The 247lb Vegan & and The Vegan Athlete's Diet

From the online edition of the Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120122116182915297.html


NFL star Tony Gonzalez is out to answer a question: Can a football player live entirely on plants?

By REED ALBERGOTTIJanuary 25, 2008; Page W1

The protein-rich bounty of the football training table is supposed to grow the biggest and strongest athletes in professional sports. Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Tony Gonzalez was afraid it was going to kill him. "It's the Catch-22," says Mr. Gonzalez, 31. "Am I going to be unhealthy and play football? Or be healthy and get out of the league?"

So last year, on the eve of the biggest season of his career, Mr. Gonzalez embarked on a diet resolution that smacked head-on with gridiron gospel as old as the leather helmet. He decided to try going vegan.

Living solely on plant food, a combination of nuts, fruits, vegetables, grains and the like, has long been the fringe diet of young rebels and aging nonconformists. Even the government recommends regular helpings of meat, fish and dairy. Vegans of late have gotten more hip with such best sellers as the brash "Skinny Bitch," and its more scholarly cousin, "The China Study." Both books argue vegans can live longer.

But could an all-star National Football League player, all 6-foot, 5-inches and 247 pounds of him, live on a vegan diet and still excel in one of the most punishing jobs in sports?

For Mr. Gonzalez, the stakes were high. He'd just signed a five-year contract, making him the game's highest-paid tight-end. Entering the 2007 season, his 11th in the NFL, he had a shot at breaking all-time NFL records for career receptions and touchdowns at his position. To do that, he needed top performances in every game. Mr. Gonzalez knew he was out on a limb. "I was like, 'I'm going to look like a fool if this doesn't work out,'" he says.

Mr. Gonzalez joined a handful of elite athletes who have put the vegan diet to the test, either for their health or because they oppose using animals as food. But he was the first pro-football superstar to try. And the first to fail.

There's no evidence a vegan diet can improve an athlete's performance, says David Nieman, a professor of health and exercise at Appalachian State University. His 1988 study of vegetarian runners found they ran as well as their meat-eating rivals but no better. Although the vegetarian athletes in his study also ate eggs and dairy foods, he says, "there is scientific evidence that veganism, when done right, won't hurt performance." But, he adds, there is only anecdotal evidence that it can help.

Professional athletes, especially NFL players, need thousands of calories a day. Many enjoy a high-protein, high-fat smorgasbord of steaks, chops, burgers, pizza, ice cream and beer. Mr. Gonzalez's tight-end job requires him to push around monstrously sized opponents. Occasionally, he gets to catch a pass. Mr. Gonzalez is famous for combining the brute power of an offensive lineman with the acrobatic skills of a nimble receiver. "My biggest thing is strength," he says. "If you lose that strength you get your butt kicked."

Experts say athletes in training need as much as twice the protein of an average person to rebuild muscle. Their bodies also require a big dose of minerals and vitamins, as well as the amino acids, iron and creatine packed into fish, meat and dairy foods. It's fine to be a vegan, says sports nutritionist and dietician Nancy Clark, if you're willing to work at it. "It's harder to get calcium, harder to get protein, harder to get Vitamin D, harder to get iron," she says. "You have to be committed."

TRAINING AS A VEGAN

Read a Q&A with nutritionist Lisa Dorfman about training on a vegan diet.

DIETARY CHANGES

Compare the standard Chiefs training table menu to Tony Gonzalez's daily diet.
"Skinny Bitch" co-author Kim Barnouin is working on another book called "Skinny Bastard." "We want men to know that you're not going to be some scrawny little wimp if you follow this diet," she says. The book trashes meat, milk, eggs, cheese and sodas, saying men and women feel better and look better without them. "The more athletes who come forward and say, 'I'm doing this for my health,' the better," she says.

Mr. Gonzalez had never heard of the vegan diet when he boarded a flight from New York to Los Angeles last spring, about a month before preseason training. His seatmate turned down most of the food offered in first class, and Mr. Gonzalez finally asked why. The man told Mr. Gonzalez about "The China Study," a 2006 book by Cornell professor and nutrition researcher T. Colin Campbell that claims people who eat mostly plants have fewer deadly diseases than those who eat mostly animals. The evidence was drawn from diet surveys and blood samples of 6,500 men and women from across China.

MAC DANZIG

Mac Danzig took a diet risk four years ago. The 28-year-old mixed martial-arts fighter had long wanted to spare animals by going vegan. But he was afraid his trainers were right: that he'd lose to stronger opponents. Last month, on a diet of brown-rice protein, beans, soy, nuts and vegetables, Mr. Danzig defeated the last of his challengers in Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter." Kim Barnouin, co-author of the vegan best-seller "Skinny Bitch," says she loves the "Ultimate Fighter" show and cheered Mr. Danzig's win. When fight fans learned Mr. Danzig was a vegan, some said they didn't think he'd have the strength, or the stomach, to conquer the ultra-violent sport, which combines kick-boxing and wrestling. "It's about animal rights," Mr. Danzig says, "not human rights."

Mr. Gonzalez was intrigued. Earlier in the year, a bout with Bell's Palsy, a temporary facial paralysis, had focused his attention on health. He bought the book, and after reading the first 40 pages, he says, was convinced animal foods led to chronic illness. He was an unlikely convert. Mr. Gonzalez, who grew up in Southern California, says cheeseburgers were his favorite food. But he quit them, substituting fruits, nuts and vegetables. At restaurants, he ordered pasta with tomato sauce.

Three weeks later, he walked into the weight room at the Chiefs' training facility and got a shock. The 100-pound dumbbells he used to easily throw around felt like lead weights. "I was scared out of my mind," he says. Standing on the scale, he learned he'd lost 10 pounds.
Mr. Gonzalez considered scrapping the diet altogether and returning to the Chiefs' standard gut-busting menu. First, though, he called Mr. Campbell, who put him in touch with Jon Hinds, himself a vegan and the former strength coach for the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. Mr. Hinds suggested plant foods with more protein.

Trainers for the Atlanta Hawks worried when shooting guard Salim Stoudamire decided to eat vegan at the end of the National Basketball Association season in 2006. Although the diet left him craving chicken, Mr. Stoudamire says, his biggest challenge was convincing coaches and teammates he could still perform on the court. Team managers forced Mr. Stoudamire onto a scale each morning of preseason training and wrote down his weight. After holding steady at 181 pounds, the bosses got off his back. Mr. Stoudamire says he felt better, and that his performance this season improved. So far, none of his teammates have joined him. "They all look at me like I'm crazy," he says.

The Chiefs' team nutritionist, Mitzi Dulan, a former vegetarian athlete, did not believe that was enough. With the team's prospects and Mr. Gonzalez's legacy at stake, she persuaded the tight-end to incorporate small amounts of meat into his plant diet. Just no beef, pork or shellfish, he said; only a few servings of fish and chicken a week.

Teammates nicknamed him China Study and razzed Mr. Gonzalez if he missed a block. But he wasn't ready to give up his new diet completely. After a preseason practice, he accompanied Mr. Hinds to learn a skill he believed as important as blocking techniques: how to shop for groceries. Mr. Hinds showed him nutritious fish oils and how to pick out breads dense with whole grains, nuts and seeds. "The best bread for you," says Mr. Hinds, "is if I hit you with it, it hurts." Mr. Gonzalez also learned how to make the fruit and vegetable shake he drinks each morning. He stocked his pantry with tubs of soy protein powder and boxes of organic oatmeal; soy milk and Brazilian acai juice crowded the fridge. His favorite dessert became banana bread topped with soy whipped cream from the vegan cafe near his home in Orange County's Huntington Beach.
Mr. Gonzalez soon recovered his lost pounds and strength, but prospects for a record-breaking season were still in doubt. The team lost its starting quarterback, Trent Green, in a trade, and the Chiefs' star running back was tied up in a contract dispute.

As the season progressed, the team lost more games than it won. But Mr. Gonzalez managed to stick to his diet and hold onto the football. He broke the touchdown record before midseason and was within reach of the career reception record. "I was like, 'OK, this is working,'" he says. "I have so much more energy when I'm out there." His wife, October Gonzalez, was astonished her husband could play the season without ordering a single cheeseburger. "I thought he'd cave," she says.

Mr. Gonzalez entered the final game against the New York Jets needing four catches to surpass the record held by former tight-end Shannon Sharpe. The contest turned into a sluggish defensive struggle with the Chiefs trailing the Jets 7 to 3. Still, Mr. Gonzalez made three receptions. With 2 minutes and 29 seconds left in the third quarter, Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle was fleeing defenders when he threw a 9-yard pass to Mr. Gonzalez, who scampered for a first down and a spot in the NFL record book.

Write to Reed Albergotti at reed.albergotti@wsj.com

Reminder: Vegetarian Restaurant Week

For those of you in Brooklyn, Harlem, Philly, Atlanta, and Raleigh join us for Vegetarian Restaurant Week. It ends this Saturday, so take advantage of the special menus now!

Also, Brooklyn, Atlanta, and Raleigh are giving away some great prizes, including a Vita-Mix Raffle.

Vegetarian Restaurant Week

Vegetarian Restaurant Week starts tomorrow in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Harlem, Philly, and Raleigh.

This presents a perfect opportunity for you to check out the restaurants in your area and discover the diversity of plant-based cuisine.

And for those of you in Atlanta, Brooklyn, Raleigh, we're raffling off Vita-Mix Blenders and other great prizes.

Check us out.

Slave Diet Healthier than Modern African American Diet

Sacramento Observer, Commentary, Staff Report, Posted: Apr 26, 2005

The “Road Map to Wellness” for today’s African Americans may be found in the lifestyle patterns of their descendents who lived and worked in Colonial America.

Few people know about African slaves and their lifestyle. Believe it or not, the slaves were perhaps the healthiest Americans who ever lived.

We’ve all seen pictures and images of Black slaves suffering from thankless backbreaking work in the excruciating summer’s heat. The physical endurance and stamina required for this work made them strong.

However, we have now come to learn that it was the slaves’ diet that was primarily responsible for their near-perfect health. Their diet consisted of a huge variety of garden-grown vegetables.

Unlike today’s typical American diet, the slaves feasted on a huge variety of vegetables and fruits, which were in great abundance during the South’s extended growing season.

Research confirms that the slaves typically ate six to eight servings of fruit and vegetables daily.

How could this be possible? The typical field slave’s day consisted of 11 to 13 hours daily of consistent work. They were often in the field when the sun rose beyond the quiet horizon and continued in the fields throughout the day until almost dusk.

Breakfast and lunch as we know it didn’t exist for the slaves. They often ate raw vegetables or gathered fallen fruit and nuts from trees that surrounded their workplace.

This food would be the only food that was eaten all day until they returned home to their quarters. Once home, they would prepare communal meals for the entire slave community.

The items served at these nightly gatherings were the key to the slaves’ good health. Small gardens that were planted adjacent to the slaves’ cabins produced an abundance of fresh produce for the majority of the year. These gardens oftentimes produced 15 or more different vegetables.

The evening meal consisted of a vegetable stew or soup created from vegetables from the garden, and potatoes or rice from rations provided by the slave owners. These ingredients would be boiled in water until done.

The vegetables reflected what was available to the slaves at the time. Combinations including carrots, squash, onions, peppers, okra, yams, tomatoes, leafy greens, corn, rice and potatoes.

According to Wiley Mullins, creator of Wiley’s Healthy Seasonings and Spices, “The variety of produce consumed by the early African Americans provided them with stamina and nutritional empowerment necessary to do the demanding daily tasks that were before them.”

Mullins states, “Recent nutritional research endorses the need to daily consume a variety of produce, especially colorful produce. Different colored produce naturally contain different nutrients, and these nutrients work in the body to protect the body from illness and disease.”

The brilliancy of the slaves is as demonstrative as it gets on what one can do to secure wellness. Of course, regular physical exercise is a given, and the slaves certainly got plenty of that. Food was the key then and is certainly the key now to secure a “wellness” lifestyle.

Mullins says the slaves did four things right:

They ate whole natural plan-based foods daily. Meat and fish weren’t easily accessible, and were eaten very infrequently.

Lots of water was consumed daily. Water was the primary beverage, with very limited consumption of bark teas.

The foods eaten were simple and easily digestible. Raw vegetables, fruits and nuts were eaten during the day.

The dinner meal was a “powerhouse of nutrition” featuring a large combination of colorful produce.

Unfortunately, most African Americans today, like all other Americans, consume less than three servings of produce daily. Because so many meals are eaten away from home, oftentimes these servings consist of a potato or rice dish and no other colorful vegetable.

Preparing meals at home, even quick meals, gives people more control over what is served to their families. Consuming a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables is an excellent first step towards adopting a lifestyle of “wellness.” Here’s why:

Deep Red Colored fruits and vegetables should be eaten every day. Red colored produce like tomatoes, watermelons and pink grapefruits contain lycopene, a cancer fighter. Lycopene has been proven to fight the onset of prostate cancer. African Americans men have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world.

Blue and purple colored fruits and vegetables contain two disease fighting phytochemicals. These powerful antioxidants help reduce the risk of disease including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and may even slow the aging process. Memory loss occurs after age 50 for most people, and eating berries like blueberries and blackberries may help to reverse this trend.

Dark Green Colored Vegetables such as collards, turnip greens, kale and spinach should be eaten every day. These nutritional powerhouses are loaded with lutien (pronounced LOO-ten). Lutien is an antioxidant that helps reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Other green veggies like cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli help protect against breast cancer (which affects one out of every eight U.S. women) and prostate cancer (which affects one out of every six men in the U.S.).

Deep orange colored and bright yellow colored fruits and vegetables should be eaten often. Vegetables such as yams, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkins all contain beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant that reduces the risk of cancer and heart disease. Other fruits and veggies like lemons, yellow bell peppers, oranges, yellow raisins and pears contain bioflavoniods that work together with Vitamin C to keep bodies healthy, strengthen bones and teeth, help heal wounds, keep skin healthy and lower the risk of heart attack.

White colored produce like onions, leeks and garlic may be lacking in color but they contain a powerful nutrient called allicin. Allicin may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and increase the body’s ability to fight infection. Nutrition research shows that eating vegetables from the onion family may speed recovery from colds, reduce the risk of heart attacks, and may even stop the spread of certain cancers, particularly stomach and colon cancer.

For more information and other great “wellness” tips, log on to www.unclewileys.com.

Support Black-Owned Veg Spots

There have been black-owned veg eatiers way before it was considered cool.

Two Black-owned venues are participating in Brooklyn Goes Veg! 1st Annual Vegetarian Restaurant Week.

Please support them during October 21-27 and always.

Imhotep in Crown Heights.

Elaa Juice Bar in Fort Greene.

Visit the Brooklyn Goes Veg! website for details.

The New Environmentalists (from colorlines.com)

by Van Jones

In response to mounting ecological crises, the United States is going through its most important economic transformation since the New Deal. Unfortunately, the vital process of change along more eco-friendly lines is moving ahead with practically zero participation from people of color.

Hundreds of mayors and several governors are bucking the Bush administration and committing themselves to the carbon-cutting principles of the Kyoto treaty on climate change. The U.S. Congress is debating an energy bill this year that could be a watershed for alternative energy sources. What’s more, regular people are way ahead of these leaders. U.S polls show super-majorities want strong action on the climate crisis and other environmental perils. And consumers are reshaping markets by demanding hybrid cars, bio-fuels, solar panels, organic food and more. As a result, the “lifestyles of health and sustainability” sector of the U.S. economy has ballooned into a $240 billion gold mine. And total sales are growing on a near-vertical axis.

The Economist magazine calls it “The Greening of America.” Indeed, we are witnessing the slow death of the Earth-devouring, suicidal version of capitalism. We’re even seeing the birth of some form of “eco-capitalism.” To be sure, a more “ecologically sound” market system will not be a utopia. But at least it will buy our species a few extra decades or centuries on this planet.

That’s the good news. Here is the bad news.

The celebrated "lifestyles" sector is probably the most racially segregated part of the U.S. economy; at present, it is almost exclusively the province of affluent white people. Few entrepreneurs of color are positioned to reap the benefits of the government’s push to green the economy. We are seeing a major debate about the direction of the U.S. economy—in which communities of color apparently have nothing to say. Our near-silence on such key issues has no precedent, at least not since before the Civil War.

How can this be? Black, Latino, Asian and Native American communities suffer the most from the environmental ills of our industrial society. Our folks desperately need the new economic activity, investments and opportunities that this major transition is beginning to generate. To put it bluntly, people of color have much more directly at stake in the greening of America than white college students do. Why are they marching for carbon caps, while most of us just yawn and change the channel?


Read the full article here.

Black Vegetarian Society of NY is forming

After a 2+ year hiatus, BVSNY is back.

I've been asked to spearhead the launch.

Perhaps this means I'll be more dedicated to contributing to this blog, as well as inviting other people to contribute (e-mail me!)

If you're interested in being notified of BVSNY and membership, send an email.

The first 100 memberships are $25.

I am working on some cool incentives like PCRM and VegNews subscriptions (nothing set in stone yet) and the obvious discounts to restaurants and other establishments in New York. There will also be monthly gatherings and opportunities to have your concerns addressed.

I'm also looking for people who would like to head committees. This will start off as voluntary, but I have a goal to compensate people for their time-dinner, small commissions, etc.

www.BVSNY.org will go live October 11th.

I'll announce it here as well.