I was reading about Brendan Brezar and i would like to know what you think about a vegan diet in triathlon?
I have not been doing endurance races for too long but did an ultra and IM last season on a vegan diet and it has been very successful for me. I am 100% vegan and nearly completely raw as I eat very little grain.
An acquaintance of mine who is on a raw vegan diet recently won the Xterra Trail Running Championship Master division and was only 8th overall.
Then there is ultraman Rich Roll whom is vegan, and of course arguably the best ultra marathoner of all time, Scott Jurek, is vegan.
My husband is vegan for health reasons and has had no problems with long-distance cycling events on his diet. He’s been vegan for 2.5 years now.
As for the “Thrive Diet”. I read the book and was not impressed by it. He recommends a lot of various supplements/special items that I just don’t think are necessary. I can’t remember the details (it’s been about a year since I read it) but I didn’t really take away anything special from it. YMMV. And obviously, it works for him.
I read a lot of books on diets for athletes since I coach a wide variety of athletes who are on just about every kind of diet out there. I like to be informed about what they are doing and what they are being told by the authors about how to fuel their bodies.
I read the book you refer to about two years ago when I was coaching my first vegan athlete. I was turned off by the entire second half of that book as it was one big advertisement for his putrid tasting drink mix. That stuff is FOUL. I tried a single serving pouch from Whole foods and almost threw up after one gulp. I even tried it (vegan eating) for a few weeks to get an idea of how my athlete was expected to eat train if they were following his program. I spent an inordinate amount of time planning and preparing my meals in order to eat according to his suggestions. I did not feel satisfied and was low on energy often.
I am now testing out a heavily primal/paleo diet and feel fantastic. My blood markers for cholesterol were a bit high before the transition. I go back in 3 weeks for another test to see if the primal/paleo diet is doing what I need to control my blood cholesterol. I hope so because I’m loving it right now. It’s heavy on veggies, some fruit, lots of good fats and animal protein (grass fed, organic, free range). This morning was a veggie fritatta with broccoli, scallions, red and orange peppers, oyster mushrooms, a little cheese mixed into 4 eggs. Had a pear on the side too. Super delishious and filling. I add sweet potatoes when I am going to work out for a carb bump and it seems to keep me moving along just fine.
If you are contemplating the vegetarian lifestyle for ethical reasons you may want to read “The Vegetarian myth” by Lierre Keith for an interesting perspective.
Best of luck in your training and racing vegan. It will be a challenge to fuel naturally for most non-professionals who have a lot of other things going on in their life besides training and eating. However, it can be done. I had dinner with Dasve Scott a few months back and asked him why he decided to come off his vegitarian diet and return to a mixed diet of lean meats and vegetables and he simply said he feels better eating that way. Its a personal choice and people should respect that.
Cheers,
Dave
I have been reading a bunch of nutrition for health geared towards athlete’s type books.
ABS Diet by Mens Health – Seemed well balanced.
Primal by Mark Sisson — Didnt like it at all seemed way too one sided and opinionated.
Paleo for Athletes — I liked this one specially with the explanations for food/carbohydrate type timing.
I figured I would read some of the recommended Vegan/Vegetarian books for the other side of the story.
Thrive – I liked this book and most of the recipe’s as well. Didnt like his products though.
80/10/10 – This was as bad as the Primal book except totally opposite.
The China Study — Not a diet book but plant based food diet with no dairy or meats backed research. Fascinating!
Some of my take away. I was looking for common themes through out. I came to these conclusions from most but not all above books.
More fruits and veggies.–this was obviously common
No Dairy — This was very common.
No processed grains and sugars —very common
Whole grains — debatable
Beans — debatable
Soy – Debatable
Meat — Debatable
Lower fats — most agreed
This stuff is always opinionated and they are selling something.
The Thrive Diet was created by Brendan Brazier, athlete and author of the book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life. The Thrive Diet focuses less on strict eating plans and more on changing the way a person eats for the benefit of health, fitness, the earth, and animal life. The creator of the diet says a person may achieve better health by eating plant foods that have stress-fighting characteristics. Many diet plans include the consumption of lean meats. The Thrive Diet differs dramatically from such diets. Those who follow this diet eat only plant-based foods. The diet plan is vegan, which means a person who follows it will stop eating not only meat, but also eggs, dairy products, and fish. Even honey is excluded, as it comes from bees.
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Thanks!
A paleo diet is simply the one which gives the most results.
I have read Brendan Brazier’s book and I’ve took some recipes and some ingredients from there but actually a vegan diet is simply a way of thinking.
I would read these articles re: The China Study
http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/
Problem is I really like a really nice steak every once in a while! Not every day, and not a huge piece, but maybe once a week! 
I’m already a vegetarian, but still eat a lot of grains, processed foods and dairy. Would you mind posting a typical days diet for yourself? I’d like to see what it would look like and how feasible it would be for me.
Primal by Mark Sisson — Didnt like it at all seemed way too one sided and opinionated.
I read the blog and always think that it’s a fad like any other diet. Maybe it lasts longer than any other diet, but I am betting that within a year (maybe two) almost all of the people sticking rigidly to it (even the 80/20 thing) will cave and be back eating what conventional society calls normal.
Most days I start with a fruit smoothy in the morning. Then throughout the day I will much on various types of fruit or veggies. Today in my backpack I have my smoothy, a couple bananas, a couple apples, and a pear. When I get home this afternoon I will have a rather large salad. Evening meals vary.
http://www.runningonthewhiteline.com/2010/07/peak-into-my-diet.html
That is pretty standard, except for I’m doing a smoothy instead of a lot of the individual fruit.
Since it is harder to get a ton of calories in with a primarily raw diet (I only take in grains twice a week at most) I try to always have some dried fruit on hand as it is easy to take in a lot of calories with it.
You don’t have to be as raw as I am, however there are benefits. Basically my diet is a bunch of fruits and veggies. I like the idea of eating paleo as it’s very similar except with the addition of meat.
I however do not like the Trive Diet, as he is obviously marketing his product.
The problem with all of these diets is that they all shun alcohol. I realize that alcohol has some poor physical effects. But there’s nothing like a nice double whiskey on Saturday, after a hard week of training.
The problem with all of these diets is that they all shun alcohol. I realize that alcohol has some poor physical effects. But there’s nothing like a nice double whiskey on Saturday, after a hard week of training.
Never really understood this. I get it from a purity and the body-is-temple aspect, but it’s been well known for some time that people who drink a limited to modest amount of Alcohol( in particular red-wine), which is one drink for women and 2 for men/day, live longer then those who don’t! That’s not just thriving, that’s living! 
I would have opened a bottle of red wine with my grass fed t-bone, organic sweet potato and broccoli last night but I had to teach a high intensity interval spin class an hour later and that would have been much less productive (for me at least) if I had downd 6-8 OZ before teaching.
The thing about the Sisson/primal doctrine that appeals to me is he’s not an all of nothing kind of guy. He knows you are going to fall off the wagon and therefore subscribes to the 80/20 rule. He believes that if you are 80% compliant with the dietary guidelines you will be healthier and I agree 100% with that. If you want the results like people are posting on the forum on his web site, yeah, you need to up the compliance.
I just couldn’t go vegan EVER. I walk into my backyard in the morning, reach under a hen and grab my eggs for breakfast. That is a pure and awesome ritual that I could not give up. My chickens lead “happy lives” running all over my garden eating weeds and bugs all day to make those yummy dark yolks.
I would have opened a bottle of red wine with my grass fed t-bone, organic sweet potato and broccoli last night but I had to teach a high intensity interval spin class an hour later and that would have been much less productive (for me at least) if I had downd 6-8 OZ before teaching.
The thing about the Sisson/primal doctrine that appeals to me is he’s not an all of nothing kind of guy. He knows you are going to fall off the wagon and therefore subscribes to the 80/20 rule. He believes that if you are 80% compliant with the dietary guidelines you will be healthier and I agree 100% with that. If you want the results like people are posting on the forum on his web site, yeah, you need to up the compliance
Well said.
I just finished reading “In Defense of Food”, by Michael Pollan. It’s a great read.
http://www.amazon.ca/Defense-Food-Michael-Pollan/dp/1594201455
Cuts through so much of the nonsense out there and ignorance when it comes to eating, food and diets. Best thing about it is it’s not some shill for this or that diet. It rightfully, puts down and trashes the “western diet” and so it should. That’s what the real problem is for many.
It sums things up really nicely with the following saying that is right on the cover"
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
If you do that, you’ll be fine!
glad i found this post.
im a vegan myself and read the thrive diet a year or two ago. i wasnt expecting much but i swear by this book. so much valuable information for endurance, vegan, athletes its amazing. its cool cause it doesnt just show how to do a vegan diet optimally, but why its the best diet.
i believe a good vegan diet is a legal way of cheating in endurance sports.
No way I’d go vegan. Primal has been working for me. I’m going to stick with it for a few more months and make sure the progress continues, but I’m down weight as-is. God do I miss sweets though.
I just had a kit kat and reese’s :o)
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I just had a kit kat and reese’s :o)
I hate you.
Is that the right pink? Anyway, I’m gnawing some broccoli after having some carne asada I picked up at Whole Foods a bit ago. I’m motivated to drop to about 150 over this winter, though. I want to be substantially faster next year.