Runners need a specifically healthy diet, as it directly affects their endurance. It’s a common understanding that athletes, in general, need to eat a lot of meat to increase their protein. This raises the question that can athletes even cut out meat, and is a plant-based diet good for runners?
The dynamic is slowly changing as more and more runners are opting for a plant-based diet. This includes marathon runners and professional sprinters, so it’s not just people who run for recreational purposes.
There’s growing evidence that such a diet, rich in whole foods and whole grains, can provide the essential nutrients needed for endurance training and performance. While runners generally need to eat healthily, switching to a strictly plant-based diet will make it all the more rewarding.
Which Nutrients Do Runners Need the Most?
You cannot really handpick nutrients as all humans need all the essential nutrients in moderation to survive. However, depending on your fitness goals, you may need some nutrients more than the usual amount.
In the context of runners, certain nutrients provide them the energy to perform their best. You need a continuous and sustained supply of energy and stamina to run marathons. Therefore, before we talk about the diet, let’s talk nutrients:
Carbohydrates
Most people try to reduce their carbohydrates because a lot of them can put on weight. However, runners need all their carbs because carbs provide the body its fuel. In fact, your body prefers to use carbs and sugars for energy.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that 45 to 65 percent of your daily intake should be carbs. For runners, it should be at the very least 55% of daily caloric intake or 2.5 to 4.5 grams per pound of the body weight.
Proteins
Now, this is the main nutrient that everyone talks about when it comes to athletes and bodybuilders, basically anyone whose living depends on their fitness. It’s crucial because it builds and recovers muscles.
Protein is important for runners, mainly for muscle recovery. Unlike bodybuilders, they don’t really need to add more muscle mass. However, they do need their protein to recover muscles after training.
According to the Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, an athlete needs about 0.6 to 0.8 grams of protein for every pound of their weight. Some experts recommend going as high as one gram per pound.
It’s important to mention that for runners, complete proteins are necessary. This means that they need protein with all nine essential amino acids.
Minerals and Vitamins
Aside from carbs and proteins, certain minerals and vitamins are vital for runners, in terms of boosting performance and overall health.
A lot of the athletes take supplements and multivitamins to meet the required intake or increase it. While it may work in covering your need for those particular nutrients, food is the best way to get them. With food, your body absorbs more of these minerals and vitamins than it does through supplements.
Here are the most important minerals and vitamins for runners:
Calcium: Calcium helps keep the bones strong. If calcium is low in your body, your bones get weak and are more susceptible to fractures, which is why it’s all the more important for runners.
Iron: Iron helps with metabolism, but what’s more relevant for runners is that it improves muscle function and fights fatigue. People with iron deficiency tend to get tired quickly.
Zinc: Zinc helps in muscle recovery and protein utilization. Moreover, it also enhances thyroid function, which is essential for performance.
Magnesium: Magnesium has several roles that are all centered on increasing athletic performance and endurance. It’s good for maintaining blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It also balances calcium in the body and helps with protein synthesis.
B Vitamins: B vitamins include Thiamin, Niacin, Riboflavin, B-6, Biotin, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, and B-12. These vitamins are responsible for muscle recovery and providing muscle energy. While they are mostly found in animal proteins, you can find them in certain plant-based foods as well.
Vitamin D: Vitamin D helps with the absorption of calcium, so in a way, it’s also responsible for making your bones strong. We get most of our Vitamin D from sunlight. But if you live in a place with low sunlight, you may need to increase it in your diet.
While there aren’t many options for natural plant-based foods with Vitamin D, you can easily find some that are enriched with this essential vitamin.
Is a Plant-based Diet Good For Runners?
In terms of scientific research, there are not that many studies that have looked into the specific benefits of a plant-based diet for runners. However, those that are there indicate that it’s a wholesome diet that covers the basic, as well as performance-related dietary needs of runners.
The fact that a lot of the athletes follow a vegan diet also points out the benefits of running plant-based vs. the benefits of running on a traditional western diet with animal products.
Here are some reasons why plant-based diets are good for runners:
Strong Health
A plant-based diet is an all-rounder when it comes to your health. It gives you the essential nutrients you need and covers a wide range of these, so you don’t miss out on certain nutrients. Moreover, it helps maintain a healthy weight.
Disease Prevention
You may think that a runner would be less likely to get sick because they are so active. However, a 2017 study showed that as many as 44% runners and cyclists in their old age develop coronary plaque. Why is that the case? Perhaps their diet is a major risk factor.
Running, in general, will keep your heart healthy and reduce the risk of some of the most common diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. However, poor diet, especially one rich in animal products, can raise the risk of these diseases.
If runners eat a plant-based diet, they are less likely to get any of these serious, life-threatening diseases.
Plant-based Protein
Contrary to popular opinion, a plant-based diet is not necessarily deficient in protein. Many vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds are rich in protein. It’s just a matter of knowing what foods exactly have protein.
You can easily cover the required protein intake for runners on a plant-based diet. Consuming more soy products, beans, broccoli, lentils, chickpeas, and almonds can give you the required protein for muscle gain and recovery.
More importantly, plant-based protein, unlike animal protein, does not come with strings attached. Red meat, in particular, may be rich in protein, but it’s known for increasing the risk of heart disease, among other health conditions. Processed meat is even worse as they are classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Faster Recovery
Athletes and runners need to train every few days a week, sometimes on consecutive days. All that exercise can take a toll on their muscles, which is why they need a diet that helps with muscle recovery. A plant-based diet can do it quicker and more efficiently.
Many plant-based foods are inherently anti-inflammatory. They can reduce the inflammation in muscles, causing recovery faster. Before you know it, you’re ready to hit the course again. There’s a lot of research that shows the anti-inflammatory benefits of a plant-based diet.
Low-fat Diet
A plant-based diet is very low in fat, and the fat that it does contain is healthy and beneficial for your body (for instance, the fat in olive oil). For runners, eating low-fat foods and maintaining a healthy weight is extremely important.
For runners, the ideal body fat percentage is between 5 and 15. If you’re naturally lean, that’s another thing. But for those who are not, keeping saturated fats minimal is extremely important to keep performing their best.
Antioxidants
Plant-based diets are perhaps the richest in antioxidants. They contain so many different antioxidants that you just cannot find in animal products and processed foods. They may not play a big part in enhancing performance, but they are good for your long-term health.
What antioxidants do is prevent cell damage by dealing with the free radicals in your body. Those free radicals can hamper with muscle recovery, so antioxidants prevent that.
Environment-Friendly
In addition to the health benefits, a plant-based diet can also lower your carbon footprint. A vegan diet has the lowest carbon footprint, according to a study conducted in the UK.
Why is being environmentally conscious important for runners? Well, it’s important for everyone, but for runners, it’s even more relevant. As a runner and athlete, you have the power and position to influence people. If you follow something, those who follow you and aspire to be like you will follow as well.
The Right Plant-based Diet for Runners
Is a plant-based diet good for runners? Yes, but they need to tweak it to fit their nutritional and performance demands. Generally, a plant-based diet is pretty healthy for an average person, but for someone running a few miles every day, a little customization will go a long way.
You need to consume foods that meet your nutritional requirements, as discussed above. You want to focus on proteins, good carbs, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, and vitamins. Focus on protein-rich plant-based foods that can help you get the required protein intake every day.
Design your diet according to your own needs and training schedules. Eating anti-inflammatory foods after a workout and on your rest days will help with muscle recovery.
Consuming some carbs before and after training will give you the energy boost you need to perform your best. You can even add some plant-based running snacks like vegan energy bars to your training sessions.
Check out this diet plan of a plant-based marathon runner to find what are the best plant-based food for runners.
Plant-based Runners
Plant-based runners and athletes are the ones who have really put this diet and lifestyle in the spotlight. You know how they say the proof is in the pudding, well the benefits of a plant-based diet for runners are evident from the success of many vegan runners and athletes.
Scott Jurek is a prominent name in the plant-based diet ultra running world. The seven-time consecutive winner of the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run is a great example of an athlete following a plant-based diet. He has also authored the New-York Times Best Selling memoir Eat & Run.
Emelie Forsberg is a Swedish trail runner who has won several championships on a global level and promotes a vegetarian diet. Her endurance on the track is an inspiration for all aspiring female runners in the world.
Fiona Oakes, a four world records holder, is also a great example. She started the Vegan Runners in 2004 in her village in the UK. Her club has grown significantly over the years, with more runners going vegan.
If you’re an aspiring runner who wants to take up a plant-based lifestyle, you should look into No Meat Athlete. Founded by Matt Frazier, this website is the ultimate guide for athletes to go plant-based. It’s filled with all the resources you need to pivot your plant-based diet to improve your competitive endurance.
Apart from runners, many athletes and football players are also vegan. The most popular in this regard is Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton and, of course, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s new Quarterback, Tom Brady.
Wrap Up
Is a plant-based diet good for runners? Yes, some may argue that it’s even the best option out there. Good health, high endurance, faster muscle recovery, and prevention from disease, what more could one ask for?
As a runner, you have to be very careful with what you eat and drink. Running is not limited to the track or terrain, it impacts your whole lifestyle.
It’s also important to take into account your own caloric needs and finding areas that need more work. Whatever your current condition is and your future goals are, it’s very easy to design a plant-based diet to fit those goals and conditions.
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