New Sports Nutrition Guide Touts Vegan Diet

(October 2, 2006, Sebastopol, CA.) Can athletes succeed on a vegan diet? According to the OrganicAthlete Guide to Sports Nutrition, the answer is an emphatic “YES!” Published by OrganicAthlete, a California based NPO promoting an organic and plant based diet, the guide seeks to debunk the myth that good sports nutrition must include meat and dairy.

The 36-page booklet explains why a plant-based diet is optimal for athletes and how to succeed as a vegan athlete. Good for coaches, parents, and athletes of all ages and abilities, the guide includes meal plans and answers common questions about vegan diets. The guide also looks at supplements and the environmental impact of dietary choices.

The guide suggests that switching to a plant-based diet is as effective an environmental action as not driving a car, and list the following factors that help a plant based diet reduce your ecological footprint;

1. Water and Resource Consumption
1 pound of beef requires 2500-5000 gallons of water to produce. That's enough to shower every day for a year! 95% of the grain in the US is grown for animal feed, and that's just the tip of the (melting) iceberg of the resources that a meat-centered diet consumes.

2. Factory Farming
Most meat and dairy in the United States is "farmed" in horrible conditions that compromises the health of the animal and the surrounding environment. These farms concentrate huge amounts of toxic effluent that runs off to poison our rivers, streams, and lakes.

3. Deforestation
According to the United Nations, 37.5 million acres of rainforests are cut down annually. Much of that land is converted to cattle ranches. Once cut down, rainforests are extremely difficult to regenerate.

The guide is available for free on the web or as a download at:
http://www.organicathlete.org/guide

Founded in 2003, OrganicAthlete is a nonprofit organization that unites people in a global effort to create a better world through sport. Their mission is to promote health and ecological stewardship among athletes of all ages and abilities by sharing information, building community and inspiring through athletic example.

Contact: Bradley Saul
707-360-8511
info@organicathlete.org

LINK :
OrganicAthlete