual case, but it does illustrate the need to make sure you’re eating enough high-protein foods. If you are, and you aren’t suffering from muscle pain or unusual fatigue, it’s safe to assume that you’re getting enough protein.
CARBOHYDRATE AND FAT
Carbohydrates serve as a primary fuel source in distance events, and people who try to cut back on “carbs” often compromise their performance. Vegans are in good standing in this regard, since plant-based diets are typically high in carbohydrates.
According to the ACSM and ADA, low-fat diets—less than 20 percent of calories—are not associated with improved performance. Both groups recommend that athletes consume between 20 and 35 percent of calories from fat. A slightly higher fat intake may be advantageous for trained athletes since they use a higher percentage of fat for energy than non-athletes.
IRON
Iron needs don’t increase for strength athletes, but the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that all endurance athletes, especially distance runners, aim for iron intakes that are about 70 percent higher than the RDA.
This raises some questions for vegan endurance athletes. As we talked about in Chapter 6, the RDA for iron is increased by a factor of 1.8 for vegetarians. Like many other nutrition professionals, we believe that this is more iron than most vegetarians and vegans actually need. While some vegan endurance athletes might choose to take a modest daily iron supplement, we hesitate to recommend this since most vegans probably won’t need it. However, if you are a menstruating woman involved in endurance sports, you should probably get your iron checked on a regular basis. In fact, the ACSM and ADA recommend that all women athletes be regularly screened to assess their iron status, and screening can be especially important for teen athletes and pregnant women.
PERFORMANCE ENHANCERS
A number of supplements, which include amino acids and other protein-type compounds, are marketed to athletes to enhance their performance.
Creatine
Creatine is the only nutritional supplement that has been consistently