Elite Athletes course 3 of Cornell Plant based course

• Athletes eating a plant-based diet can train more because they recover from training in a shorter time.
• Extreme exercise creates a large amount of free radicals. A plant-based diet with fruits and vegetables benefit the health and performance of elite athletes by providing antioxidants that reduce free radical damage.
• Training and rest are key components to success. A plant-based diet stresses the body less, thus allowing the body more rest.
• The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 gm/kg body weight/day, which is about 8-10% of total calories.
• The average age of death for a football player is about 56 years.

You can listen to six elite athletes telling their story http://tcolincampbell.org/index.php?id=336
T.Colin Campbell also recommended checking out the Vegan Athlete’s web site at
http://veganathlete.com/vegan_vegetarian_athletes.php

• Usually only the training gets attention, yet to improve once performance you also need to pay attention to recovery. To accomplish a better recovery, improve your diet
• The quicker your recovery, the greater your athletic performance.
• Make sure you are adequately hydrated and rested before the next exercise session.
• If you eat too much protein before intense exercise you can get muscle cramping.
• High quality, nutrient-dense, alkaline-forming, easily digestible, plant-based whole foods are best for quick cellular repair.
• Digesting foods takes up a lot of energy, therefore it is important to eat foods that are easily digestible and assimilated (=high-net-gain nutrition).
• Energy obtained from nourishment (whole plant foods) is far better than energy obtained from stimulation, such as through eating refined sugar or drinking coffee.
• During exercise make sure to never become thirsty or hungry.
• Consume easily digestible nutrients every 25 minutes during exercise sessions exceeding two hours. He didn’t specifically say what those foods are, but fruits are simple carbohydrates.
• A great electrolyte drink is coconut water.
• Whey protein is highly acid-forming and promotes inflammation and with it a slower recovery rate.

For more information explore Brendan Brazier’s web site at www.brendanbrazier.com