{"id":3651,"date":"2023-05-12T11:36:07","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T04:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/the-muscle-power-strength-and-endurance-of-vegetarians\/"},"modified":"2023-05-12T11:36:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T04:36:07","slug":"the-muscle-power-strength-and-endurance-of-vegetarians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=3651","title":{"rendered":"The Muscle Power, Strength, and Endurance of Vegetarians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Randomized controlled trials put plant-based eating to the test for athletic performance.<\/p>\n<p>Historical examples of successful plant-based athletes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/24137094\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">range<\/a> from the gladiators in ancient Rome to the Tarahumara Indians who run 160-mile races for the fun of it. That\u2019s six back-to-back marathons. But, they weren\u2019t put to the test until the last century or so in a study purporting to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/influence-of-flesh-eating-on-endurance\/oclc\/38235402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">show<\/a> \u201cwithout reasonable doubt that the flesh-eating group of athletes was very far inferior in endurance to the abstainers, even the sedentary group\u201d of vegetarians\u2014meaning it isn\u2019t that the veg athletes won simply because they had trained harder or something. Indeed, there certainly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/20845212\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">are<\/a> advantages to plant-based eating, like more antioxidants to combat exercise-induced oxidative stress and the anti-inflammatory nature of many plant foods that may <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/22564864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accelerate<\/a> muscle repair and strength recovery. But, do you have to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/influence-of-flesh-eating-on-endurance\/oclc\/38235402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eat<\/a> this way for years, decades, or even your whole life to get these apparent benefits? I discuss this in my video <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/vegetarian-muscle-power-strength-and-endurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Vegetarian Muscle Power, Strength, and Endurance<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What if you <a href=\"https:\/\/rc.library.uta.edu\/uta-ir\/bitstream\/handle\/10106\/9291\/Gonzales%20Poster.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">took<\/a> some Texas men, eating their regular Texan diet, put them through a maximal exercise test, and then asked them to cut out meat for four days. Then, after those four days without meat, you tested them again to measure time to exhaustion, ramping up the treadmill to see how many minutes could they go without collapsing? A researcher did this and found a significant difference favoring the vegetarian diet, which boosted the time to exhaustion by about 13 percent, as you can see at 1:28 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/vegetarian-muscle-power-strength-and-endurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>. Of the five participants, \u201ceach subject <a href=\"https:\/\/rc.library.uta.edu\/uta-ir\/bitstream\/handle\/10106\/9291\/Gonzales%20Poster.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">had<\/a> a higher time to exhaustion after following a vegetarian diet.\u201d But there was a fatal flaw to the study. Did you catch it? They were all in the same sequence\u2014meat first, then veg\u2014and any time you take a test a second time, you may do better just because you\u2019re more familiar with it. If the Texans went back to eating meat after being on the vegetarian diet and their performance tanked during a third test, then you might be onto something, but this isn\u2019t very convincing. And, even if the effect is real, it may not be the meat reduction per se, but a function of improved glycogen stores from eating more carbohydrates or something.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-91372\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-960x525.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-1024x560.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-1536x840.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-1200x656.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-720x394.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1-28-540x295.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>What about <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=f_XKBQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA277&amp;lpg=PA277&amp;dq=#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">putting<\/a> athletes on a vegetarian versus omnivorous diet before a 621-mile race? (You\u2019ve heard of a 5K? This is a 1,000K!) And, what if you made sure to design the two diets so all of the athletes got about the same percentage of carbs? As you can see at 2:16 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/vegetarian-muscle-power-strength-and-endurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, researchers did this and found that the finishing rates of the athletes were identical and their total times were within just a few hours of each other whether on the vegetarian diet or the omnivorous one.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-91368\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-960x525.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-1024x560.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-1536x840.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-1200x656.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-720x394.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-16-540x295.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Same with sprinting. As you can see at 2:44 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/vegetarian-muscle-power-strength-and-endurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, a study <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/21373871\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">randomized<\/a> people into vegetarian or mixed diet groups, and there was no significant difference in sprint power between the two groups. The researchers concluded that \u201cacute vegetarianism has no acute adverse effects on adaptations to sprint exercise,\u201d but no apparent performance benefits either.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-91370\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-960x525.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-1024x560.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-768x420.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-1536x840.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-1200x656.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-720x394.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2-44-540x295.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Same with strength training, too. A study <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/1435181\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">measured<\/a> maximum voluntary contraction of both biceps and quadriceps before and after each dietary period, and no significant difference was seen either way. When you put together all of the studies that compare physical performance in these kinds of randomized, controlled trials, where you have folks eat more plant-based for just a few days or weeks, \u201cthere <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26568522\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">appeared<\/a> to be no differences at least acutely between a vegetarian-based diet and an omnivorous diet in muscular power, muscular strength, anaerobic or aerobic performance.\u201d Long-term, though, a plant-based diet <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=f_XKBQAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA277&amp;lpg=PA277&amp;dq=#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">can<\/a> be conducive to both endurance performance and health. \u201cWhereas athletes are most often concerned with performance, vegetarian diets also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/10479233\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">provide<\/a> long-term health benefits and a reduction in risk of chronic disease\u201d and are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27854281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">associated<\/a> with a reduced risk of developing coronary heart disease\u201d\u2014the number one killer of men and women\u2014\u201cbreast cancer, colorectal cancers, prostate cancer, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension, cataracts, and dementia.\u201d Doesn\u2019t matter how you shred if you\u2019re dead.<\/p>\n<p>I was honored to be a scientific consultant for the amazing documentary about diet and athleticism called <em>The Gamechangers<\/em>. Check it out at <a href=\"http:\/\/gamechangersmovie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/gamechangersmovie.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_social_bottom_trigger\"\/>  <\/div>\n<p><script>\n            !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n            {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n                n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n            if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n            n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n            t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n            s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n                'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n            fbq('init', '1582627921973608');\n            fbq('track', 'PageView');\n        <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Randomized controlled trials put plant-based eating to the test for athletic performance. Historical examples of successful plant-based athletes range from the gladiators in ancient Rome to the Tarahumara Indians who run 160-mile races for the fun of it. That\u2019s six back-to-back marathons. But, they weren\u2019t put to the test until the last century or so &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}