When I went Vegan I very quickly noticed a surge in speed, power and performance. Having always been a contrarian, rather than go to the gym, I saw this a reason to never go the gym.
After all I was getting gains for free! I’m lean forever and I never need to workout; Sold!
However once I did get back into the gym, the increased physical performance compels you to do more. You actually want to get off your ass and do something.
Running
Now that I’m back into running I really want to drop my running times significantly.
I did a MyRun this last Sunday and I came in second which was a blast. Now admittedly not a single one of us were great runners that day, and I’m still a terrible runner myself, but nevertheless it feels good when you do well.
A lot of these gains boils down to the tweaks I’ve been making to my Vegan diet.
3 Power Foods
Automatically going Vegan will give you huge gigantic insane boosts to your performance, but these three foods will squeeze out even more performance.
Beetroot
Beetroot is potent. It’s one of the tastiest vegetables. Have a cup of sliced beetroot an hour maybe two hours before you run and watch your body seethe with energy. You’ll be knocking off a minute on your running in no time.
The reason is simple. The nitrates from beets utilizes oxygen in your body much more efficiently. This means you can do the same amount of work using less oxygen.
An associated reason is that the endothelial cells in your artery walls also produce Nitric Oxide(produced from the dietary nitrates) which dilates your blood vessels allowing you pump more blood and oxygen. Hence your performance goes up.
This is another reason to go vegan, because if you arteries are clogged with plaque then you can’t push out enough Nitric Oxide and you can’t get the performance benefits.
Spinach
One of the worst things about training is the muscle soreness that occurs afterwards. For me it used to be real bad on the second day after training. However if you take some Spinach regularly, you will find that your lactic acid build up will be significantly less. The science attributes this to the ant-inflammatory effects of Spinach and this makes so much sense.
Berries also reduce muscle soreness and increase recovery for the same reasons.
Fennel Seeds
This one was a complete surprise to me, but it does indeed pack a performance punch and more. Very similar to the beets, it is a nitrate rich food that increases the production of Nitric Oxide in the body that in turn increases vascular dilation.
This is perfect for someone who doesn’t like to eat too much before a run. I like to feel as light as possible during a run so I love to consume these light foods like fennel seeds. They’re easy to carry around so its easy to snack on them.
Furthermore, fennel seeds have always been used as after dinner treats in Indian cuisine, and it’s also used as a breathe freshener which is cool. A spice that’s nice!
Conclusion
There are so many vegetables, fruits and spices that give you that an added boost to your performance.
I’ve only mentioned three here. Now imagine what the entire plant kingdom has to offer. Imagine the gains to be had and the performance to be produced.
Go Vegan and you’ll be breaking your boundaries in no time!
Photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash
Jae Subramoney 
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