Knockout!

Nouse cites Carl Lewis as a prime example of one athlete who was vegan at the height of his career.

A recent Health & Fitness supplement in the magazine Boxing News highlighted the fact that there are more than a few top class boxing professionals who are vegetarian or vegan.

Now, boxing is a controversial sport, but there is no disputing the fact that those who compete at the top level are at a peak of fitness, with massive amounts of energy at their disposal, plus great strength and a great capacity to heal quickly. Puny veggies they are not.

Athlete Phil Nouse, a vegetarian for ten years, who wrote the lead article in the supplement, says:

‘To be honest, as a vegetarian myself, I am actually a little pained to discuss the vegetarian diet as if it’s out of the ordinary.

Indeed, I often find that vegetarians are far more conscious about eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, pulses and other food sources because of the scaremongering of the media, poorly informed ‘nutritionists’, coaches, teachers etc’.

Nouse cites Carl Lewis as a prime example of one athlete who was vegan at the height of his career. Arguably the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen, Lewis has stated ‘I’ve found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete.

In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet.’ Other notable vegetarian and vegan sportsmen and women include Serena Williams, Gianluca Vialli, Sachin Tendulkar, Martina Navratilova, Ed Moses and Billie Jean King. Given the machismo associated with the boxing culture, it is perhaps even more surprising to find vegetarians and vegans competing in this field, and winning.

Twice, WBC Middlweight ‘world’ champion, Keith Holmes, has been a vegan for almost thirteen years. For him, it is a spiritual and religious choice, although he is quick to acknowledge the physical benefits too. ‘My muscles developed better, I recovered better after training. I felt lighter, I used to get a lot of colds, but I haven’t been sick in seven years.’

Former Olympic (1996) and IBF Cruiserweight champion, Vassiliy Jirov, has gone a step further: vegetarian for eight years, he has for the past twelve months been eating a raw food (or ‘living’ food) diet.

A native of Kazakhstan, now living in Arizona, he told the magazine: ‘I used to eat anything that moved - even crocodile and horse meat.’ His attitude to those who criticised his decision to go raw is philosophical: ‘It’s down to old thinking... people find it hard to change... they are scared to be different.’

Jirov has won 37 of his 41 professional fights, and a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympic. He has seen his athletic performance improve significantly over his eleven year career. ‘I have more energy, my head is clear when I get in the ring, my nerves better and the whole experience is better. Also, I recover faster. My bruises disappear in one or two days, as though I’ve not even had a fight.’

His advice to fellow athletes? ‘Take advice from books, learn about your body and do it slowly because it could ruin your career if done too fast. If you don’t believe in it, don’t do it...my coach and family didn’t agree with it at first. Maybe they still don’t. But that doesn’t matter. It’s my body, my life, my experience. I don’t care what people think.’

Phil Nouse is less convinced. ‘In my educated and experience-based opinion, I believe pure veganism is too restrictive for most people and there are numerous concerns suggested with the overuse of soy protein.

Adding eggs back in opens up so many more options and I am yet to read a convincing argument against good quality eggs. I am a great believer in supplementary vitamins and minerals as long as they are in addition to a varied, high quality diet a safety net if you will.

The reality is that we simply cannot and never will be able to categorically determine whether a vegetarian or vegan diet will allow you to, or prevent you, achieving your potential. My opinion, although not stated as fact, is that the vegetarian and vegan athlete can reach the same levels as their omnivore counterparts and may, in fact, avoid many of the negatives associated with meat and dairy consumption.

- The Vegetarian