HOW TO GET THE MAXIMUM FROM YOUR SPORTS NUTRITION NEEDS VIA A VEGAN APPROACH

How to get the maximum from your sports nutrition via a Vegan diet

About 4 years ago, I decided to push my body into a new and more demanding exercise regimen. I shifted from Yoga-Pilates and swimming HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).

What is HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)?

You workout harder than most strength workouts as it’s bouts of intense activity with very small windows of rest. It takes your cardio routine to a whole new space. It’s challenging and for me addictive-I most cases there is a recovery, but after 4 years my instructor makes me go at it and lets me recover when I ask for it. 

Here are some benefits – 

1. You keep burning more calories all through the day(*afterburn effect).
2. It comprises both aerobic and a strength workout.
3. It will impact muscle mass positively (by this I mean gain definition).
4. It helps you lose more fat and faster.
5. Improves your oxygen consumption. 

Contraindication: Check with your cardiologist if you have heart issues.

Using a vegan diet approach for your sports nutrition needs

What amazes me is I have immense amounts of energy, can sustain through my workouts with ease and maintain very high-performance levels. This brings me to the question I get asked a lot – It is possible to handle your sports nutrition needs with a vegan approach.? While a lot comes from my meditation practice and yoga (things like focus and a strong mind) – on a physical level 80% comes out of my food. 

I am letting you in on my secrets: high-performance foods and methods to work with your foods to maximize your workouts and recover faster, with a vegan approach. Here is what I have done for the last 25 years which lays the foundation for what I am going to let you in on: 

I focus my day on ‘nutritionally efficient foods’ and do not take foods that cause my body to go into a ‘stress’ mode. My diet has consisted of only what I call ‘nutritionally-dense whole foods which focus on cellular regeneration and giving you abundant vitality. So if you make these foods the bulk of your daily diet, chances are you will gain from these nutrients that your body needs. Just remember foods that get assimilated by the body, give you more energy-as these foods require lesser energy used up by the body for digestion (as opposed to refined, processed foods). Also, the body demands lesser food as the foods in themselves are nutritionally-whole and the brain has a way of turning off the hunger signal once the body has been fed a bunch of nutrients.

Foods and supplements to include for sports NUTRITION

1. Including high fiber foods such as whole grains, lentils/beans, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds and fermented foods.
2. Eat foods that have zinc: sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, tofu, tempeh, edamame, hemp seeds, cashews, pine nuts, lentils, shiitake mushrooms, spinach, green peas.
3. All foods (veggies and fruits) with colours.
4. Eat more good quality protein from all plant-based sources: tofu, tempeh, seeds, nuts, lentils.
5. Eat good quality fats, especially from foods: avocado, nuts, seeds; especially chia seeds and flax seeds.
6. Add a good vegan collagen powder to strengthen ligaments and bones.
7. Add fermented foods: to help the gut with good gut bacteria; for better assimilation of what you eat. 

Everything you eat comes with a nutritional ‘stress’ component to it if your body does not utilize it or if the body takes time to digest it.

Avoid these foods for OPTIMAL SPORTS performance

1. Sugars, including hidden sugars in products, watch out for high glycemic index (GI)foods and eat low GI foods.
2. Dairy and dairy products.
3. Foods with colours.
4. Sweeteners.
5. Hydrogenated fats.
6. Trans Fat and refined oils.
7. Nitrates – found in cured and preserved or flavoured meats.
8. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).
9. Processed foods.
10. Coffee Sodas/colas.
11. Fried foods.
12. Excessive alcohol. 

The nutritional stressors (mentioned above) create an acidic environment throwing your body’s pH balance off. People with high acidosis will fatigue faster and also their sleep patterns get affected. So while you may be on a diet you think is benefitting you, if you are prone to eat foods I have mentioned as high-stressors, you will never recover post-exercise in a way that can help you through your workout or even recover after.

Here are the secrets to a high-performance, high-recovery diet to maximize what you get out of your workouts.

Eat more alkaline

My diet is naturally more alkaline and the bulk of my diet focuses on whole-grain, vegetables (of which greens form a huge part), quinoa, amaranth, sprouted seeds, fruits, beans, nuts, some seaweeds and spirulina and seaweed called kombu. I get my fats from avocado, nuts, coconut and sesame oil (cold-pressed) and coconut meat (garri) and natural food sources. I did increase the intake of vegetables in the last 7 months to almost 40% of my daily volume consumption and decreased whole grain to 20%, kept beans/legumes, quinoa and amaranth to 25%, fruit 10%. These help my blood condition to stay more alkaline, and also cause 100% assimilation of nutrients [effective digestion and less toxic food passing through my body), contributing to high-performance levels during my routines.

Eat enzymes

Another secret is to keep the enzymes active in all foods, so focussing on lighter cooking styles. Overcooking destroys enzymes and also nutrients (please remember there is a difference between ‘cooking’ and ‘over-cooking’). I also supply an abundant amount of enzymes by way of good quality fermentation (in the form of quickly pressed salads, pickles [made in brine], miso paste, as without these enzymes foods are not turned into that which can be used by the body efficiently. The recovery post-exercise depends a lot on the body’s enzyme levels.

Eat chlorophyll-rich foods

I make sure I am using some form of greens in my daily diet along with cereal grasses like wheatgrass both rich in chlorophyll – supporting my energy levels and providing my body with the extra ability to help oxygenation (vital for cellular regeneration). This helps me in performing well during my exercise routines and also increases my body’s pH levels.

Eat assimilated protein

I eat natural plant sources of protein with a high pH in the form of sprouts, nuts, seeds and legumes [not over-cooked, as this makes it acid-forming], spirulina, wheatgrass, leafy greens.

Workout and Eating Tips

Pre-workout

Eat something that will digest fast (as lesser time is expended during the workout on digestion) and something that will burn fast like dates (simple carbohydrate heads to your liver for instant energy), also fruit sugars are good. I also added cold-pressed coconut oil, as it has medium-chain triglycerides that give you instant energy. What you eat is also determined by the level of energy you will end up expending during your workout. This is good for the intense form of workouts and the ones that are done in a shorter period. For something that lasts longer and needs sustained energy, I would recommend some protein like quinoa, good fats from seeds or nuts, with a dash of dates to get the simple carbohydrate.

Post-workout

Do not restrict your calories here in the quest to lose fat. Post-workout your snack should have some good fat, some protein and a little simple carbohydrate. I focus on a greens smoothie with ½ an apple [fruit sugars], spirulina (for protein) and some nuts for good fats. Also, liquid here helps the blood move freely to transport its nutrients – as post workout blood is anyways working to clear out toxins and lactic acid build-up-so we don’t want to take the blood away from this activity to the stomach for digestion. 

Your lunches and dinners should be nutritionally-whole foods

PITFALLS you could avoid in a vegan approach

Artificial vitamins and supplements inhibit recovery

The constant intake of supplements to enhance performance is common nowadays. People who exercise feel that their body will throw out what it does not need. It’s quite the opposite: while water-soluble vitamins and minerals do get thrown out, the fat-soluble minerals do not and go straight to your fat cells, causing fatigue. So while the body goes through a lot of stress to recover post a workout, you are adding more stress on it to throw out stuff it has not utilized from these supplements and inhibiting recovery post-workout.

Stimulating drinks like coffee, energy enhancers fatigue you

The desire to have stimulating drinks and foods, in the form of coffees, teas and quick energy boosters with refined carbohydrates and sugars is commonplace. While these will give you a short-term fix; while refined carbohydrates will cause insulin levels to go out of whack, coffees and teas will cause short-term serotonin burst and a rise in cortisol levels, lowering immune system response. In the long run, this causes energy levels to plummet.

Lifestyle practices

Lifestyle practices that help: Combat stress – I do it by meditation and yoga, get a good night’s sleep (increase melatonin, by exposing yourself to minimal light an hour before bed), get a lot of sunlight as often as you can, drink enough water and liquids to stay hydrated, do a body rub daily, maintain sleep hygiene – to help eliminate toxins.

Quick tips

And some more: Incorporate leafy greens in a greens juice daily (I like to do this post a workout combining proteins, enzymes, eat frequently during the day – spreading nutrients through the day, eat lighter cooked foods and in summers one raw salad a day, make sure that you plan your snacks around whole foods, not junk.