by About nine years ago, ultra runner Sandeep Kumar decided to switch to a vegan diet after learning its benefits. Until then, the energy-dense food often led to weight gain to meet the demands of the long run. He also realized that his body was taking longer to recover from the exercise and consequently, it affected his performance the next day.
Over three months, Kumar worked towards changing his diet, gradually cutting out dairy products and adopting vegan options. He soon noticed an improvement in his performance and felt good about his body overall.
“Endurance running really helps with the efficiency of movement that comes when you maintain optimal weight. Although I was fast, I felt burnt out after every run,” says Kumar.
“At first I had some questions about the number of calories I was consuming when I started to adapt to a vegan diet. But once I figured out the right proportions, I got leaner, my overall cardiovascular fitness and sleep pattern improved, and my recovery was pretty good too,” he says.
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Over the past few years, Kumar has gone on to compete in several ultra races around the world. His most recent race was ‘Mauritius by UTMB’ in June. The 58km course started by the sea and went up through forest, recording an elevation gain of around 1,800 metres. Unseasonal rain made the going difficult. Kumar even went off track at one point, losing about 25 minutes in the process. But he finished seventh overall and second in his age category.
“In most races like this, you have to be self-sufficient in terms of nutrition because you never know what the organizer will provide at aid stations. Over time, I’ve figured out the pre-race diet I need to follow, as well as what I can eat to fuel my run,” he says.
According to Kuntal Joisher, a vegan mountaineer who climbed Everest twice, the relationship between a vegan diet and athletic performance is based on two fundamental issues: the amount and quality of protein one can get from a vegan diet, and whether the body receiving. adequate micronutrients.
“Almost all studies comparing vegan and omnivorous diets have shown that vegans can build the same amount of muscle mass through protein from different sources. And micronutrients like B12 and D3, which are not available in vegan diets, can easily be consumed through supplements. So choosing between plant protein and animal protein depends on what your end goal is,” says Joisher.
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Sankrit Harimohan, strength and conditioning performance coach at Invictus Performance Lab, believes that while there is a significant amount of protein available in vegan diets, what matters is how one consumes it to meet their needs.
“As a vegan, you may need to eat a variety of vegetables, nuts and seeds to meet your nutritional goals, say, compared to someone who eats steak. Portion sizes will also be important and you will need to eat much more often to meet the protein requirement. But there is a lot of evidence to suggest that you can achieve all your goals through a vegan diet,” he says.
“A few studies have also indicated some gains. For example, continuous veganism affects human endurance as it improves mitochondria density and red blood cell production. But in terms of performance benefits, research has not shown any significant gains when following a vegan diet over an omnivorous diet or vice versa,” he says.
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For athletes transitioning to a vegan diet, Harimohan’s example may be worth studying. It ensures that he takes a break from training for a bit to allow the body to achieve a certain amount of homeostasis, before reintroducing a higher workload.
“Switching to a vegan diet is an individual call that must be made in consultation with a nutritionist or registered dietitian. And once that decision is made, it’s the performance coach’s job to optimize the training based on the acceleration,” he says.
Joisher, who has been on more than 45 trips to the high mountains, had no problems on the climbs while following a vegan diet. He was always focused on eating enough calories, a large proportion of them carbohydrates for the endurance efforts required by climbing.
“A vegan diet itself is lacking in nothing. But one needs to be well-educated in nutrition to ensure that there is enough fuel and calories for the body to perform at altitude,” says Joisher.
That said, there have been instances where Joisher has struggled to get tour chefs to understand their dietary needs. Sometimes, he also had to be self-sufficient higher up on the mountain where vegan resources were hard to come by. This is a challenge when following a vegan diet, according to Harimohan.
“For athletes who are traveling, living in hotels or following irregular schedules, things often become difficult when it comes to finding the right nutrition. If options are available a few years later, I don’t see any problem for those who want to follow a vegan diet,” he says.
Shail Desai is a journalist based in Mumbai.
