The Ironman: What’s Your Type?

        Over the weekend I received a text message from my friend, Billy. He suggested I watch a show on Netflix called “The Game Changers”. The show follows a guy who is a UFC fighter that gets injured. While he is laid up he starts researching different lifestyles to see if he can speed up his healing. This thought process eventually leads him to finding an article on the Roman gladiators.
       
        What he finds out in this study is that the gladiators were largely plant eaters and not meat eaters as one might have suspected. This in turn led him to think that if some of history’s greatest fighters were living on a plant based diet that maybe it was something worth exploring. So he searched for other athletes that followed the plant based lifestyle and came across Scot Jurek who is likely one of the greatest ultra runners ever.
       
         There was also a lady who in her late 30’s was on the USA Olympic team in track cycling and won a medal. She credited the plant based eating with her strength and energy. And the show also profiled a guy who competes in strongest man competitions. Someone once told him that he was as strong as on ox, how could he do that without eating meat? To which he replied, “Have you ever seen an ox eat meat?”
       
         Some NFL football players were highlighted also for having switched to plant based eating, most of them claiming to feel better, have more energy and sleeping better. The list goes on: boxers, power lifters, swimmers, etc. They even throw the name Carl Lewis into the mix. Many might remember him as one of the USA’s best track and field athletes back in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He once stated that he had his best track season after becoming vegan.
       
          So what does all of this mean to you and me? When I hear things like this I want to find out the whole story. Sometimes programs like this just make people more confused about what to eat, as if they weren’t already confused enough by all the hype from Paleo to Keto to veganism. So I did some online research of my own.
       
           I started by researching Carl Lewis. Indeed; he did have his best track season the year he became vegan, but then his performances started declining following that first year. One writer speculated that he may have actually shortened his career with his diet change. As for the football players, one of them stated how he loved Popeye’s chicken and could eat it everyday. Don’t you think that if a young guy living on fast food starts eating real food that he will probably feel much better?
       
           When I want information that I’m more inclined to trust I go to Mercola.com. If you’ve not been on this website, you’re missing out on all kinds of health related topics. On the topic on veganism, Dr. Mercola highlighted a book written studying long term effects of being vegan versus vegetarian. Basically he states that most people could benefit from lowering the amount of meat they consume but meat shouldn’t be entirely excluded due to valuable nutrients they contain for optimal health.
       
          Basically; the diet that is still most recommended for health and longevity is the Mediterranean diet which is mostly plants, limited fish, limited red meat and limited dairy giving you a complete diet.
       
          Again; be willing to experiment a little and find out what combination lets you feel your best. Live Well Today. Everyday!