Ask Well: Can Athletes Be Vegans?

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Credit Robert Rausch for The New York Times
Q

Can athletes be vegans?

My 15-year-old son has decided that he needs to switch to a vegan diet and practice calisthenics to get lean and fit. I think that he is already lean and fit at 140 pounds, 5-foot-10-inches, size 11 feet, and buff. I am not sure that going vegan is a good route. Who can educate us about his plan?

Reader Question • 19 votes

A

A dietitian specializing in sports nutrition can provide advice about whether someone like your son can safely switch to a vegan, plant-based diet, and the best way to do that. You can find the names of registered sports dietitians at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ eatright.org website.

You can take comfort, too, in the science about vegan athletes, which generally shows that, as one recent scientific review concludes, “a vegan athlete can compete effectively at a high level.”

Vegan athletes do need to be diligent about consuming sufficient protein, said Nancy Clark, a sports nutrition expert in Massachusetts and the author of “Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook.” Plants, seeds and soy provide protein but in a form that is less absorbable than protein from meat. So “you need to eat a lot of it,” Ms. Clark said. “I have clients who say, ‘Oh, I put a few chickpeas in my salad.’ That’s not going to do it. You need to eat cupfuls of chickpeas.”

Vegan athletes, like the bodybuilder Kenneth Williams, below, also may require supplements of B12, a vitamin found only in meat, and possibly of calcium, she said, especially if they are young and growing. Interestingly, football players sometimes shy away from vegan diets, because it is hard to consume enough plant-based calories to add bulk. So you, your son and his coach might wish to consider whether he wants to be the most willowy player on the field and adjust his diet accordingly.

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