Despite the
controversy over protein requirements, vegetarians athletes can
easily achieve adequate protein providing their diet is adequate
in energy and contains a variety of plant-protein foods such as
legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. Vegetarians need not be concerned
with eating "complementary proteins" at each meal but rather over
the course of a day (21).
Vegetarian diets contain on average 12.5% of energy from protein
while vegan diets contain 11% (22).
A 80 kg male athlete consuming 3600 calories would receive 1.41
g/kg of protein from the average vegetarian diet and 1.2 g/kg
of protein from the average vegan diet. A 50 kg female gymnast
consuming 2200 kcal/d would receive 1.38 g/kg from a vegetarian
diet and 1.21 g/kg from a vegan diet. Therefore, most vegetarian
athletes meet the requirements for endurance training without
special meal planning. Strength trained athletes (weight lifters,
wrestlers, football players or field throwers), or those with
high training levels or low energy intakes may need to include
more protein-rich foods. This is easily accomplished by encouraging
the athlete to add 1 to 3 servings of protein-rich foods to their
current diet (e.g., soy milk shake, lentils onto spaghetti sauce,
tofu added to stir-fry or garbanzo beans to salad).
Fat. Dietary fat should
make up the remainder of energy intake after CHO and protein needs
are met. The American and Canadian Dietetic Associations recommend
that <30 % of total energy intake should come from fat (23).
Recently, several studies stirred some controversy, particularly
in the lay public, with the suggestion that highly-trained athletes
may perform better on "high-fat" diets (24).
When compared to previous studies showing beneficial effects of
high-CHO, low-fat diets (8,10-12,15-18), these studies
(29,30) assigned a longer dietary manipulation period (1-2 weeks
vs. 1-3 days) during heavy exercise (25).
Certainly further research is warranted.
Some athletes, particularly endurance-trained groups (runners
and triathletes), may go overboard with the desire to consume
a high-CHO diet and consume too little fat. Similarly, while extremely
low-fat (<10%) vegetarian diets recommended by Ornish et al
(26) may be beneficial to
those with a personal or family history of cardiovascular disease
(i.e., the post-MI recreational runner), they may be too restrictive
for athletes during heavy training. Higher intakes of fat -- particularly
from mono- and polyunsaturated sources-- may actually be beneficial,
providing CHO and protein needs are met. Incorporating more high-fat
foods such as nuts and seeds, nut butters, tahini, avocados, olives,
olive oil, sesame oil, etc. may make it easier for heavily trained
vegetarian athlete to meet energy and nutrient needs and ensure
that intramuscular triglycerides are not compromised (27).
On the other hand, nutritionists can still expect to encounter
vegetarian athletes with diets that are lacking in CHO and too
rich in saturated fat mainly from full-fat dairy products.
