Hey Canadians,
I wanted to make sure you knew this was in your Globe and Mail today so you could respond with letters singing the praises of plant based diets. The Globe and Mail takes letters at letters@globeandmail.com
Include your full name, address and phone number.
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
January 28, 2008 Monday
247-pound football giant goes vegan
REED ALBERGOTTI, WALL STREET JOURNAL STAFF
GLOBE LIFE; EATING GREEN: TONY GONZALEZ; Pg. L4
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 become more hip with such bestsellers 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.
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, burgers, pizza, ice cream and beer. "My biggest thing is strength," he says. "If you lose that strength you get your butt kicked."
Experts say athletes in training need twice the protein of an average person to rebuild muscle. Their bodies also require a big dose of minerals, vitamins, amino acids, iron and creatine packed into fish, meat and dairy foods. 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.
Mr. Gonzalez was intrigued. He bought the book, and after reading the first 40 pages, he says, was convinced animal foods led to chronic illness. 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. He had lost 10 pounds.
Mr. Gonzalez considered scrapping the diet altogether. 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.
The team's nutritionist, Mitzi Dulan, a former vegetarian athlete, persuaded him 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.
He accompanied Mr. Hinds to shop for groceries. Mr. Hinds showed him nutritious fish oils and how to pick out breads dense with whole grains, nuts and seeds. He stocked his pantry with tubs of soy protein powder and boxes of organic oatmeal; soy milk and Brazilian acai juice crowded the fridge. 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. 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 Chiefs trailed the Jets 7-3. Still, Mr. Gonzalez made three receptions. With 2 minutes and 29 seconds left in the third quarter, Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle threw a nine-yard pass to Mr. Gonzalez, who scampered for a first down and a spot in the NFL record book.
(End of Globe and Mail article)
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