Author Name: StartRight
It’s easy for nay-sayers to scoff at a vegetarian and say their diet choices are holding them back. However, the truth is that there are plenty of highly successful plant-powered athletes around, many of them crediting their stamina and speed to their plant-based diets.
1. Venus Williams
In 2011, the tennis legend Venus Williams was forced to withdraw from the US Open after being diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. On the advice of her doctor, she began experimenting with cutting out certain foods. She realized she was much healthier when she switched to a vegetarian diet, and has since stuck to that lifestyle choice, even coming back and winning more tournaments.
2. Carl Lewis
The legendary track and field athlete Carl Lewis wasn’t always vegetarian during his Olympic years. Once he made the switch however, he went even further and adopted a vegan diet in 1991. That was also the year he scored the fastest times in his whole career. He won a total of 10 Olympic medals (nine of them gold) throughout his career.
3. Novak Djokovic
The tennis superstar revealed in 2019 that he’s been vegan for a few years now. “I think that’s one of the reasons why I recover well. I don’t have allergies that I used to have any more,” he said in an interview at the time. He’s loved it so much in fact that he even opened up his own vegan restaurant in his home town of Monte Carlo.
4. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Before Arnie was a Hollywood action star, he started his career as a body builder in Austria, even going international to become the youngest ever Mr Universe at age 20. These days, he swears by a partly-vegan diet, with eggs being the only non-vegan food he consumes.
5. Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz ay not be a universally known athlete, but he’s still important to mention in this list. He’s a professional MMA fighter (mixed martial arts). And if you’ve ever seen one of those matches, you know they’re brutal and highly taxing on a person’s body. Throughout his MMA career, Brazillian jiu-jitsu black belt holder Diaz has stuck to a vegan diet, and is among the top ranked in the UFC’s lightweight division.
6. Lewis Hamilton
The decorated racing driver has been vegan since 2017, and he says it’s changed his life. Now in his 30s, Hamilton says going green has eliminated the highs and lows in his energy levels, keeping him alert and at the top of his game more consistently. He’s so committed, he’s even launched his own plant-based burger chain.
7. Mike Tyson
The boxing legend has been vegan since way back in 2010. At the time, he said it was a switch to help his body recover from his drinking and drugs problem post-retiral. However, after the switch, he also reported dramatic weight loss, lowered blood pressure, and even an improvement in his arthritis.
