Mack 1

Ryder Mack

Mr. Rudebusch

Composition IV

13 January 2022

Green Means Go!

Growing up in a small town in South Dakota, the stigma is heavy against plant-based

diets due to the mindset that meat is superior. This is typically nailed into people’s brains around

here because we are surrounded by farmers who rely on the sales of their meat to make a living.

“Veganism is awful for you! You can’t be successful in sports or life if you don’t eat meat.”

These are examples of stereotypes that fill young adults’ minds, and they seem to never change

their opinion even as they grow older. As someone who has had the same thought process as

those I just described, I thought that finding out for myself would be something worthwhile.

Nutrition is important to all people but when it comes to college athletics, it is the foundation.

So, could a plant-based diet improve the body and performance of college athletes, or is

meat-based foods the true way to go? Well, after further research, the answer to this question is

yes in some cases and no in others. Plant-based diets aid in leaner bodies, reduced body fat,

improved cardiovascular health, lower oxidative stress, and improved blood flow. So, while

plant-based diets won’t help an athlete bulk up, these diets would be beneficial for college

athletes in sports involving endurance and stamina.

 Mack 2

Plant-based diets result in leaner body figures for athletic performance. In nearly every

sport, an athlete’s performance is almost completely reliant on their bodies and how prepared

they are for their given task. Plant-based diets present many beneficial nutrients and effects that

make it easier for these athletes to reach their ideal figures to meet peak performance. Wrestling

athletes, for example, are constantly trying to prevent weight gain to maintain their position in

the weight class they are a part of. According to Ambika Satija and Frank B. Hu, both nutrition

research professionals from Harvard, these diets are rich in fibers and low-saturated fats which

make it easier for long-term weight maintenance. Like I stated above, it is always a struggle to

regulate weight gain and loss in college wrestling and because of the contents in these diets, it

would make it easier for these specific athletes to tame this struggle. Sports involving endurance

and stamina also reap these benefits because these athletes need to have certain body weights and

figures depending on their sport. Another way they help with body figures is that they give

athletes leaner bodies and reduced body fat. Erika Rizal backs this claim up in her article,

“Benefits of Plant-based Diets in Athletic Performance” published through Berkeley University

when she said, “Plant-based diets give athletes leaner bodies which can be an edge depending on

their sport.” In my claim, I stated that these green diets would be beneficial for athletes involved

in strenuous, endurance sports, and athletes in these sports need to have lean bodies to perform at

the level that they desire. Excess body fat on an athlete competing at such a high level not only

slows down recovery time but also has a detrimental effect on performance and other aspects

involved in the athlete and their sport. As Neal Barnard, founding president of the Physicians

Committee for Responsible Medicine, said in his collaborative research project on endurance

sports, “plant-based diets reduce body fat by reducing dietary energy density and increasing

postprandial metabolism”, this is just one example of how plant-based diets can benefit an
 Mack 3

athlete’s body fat percentage. Postprandial metabolism refers to the period that follows a meal. A

2005 study researched the use of a low-fat vegan diet over 14 weeks and found that postprandial

energy increased by 16% (Barnard). This is beneficial for college athletes involved in ESB

(endurance and stamina-based) sports because the body can keep and use more energy for their

training, competitions, and everyday life as a student-athlete.

Plant-based diets can improve blood flow and lower oxidative stress. Blood flow in

everyone is important, but this bodily function plays a bigger role in athletes. Proper blood flow

is essential for muscles and organs to receive oxygen and energy to continue their duties. “As we

have seen, athletic activity depends on good circulation to provide oxygen and nutrients and

carry away metabolic waste products. Blood flow to the muscles is influenced by blood viscosity,

as well as by arterial caliber, compliance, and elasticity, all of which are influenced by food

choices” (Barnard). This quote from Dr. Barnard shows us just how important adequate blood

circulation is to an athlete and this is heavily impacted by the food that one puts in their body.

Athletes involved in sports requiring good blood flow, like endurance and stamina, can prevent

any complications by eating these plant-based foods. Megan Robinson, a clinical dietitian at the

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, states that by eating plant foods, an athlete's dietary fibers

rise, and this causes improved blood flow which enhances performance, training, and recovery.

Plant foods do not just benefit athletes’ blood health but also every other aspect regarding their

sport. Another thing that is crucial to an athlete and their health is the prevention of oxidative

stress. The body produces free radical oxygen molecules during exercise, and when our

antioxidant level is lower than those of the free radicals, we get oxidative stress (Smith).

Antioxidants are substances in the body that protect our cells from free radicals. This oxidative

stress prevents performance and recovery and gives an athlete more muscle fatigue. Plant-based
 Mack 4

dieters have higher levels of antioxidants to fight this oxidative stress. Most plant foods are rich

in polyphenols which protect from oxidative stress (Satija and Hu). Oxidative stress also affects

other aspects of the body that can be detrimental to an athlete’s health. Susan Barr and Candice

Rideout, both associate professors of nutrition, outline the different effects this stress has on the

body in their study, “oxidative stress can contribute to lipid peroxidation, which in turn affects

membrane fluidity and integrity and the activity of membrane-bound receptors and enzymes.”

This oxidative stress is overlooked by most people, but the effects are something that college

athletes should investigate and consider. “Exercise-related oxidative stress can also lead to

muscle fatigue, reduced athletic performance, and impaired recovery” (Barnard). No athlete

wants to slow down their training or halt their improvement. It’s common for every athlete to

want to become the best at what they do, but just like many things, this stress can cause them to

fall back in their progress and an easy way to avoid these complications is through a plant-based

diet. But how do these diets help exactly? Well, people who follow a vegan/vegetarian diet

compared to omnivores, have increased antioxidant levels because of the higher intake of

vitamin C and E, beta-carotene, and other antioxidant and antioxidant enzymes produced

(Barnard). Barnard also states in his research that, “Researchers have also found potentially

beneficial effects of specific antioxidant-rich foods on exercise outcomes.” As we see, increased

levels of antioxidants in one’s diet not only prevent oxidative stress but also can improve athletic

results.

Plant-based diets improve cardiovascular health. Everyone knows that ESB sports

involve a lot of breathing and heart-related activity. This is because the cardiovascular system is

one of the most important contributors to a successful athlete. So, keeping this complex system

healthy is one of the best ways an athlete can boost their overall performance and work. There
 Mack 5

are several ways in which a plant-based diet can help with this. Athletes who avoid meat and

dairy products have a reduced risk of weight gain and cardiovascular complications and disease

(Robinson). Even though most college athletes are only involved in their sport for 1-6 years, this

shows us that animal products can be detrimental to our health in general, and with an athlete’s

calorie intake being so high, consuming a lot of this animal-based food can be harmful in the

long-run. Dietary fibers in these diets can also lower cholesterol levels (Satija and Hu). In their

research, Satija and Hu also found that plant-based diets aid in eliminating heme iron which can

cause cardiovascular endpoints, which consist of fatal and non-fatal strokes, heart attacks, and

cardiovascular related traumas, ultimately improving the cardiovascular system. These diets

don’t just give these certain athletes the right things they need, but they also help in taking toxic

ones out so that the overall health and well-being of the athlete can improve. “To the extent that

increased consumption of animal products supplies the energy for increased athletic activity,

their saturated fat and cholesterol and relative absence of antioxidants and fiber may contribute

to atherosclerotic changes. Apart from increasing the risk of cardiac events, atherosclerosis may

narrow arteries to the legs, the brain, and other parts of the body, reducing blood flow and

potentially impairing performance” (Barnard). As previously mentioned, atherosclerosis makes

it harder for blood to reach important parts of the body and blood flow is very important to the

success of your body and play. The presence of many health-damaging components in animal

food makes one more susceptible to atherosclerosis and, because an athlete is constantly working

out their cardio system, this is something for them to avoid at all costs.

One may say that “A plant-based diet would be beneficial to all college athletes;”

however, I disagree. A plant-based diet doesn’t supply the adequate protein and recovery
 Mack 6

matrixes for collegiate sports involving strength building and physicality, such as football for

example. One may also say that plant-based diets do give you protein, and yes, they would be

correct, but the amount per serving is nowhere near the right amount for someone competing and

training at such a high level. The average college football player weighs 232 pounds which

requires them to have somewhere around 210 grams of protein a day. I took a random day’s

worth of food for a vegan and found that there were only, roughly, 39 grams of protein in all the

food put together. College football players do eat more food in a day than most people, however,

using vegan breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack for reference, a person eating a typical, vegan

2000 calorie-a-day diet only consumes 39 grams of protein. So, in order to meet their

high-protein demands, a football player would have to eat five times (5.38) the amount of this

vegan day of food: or 10,760 calories. As most know, the schedule of a college athlete is packed

between class, lifting, practice, studying, film, etc., and so a student-athlete of this kind simply

doesn't have the time to eat that much food, which means that this kind of diet would not be

ideal.

Athletes involved in stamina and endurance sports should shift to a plant-based diet if

they want to gain a competitive edge and perform at their highest level. College athletes compete

at a very high level, making nutrition a very important and crucial part of their life. Having an

adequate diet for their sport will enhance performance and overall health in these athletes. These

diets don’t just help an athlete during their playing years, but they also have a positive impact on

their health in the long run. Even after their college career, athletes who have used these diets

will establish healthy, long-term habits. By neglecting to acknowledge these plant-based diet
 Mack 7

alternatives, athletes in ESB sports are turning down the opportunity to reach peak performance

and have a healthier body and lifestyle.

 Mack 8

Works Cited

Barnard ND, Goldman DM, Loomis JF, et al. Plant-Based Diets for Cardiovascular Safety and

Performance in Endurance Sports. Nutrients. 2019;11(1):130. Published 2019 Jan 10.

doi:10.3390/nu11010130

Barr, S. I., & Rideout, C. A. (2004). Nutritional considerations for vegetarian athletes. Nutrition,

20(7),

696-703. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2004.04.015

Erika, Rizal. “Benifits of plant-based diets in Athletic Performance.”

www.pha.berkeley.edu/2021/04/11/benefits-of-plant-based-diets-in-athletic-performance/.

Accessed 5 December 2021.

Esposito, Lisa. Athletes Can Thrive on Plant-Based Diets | Fitness | US News. 2019,

https://health.usnews.com/wellness/fitness/articles/2019-01-11/athletes-can-thrive-on-pla

nt-based-diets.

“Food Calculator: Carbs, Calories, Fat, Protein and More.” WebMD, WebMD,

https://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-food-calorie-counter.

Robinson, Megan. “Athletes eating a plant-based diet: What are the health risks and benefits?”

thephiladelphiainquirer,

www.inquirer.com/health/expert-opinions/game-changers-plant-based-diet-athletes-hype-

or-help-20191214.html. Accessed 6 December 2021.

 Mack 9

Satija, Ambika, and Frank B. Hu. "Plant-Based Diets and Cardiovascular Health." Trends in

Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 28, no. 7, 2018, pp. 437-441. ProQuest,

https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/plant-based-diets-cardiovascular-health/doc

view/2103561435/se-2, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tcm.2018.02.004.

Smith, Stevie. “Are plant-based diets beneficial for athletes?”

https://blog.insidetracker.com/plant-based-athlete. Accessed 7 December 2021.