Guest guest Posted February 1, 2008 Report Share Posted February 1, 2008 As usual, read the letters/comments at the end, see what you think? Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 03:14:02 PM www.kcchiefs.com So I feel kinda bad for posting that giant picture of the cheeseburger in a can yesterday. And I rarely give vegans and vegetarians much attention. (Sorry. If there were more vegan/vegetarian restaurants out there, I'd write about them.) Thankfully, Jeanette sent along this Wall Street Journal story about superstar Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, who played this past season while following a vegan diet. Why is that a big deal? Experts say athletes in training need as much as twice the protein of an average person to rebuild muscle. Their bodies also require a big dose of minerals and vitamins, as well as the amino acids, iron and creatine packed into fish, meat and dairy foods. It's fine to be a vegan, says sports nutritionist and dietician Nancy Clark, if you're willing to work at it. "It's harder to get calcium, harder to get protein, harder to get Vitamin D, harder to get iron," she says. "You have to be committed." Worth a read. -Ian Froeb Tags: athletes, football, Tony Gonzalez, veganism, vegans Category: Food, News 7 Comments: Bill Burge says: I heard this guy on NPR (I believe) talking about going into the weight room and grabbing some hundred pound dumbbells he used to just throw around and not being able to lift them. He was in a complete panic and had to go in search of some serious nutritionist that specialized in weight gain on vegan diets. Not that many of us need to lift 100lb dumbbells, but I think that's a pretty indicative of the kind of work it takes to be truly healthy on a vegan diet. What I mean is: most vegans are not healthy, and can't afford to be. Posted at: January 31, 2008 9:40 PM jeanette says: i know two very healthy, very active people who also happen to be very, very vegan. albeit my evidence is anecdotal, and so is yours Mr. Burge. Posted at: January 31, 2008 11:08 PM Eric Prescott says: What this says more than anything is that a 247lb. weight and the ability to throw around that kind of weight takes commitment and more money than most people can afford. That same article highlights two very healthy vegan athletes, one of whom is a basketball player, and the other one a top ultimate fighter. There are many more athletes highlighted at organicathlete.org. Most of them are endurance-style athletes, a number of whom have performed amazing feats (like ultramarathon winners), which makes sense. When in nature did hominids ever find weights to lift? Endurance is what we are evolved for. But, in case you are hung up on lifting weights and being burlier than most people would ever like to be, visit veganmusclepower.com. Posted at: January 31, 2008 11:26 PM Ellen Jaffe Jones says: Figuring out how to avoid diseases of affluence has been the investigative report of my life. After I almost died in the KTVI-Channel 2 newsroom of a colon blockage, the same year my sis got breast cancer the 2nd time (along with my aunt and mom eventually), I changed my diet for life. I refused to follow the dire warnings of the ER docs who said I needed to be on meds the rest of my life. 25 years later, I am the only person in my family who doesn't have: cancer, major heart disease and diabetes. Add on to that: arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, varicose veins, colon issues, medicated menopause...not even a hot flash. There are no words for hot flash in Chinese because until they began eating a western diet, they didn't have them. I didn't get all the good genes. Call me silly, but having your chest cracked open, a foot or eye removed for diabetes, or chemo seems a little more inconvenient and difficult than changing your diet for 3 weeks and seeing how that goes. When I understood there's no money to be made in broccoli (read The China Study), then I began teaching cooking classes for the national non-profit The Cancer Project. Students in our classes routinely and easily lose huge amounts of weight, improve their cancer markers and feel a whole lot better. For vegan athletic prowess, check out www.organicathlete.org or Google the many vegan running sites. I run 5k's routinely and have placed in my age group (55) during the past year. My former 300 pound cardiologist told me I have the heart of a 21 year old. And cholesterol at 140. Without drugs! Trendy writers, such as John Robbins (Healthy at 100) and Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food) are writing simply, "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." It really is just that simple! Difficult? C'mon. Every time you plant a veggie garden in your backyard, your kids will prefer calcium-rich kale to milk and joyously eat 5 or more veggies a day to get every vitamin and mineral they need in life.Without a pill. Imagine that. Just like your great-grandma did. Eating healthy low-fat vegan? Piece of cake. My OB tells me if her patients complain that eating this way is expensive (which it is not compared to meat and all it's resulting health issues), she says, "either you pay now for healthy foods, or you'll pay later in outrageous medical costs." There are plenty of healthy low-fat vegans out there. They just aren't worth the drug company's or government interests to be studied. Finally, there are vegan meccas on both coasts...incredible, really tasty, not-to-die for restaurants. Sorry to hear that St. Louis just isn't there yet. Ellen Jaffe JonesThe Cancer Project Cooking Instructor Media ConsultantFormer TV reporter/anchorHolmes Beach, FL Posted at: February 1, 2008 8:43 AM Dan D. says: I think there's a vast difference between a healthy lifestyle and being able to play in the NFL, especially at a Hall of Fame level like Tony G. has (I'm sure all of you have seen the video of Kevin Everett, hits slightly different than that happen every play). What those guys go through, and what they need to eat to go through it have nothing to do with any of us. And Gonzales is no dummy athlete, he went to Cal. Posted at: February 1, 2008 10:17 AM Ian says: I second Dan's comment. And I should point out that Tony Gonzalez, at the peak of his career, was a phenomenal athlete. He once entertained trying out for the NBA. Posted at: February 1, 2008 10:26 AM Dan D. says: Sure was, Ian. He's one of my all time favorite football players. Wow, food and football in the same conversation. This is just about perfect. Posted at: February 1, 2008 11:05 AM Peter H Sent from - a smarter inbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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