Plant-Based Vs Omnivore Diets for Endurance Athletes
Performance & health considerations for plant-based endurance athletes
This article delves into both the effects of diet on performance and the factors which may contribute to an individual’s total health and wellness. Along with performance, it considers potential nutritional requirements and overall quality of life.
A study by Lynch et al, compared maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 Max) using a progressing treadmill to failure test between plant-based and omnivore endurance athletes (Lynch, Wharton, & Johnston, 2016). The results showed that while the plant-based group had a greater aerobic capacity (time to failure during the fitness test), there was no difference in absolute VO2 Max between the two groups. Before everyone goes out to buy a salad, there are potentially several reasons as to why the plant-based group performed better during the fitness test. Firstly, the plant-based group naturally ate more carbohydrates when compared to the omnivore group (averaging 328g/day and 248g/day respectively). This is important for endurance athletes as carbohydrates are vital for energy production and muscle recovery. The plant-based athletes also carried less body mass on average when compared to omnivore athletes in both the male and female groups (7kg and 5kg respectively). These results highlight the importance of movement efficiency and adequate nutrient consumption for endurance sport athletes.
Something plant-based athletes may need to consider are the nutritional deficiencies that can develop over time. Plant-based foods lack long chain fatty acids and other micro nutrients such as iron, calcium, zinc, iodine and vitamin D & B12 when compared with the foods eaten on an omnivore diet (Rogerson, 2017). Athletes utilizing a vegetarian or vegan diet should consider foods which are dense in these nutrients in conjunction with external supplementation. It has also been shown that creatine and β-alanine supplementation in plant-based athletes could lead to increased athletic performance.
Another important factor to investigate is how diet can affect quality of life. A study by Boldt et al, looked 281 runners, 173 of which either ran half marathon, marathon or ultra-marathon distances. The additional 108 participants were 10km runners. From this sample, 158 adhered to a vegetarian or vegan diet with the remaining 123 following an omnivore diet. A questionnaire was administered to the athletes, exploring 4 domains of health (physical, psychological, environmental and social relationships). After analysis, it was shown that the overall quality of life for both diet groups were high. There was no discernable difference in perceived physical or psychological health between the two groups however the omnivore participants had slightly improved results in the environmental domain for females and the social relationships domain for males. It was also found the men scored slightly higher than females in both physical and psychological domains (Boldt et al., 2018).
Considering there are no significant differences in perceived quality of life between the diet groups, it is suggested that a plant-based diet can be just as suitable for endurance athletes as an omnivore diet. This of course, is still conditional to the macro and micro nutrient needs of the athlete being met.
References:
Boldt, P., Knechtle, B., Nikolaidis, P., Lechleitner, C., Wirnitzer, G., Leitzmann, C., Wirnitzer, K. (2018). Quality of life of female and male vegetarian and vegan endurance runners compared to omnivores - results from the NURMI study (step 2). Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15(1), 33. doi:10.1186/s12970-018-0237-8
Lynch, H. M., Wharton, C. M., & Johnston, C. S. (2016). Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Peak Torque Differences between Vegetarian and Omnivore Endurance Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Study. Nutrients, 8(11). doi:10.3390/nu8110726
Rogerson, D. (2017). Vegan diets: practical advice for athletes and exercisers. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 36. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0192-9
Written by Nevin Mills - The Strength Institute of Western Australia
