Following a plant-based diet does not harm athletic performance, systematic review finds (www.tandfonline.com)

submitted 1 month ago by James_Fortis@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world

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[-] ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

I would love to know how they are defining "athletic performance" in this study and how they supplemented protein intake. The nutritional needs of an Olympic swimmer, American football player, cyclist, fencer, powerlifter, etc are nowhere near the same thing.

[-] JayTreeman@fedia.io 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

In the abstract it acknowledges what you're talking about. This biased source, mentions all sorts of pro athletes that are plant based. Strong man, NFL player, and ultra runners. The ultra runners are interesting because plant based probably gives an advantage.

[-] ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah, I recognize they acknowledged it, but they didn't address it in the abstract. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just wondering what their qualifiers are and what their actual approach was. Powerlifters require large amounts of protein intake that can be difficult to obtain from a 100% plant based diet. That could be addressed with plant based supplements, but that feels a little disingenuous to me.

I suppose I could request the full study, but I can't be bothered lol.

[-] JayTreeman@fedia.io 5 points 1 month ago

Powerlifters are over represented by vegans. Ultra runners and power lifters two poles on the dietary needs scale.

[-] CasualPenguin@reddthat.com 2 points 1 month ago

It's a strange question, because first you'd have to quantify how many power lifters do not require supplements, from experience the answer is 0 but I could be wrong.