An ever-increasing number of athletes and football players have been associated with vegan diets. Some include Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Barcelona’s Leo Messi who have tried following a vegan diet. Most football players claimed that they experienced improved fitness, faster recovery and fewer injury cases. However, a vegan diet may lack some essential nutrients needed by the body such as Omega 3, vitamin B12, C, E and D. This means those on a vegan diet have to opt for multi-vitamin and Omega 3 vegan supplements.
Supplementing these essential nutrients while on a vegan diet ensures it is balanced. Here we will look into some factors that a vegan diet has improved in a football player’s lifestyle.
Match Readiness and Fitness
It is a common misconception that players or athletes on a vegan diet have poor fitness. However, this is not the case as energy comes from carbohydrates. On a vegan diet, carbohydrates are in plenty ranging from starchy foods such as potatoes, oats, fruits and pasta.
There are no natural sources of vitamin B12 and the only source of vitamin D is the sun. This leaves vegans missing out on essential nutrients. Body by Nature’s multi-vitamin supplement offers a spectrum of nutrients to benefit both your physical and mental well being
Body Strength
This is an important aspect to a football player as the game is considered a contact sport. While on a vegan diet some of the protein-rich foods such as meat are out of the question. Sources of vegan protein include seeds, nuts, nut butter, tofu, soy milk, beans and legumes. Vegan foods such as soya milk have been recommended to athletes and football players who are on a vegan diet. This is because it contains more protein than any other plant milk.
Faster Recovery
Chloe Arthur, Chris Smalling, Hector Bellerin and Fabian Delph are a few footballers who have publicly sung praises of a vegan diet. During intense workouts and exercise inflammation of the muscles is always a concern. A varied diet containing plenty of fibre from fruits, whole grains, vegetables, seeds and nuts will help with this. Also introducing omega 3 vegan supplements into your diet would help reduce inflammation.
There are several omega 3 vegan supplements to select from including fish oil, krill oil, cod liver oil, ALA supplements and Algae oil. Omega 3 vegan supplements help maintain the brains normal functioning and aid in maintaining normal blood pressure. Body by Nature’s Plant Marine Algae Omega 3 Vegan, DHA/EPA is derived from plant marine algae which is a great source of DHA and EPA.
Omega 3 vegan supplements and multi-vitamin help fill the nutritional gap between vegans and omnivores. A variety of vegan sources can also aid people in increasing their omega 3 consumption. Great sources include seaweed, chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds kidney beans, soybeans and walnuts. As a football player or athlete, a properly balanced diet with all crucial ingredients is necessary to maintain peak performance. This may make using omega 3 vegan supplements and multivitamin an important part of a vegan football player’s diet.