6 athletes who said “no” to meat and went vegan

Many think that meat form of protein is a necessary and crucial part of a diet for athletes, here is a story of 6 athletes who changed their diet and feel better than ever before.

Jermain Colin Defoe is a striker for club Sunderland and England national team. 34-year-old footballer became one of those athletes who decided to turn vegan.  Defoe claims that he turned more productive when excluded meat from his ration and started living on plants.

Preparation for a big one tomorrow #jd18 #jermaindefoefoundation

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Defoe is not the only one who made this decision and refrain from consuming animal protein. Here are some more athletes who committed to the vegan lifestyle.

Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis made his first attempt in the men’s long-jump at the #Olympic track trials in Los Angeles, host of the 1984 @olympics. This jump, which spanned 28 feet 7 inches, was, at the time, equal to the fourth-longest jump ever. Carl held 3 of those 4 records. A @nytmag profile in the lead-up to the games called the then 22-year-old from Willingboro, New Jersey “America’s most dazzling athlete.” Carl went on to win 4 gold medals at the 1984 Games in the same events Jesse Owens dominated at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter relay and long jump. By the time he retired in 1997, Carl Lewis was a 9-time Olympic gold medalist. This photo comes from the @nytimes #archives. Follow along this #nytweekender to see more photos of decorated Olympians, like #CarlLewis, from games past.

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Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis set several world records in his career and one of those is 8.89 metres in the long jump. Lewis thinks that plant-based diet played a role in his achievements.

David Haye

36-year-old former British professional boxer David Haye in his interview confessed that he gave up eating animal meat after he found out how it is produced. After that, he had to find a replacement for protein he usually received with meat. Once the solution was found – Haye completely abandoned animal products and became vegan.

Mac Danzig

I do miss it… #ufc #mma #ufconfox #macdanzig #boxing #sacramento #joelauzon #bodyshot #danzigmma #fbf #throwback

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Mac Danzig got his popularity through achievements in martial arts. He turned vegan in 2004 because of his love for nature and animals. Once he felt that it’s gross to eat meat. His trainer was already a vegan and helped Danzig to adjust and find a new diet. He claims that vegan diet helped him to reach his goal in sports.

Timo Hildebrand

Former German goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand also thinks that he owes his success to a strict vegan diet. After resigning from his career in sports, Timo turned to animal rights protection and helps the most popular organization in this field  – PETA. Besides it, Hildebrand supports the chain of vegan supermarkets Veganz.

Patrik Baboumian

Former German bodybuilder of Iranian origin Patrik Baboumian turned vegan the year he won the title of Germany’s Strongest Man in 2011. Before that, Baboumian was vegetarian for 6 years. Now he is able to do deadlifts at 360 kg and bench press at 215 kg.

Does it make you think about your own diet?