Being a Vegetarian Athlete; How Should Food Consumption Be Shaped?

Abstract

The number of vegetarian athletes is increasing nowadays, but in parallel with this increment, the number of literature can be very limited. Vegetarian individuals often change their food consumption suddenly, without undergoing health checks and without dietitian consultation. By removing animal foods from the diet of an athlete who decides to become a vegetarian, it is possible that their daily energy and some nutrient intakes can be insufficient such as; protein, vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, vitamin D, and n-3 fatty acids. If the plant sources of these nutrients were not added to athletes’ diet, the risk of health problems experience increases as well as reduced sports performance. The adoption of this new diet to the training/competition process has great importance. In addition to this, it is not possible to state certain clear results about the effect of vegetarianism on sports performance. However, with the current data, it is possible to say that sports performance is not adversely affected by well-planned food consumption and supplements. In this review article, the current literature on the performance and food consumption of vegetarian athletes has been evaluated and presented. Drawing attention to the issue and encouraging more publications is important for vegetarian athletes. Keywords: Athletes; nutrition; vegetarian.