Food is a key factor for any athlete and all the leading footballers have kept their diet plans in accordance for better and improved performances on the pitch.
Plant-based diets help to reduce inflammation, improve recovery time, and elevate performance, which is why a few players are opting for Veganism. In fact, some clubs in the UK, like Forest Green Rovers, have gone completely vegan, being the world’s first Vegan and carbon-neutral football club.
Owned by ‘green energy’ industrialist Dale Vince, the club ensures that only plant-based foods are served to players and staff.
Below are some vegan football players:
1. Hector Bellerin
In 2016, the Real Betis defender adopted a vegetarian diet and even spoke publicly about it, highlighting the benefits of a plant-based diet. Initially, it was about improving performance on the pitch, but it became a permanent lifestyle change for him.
Bellerin told The Players’ Tribune, “At first, it was all about trying it. How it tastes, how it feels, and how it helps, but I think it does way more than that, and now I see myself totally dependent on this particular diet. There is no denying that I love it more than anything else on my table.” Seven years later, he proudly identifies as a Vegan.
2. Chris Smalling
Life is all about changes, and Chris Smalling made one after marriage – changing his diet plan. Thanks to his wife, the player stays injury-free and healthy. The Roma player shared his journey to vegetarianism with The Telegraph, saying, “My wife is Vegan and has been for a few years. She’s often tried to persuade me.
She cooks a lot at home, and half the time I was eating Vegan anyway. I wasn’t fully Vegan. When we ate out, I would have what I normally have. After a while, I started to cut out red meat because red meat causes quite a lot of inflammation, and I had a lot of tendinitis in my knee, which many footballers get.
Red meat causes a lot of that inflammation, and when I was cutting that down, the tendinitis started to go. My tendinitis has got better and better.” These reasons led him to remove meat from his diet and go fully Vegan.
Also Read: Euro 2024 Squads: Cole Palmer backed to earn first-team spot ahead of Bukayo Saka
3. Alex Morgan
Morgan’s reason for changing her diet is quite different from the above list, as it’s for ethical reasons. The American soccer star has eliminated meat products from her life since 2017. “I did it for ethical reasons because of factory farming in the US.
I felt disgusted with myself since I didn’t feel good eating this meat that was part of that. I didn’t want to support that. It’s so unnatural, the way animals live and die,” she said to The Beet. She claims to have found mental clarity and increased energy after turning vegetarian, which made her feel fitter and even dropped her cholesterol level. “I was fearful it would affect soccer in a detrimental way, but it was the opposite. It made me feel better,” she said.
4. Jenny Beattie
Arsenal and Scotland defender Jenny Beattie’s experience with Vegan curries made her a complete vegetarian after 2017. The Manchester City game was the first time she went Vegan for performance reasons, as she had to accustom herself to new dietary requirements. A combined effort with her team’s nutritionists helped fuel her body, improving her performance. Not only health, but also climate concerns were the two reasons she decided to stick with it until today.
5. Neymar
The biggest player on this list Neymar Jr claimed to have gone completely Vegan after serious injuries in 2021, according to Brazilian media UOL.”
Also Read: Top 5 Best Goalkeepers in La Liga