Venus Williams is generally regarded as one of the all-time greats of women’s tennis. She is also a raw vegan. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Nutrition science looks confident that a vegetarian diet is health-wise superior to a meat-based diet. Forgoing meat lowers your risk of developing hypertension, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, gallstones, obesity and food-borne illness. However, there are few studies that measured the difference in performance associated with a vegetarian diet for athletes.

Are veggie athletes weaker than omnivore athletes? This is a question that a recent study set out to answer. The findings suggest that veggie athletes perform just as well as omnivores at strength tasks and have a superior cardiovascular fitness.

The team from Arizona State University recruited 27 vegetarian and 43 omnivore athletes, both male and female, and tracked their diets for one full week. The participants were then put through various strength and fitness tests.

According to the dietary data, total protein intake was lower among vegetarians in comparison to omnivores. When viewed through a body mass index (BMI) lens, however, the protein intake proved to be nearly identical. For both groups, the protein intake was roughly equal to 1.2 grams per kg of body mass. In terms of calory intake, again, both groups scored the same. Apparently, no matter what they chose to put in their mouths, both groups consumed the same amount of calories.

In the case of men, both vegetarians and meat eaters scored the same in terms of body fat percentages, and lean body mass. A notable distinction was that meat-eating men had significantly more visceral fat — the kind that gets deposited around the abdomen but also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

During leg extensions that established peak torque, both groups performed almost just as well. So despite veggie athletes do not eat bacon or steaks, they can be just as strong as other elite sportsmen, which might surprise some.

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The treadmill trial showed vegetarians had significantly higher VO2 max than omnivores, the body’s upper limit for consuming, distributing and using oxygen for energy production. The more VO2, the longer you can sustain physical activity.

Though far from being the final word, the study published in Nutriets suggests that not only is a vegetarian diet healthier, it’s also just as good as meat-based diets for elite physical activity. Hopefully, more physical parameters will be gauged in future studies.

It’s worth mentioning again that the participants of this study had the same protein intake function of BMI. Don’t worry — it’s not that difficult to find high-protein veggie foods. The list below might help.

High Protein Vegetables and Beans (source)

Other Vegetarian Foods High in Protein