Vegetarian Athletes: At the Top of Their Game

David Tyree may have been the star
of the Super Bowl, helping the New York Giants beat the previously undefeated
New England Patriots, but in my eyes, Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Tony
Gonzalez is the biggest NFL champion. His team may not have made the Super
Bowl, but as The Wall Street
Journal recently reported, Gonzalez proved that a football player can
be powerful without eating heaping helpings of meat, eggs, and dairy products. Gonzalez
has acknowledged that the meat-heavy diet typically
eaten by football players can lead to serious health problems, including heart
disease and cancer, and is promoting plant-based foods.

A number of other professional
athletes and Olympic superstars have touted the benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets. Four-time Mr. Universe Bill Pearl, powerlifting champion
Bill Mannetti, 1951 Mr. America Roy Hilligenn, Stan
Price, the world-record holder in bench press, and football player and Heisman
Trophy-winner Desmond Howard all reportedly did not eat meat. These powerhouses aren’t alone—some of the strongest
animals, such as apes, elephants, and giraffes, are herbivores.

International Natural Bodybuilding
& Fitness Federation and International Natural Bodybuilding Association
bodybuilder Robert Cheeke is perhaps the world’s most recognized vegan
bodybuilder and popular strength trainer Mike Mahler says
that “Becoming a vegan had a profound effect on my training. … [M]y bench press
excelled past 315 pounds, and I noticed that I recovered much faster. My body
fat also went down, and I put on 10 pounds of lean muscle in a few months.”     

Other vegetarian athletes, including tennis superstar
Martina Navratilova and Dave Scott, a six-time winner of the Ironman triathlon,
have repeatedly beaten their carnivorous competitors. Swimmer Murray Rose, a vegetarian
since birth, has six Olympic medals. 
Debbie Lawrence is an Olympic racewalking champ, and discus thrower Al
Oerter has won at least four Olympic gold medals. A healthy vegetarian diet
helped propel two-time Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses over the hurdles, and
Olympian Carl Lewis has said that his best year of track competition was the
first year that he ate a vegan diet.

Famed Argentinian soccer goalkeeper Carlos Roa, was
nicknamed, “La Lechuga,” meaning “The Lettuce,” because of his strict
vegetarian diet. Bill Walton and Robert Parish, two of the greatest basketball
players of all time, were vegetarians, and John Salley, another professional
basketball star, is a vegan. So is ultra-marathon man Dom Repta, who has run
100 miles in just under 20 hours.

Australian Cricket superstar Greg
Chappel also abstains from animal flesh and animal by-products and fellow cricket
superstar Anil Kumble has posed for a PETA advertisement promoting
vegetarianism.  Says Anil, “Vegetarianism saves
animals’ lives and can’t be beat for maintaining a muscular body and building
endurance. Vegetarian food contains all the vitamins and protein you need to be
at your best and is free of all the fat, cholesterol and toxins found in meat.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re
playing for fun or playing for championships, if you want to excel, practice
hard and eat a healthy vegan diet. See www.VegCooking.com for recipes that are fit for
a champ!