How the vegetarian diet influences recreational and professional athletes’ physical performance: A systematic review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i9.17952Keywords:
Adults; Vegetarian diet; Physical and sports performance.Abstract
Vegetarianism has been getting increasing attention over the years, in society in general and in sport in particular. However, the growth in the number of people following a meatless diet notwithstanding, vegetarianism should be practiced with caution, especially by professional and recreational athletes, considering the possible lack of certain nutrients and decline in their physical performance. Therefore, the present review aimed to determine whether following a vegetarian diet influences recreational and professional athletes’ physical and sports performance. A search of the databases Medline/Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Lilacs gave 343 relevant articles; however, only 15 of these focused on the vegetarian diet and physical performance, in accordance with the inclusion criteria. These studies compared the vegetarian diet with the omnivorous diet, and found that it did not negatively influence physical performance. Moreover, those who followed a vegetarian diet seemed to have a higher volume of maximum oxygen (V̇O2 max), which positively influenced their performance. In conclusion, following a plant-based diet does not seem to harm recreational and professional athletes.
References
American Dietetic Association. (2003). Position of the American Dietetic Association of Canada: vegetarian diets. J Am Diet Assoc, 103, 748-65.
Almannai, M., Alfadhel, M., & El-Hattab, A. W. (2019). Carnitine inborn errors of metabolism. Molecules, 24(18), 3251.
Baguet, A., Everaert, I., De Naeyer, H., Reyngoudt, H., Stegen, S., Beeckman, S., ... & Derave, W. (2011). Effects of sprint training combined with vegetarian or mixed diet on muscle carnosine content and buffering capacity. European journal of applied physiology, 111(10), 2571-2580.
Barr, S. I., & Rideout, C. A. (2004). Nutritional considerations for vegetarian athletes. Nutrition, 20(7-8), 696-703.
Boutros, G. H., Landry-Duval, M. A., Garzon, M., & Karelis, A. D. (2020). Is a vegan diet detrimental to endurance and muscle strength?. European journal of clinical nutrition, 74(11), 1550-1555.
Burke, D. G., Candow, D. G., Chilibeck, P. D., MacNeil, L. G., Roy, B. D., Tarnopolsky, M. A., & Ziegenfuss, T. (2008). Effect of creatine supplementation and resistance-exercise training on muscle insulin-like growth factor in young adults. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 18(4), 389-398.
Collins, J., Maughan, R. J., Gleeson, M., Bilsborough, J., Jeukendrup, A., Morton, J. P., ... & McCall, A. (2021). UEFA expert group statement on nutrition in elite football. Current evidence to inform practical recommendations and guide future research. British journal of sports medicine, 55(8), 416-416.
Couceiro, P., Slywitch, E., Lenz, F. (2008). Padrão Alimentar da dieta Vegetariana. Einstein, 6(3):365-73
Davey, D., Malone, S., & Egan, B. (2021). Case Study: Transition to a Vegan Diet in an Elite Male Gaelic Football Player. Sports, 9(1), 6.
Definition of veganism. (n.d.). Retrieved Deember 14, 2020, from The Vegan Society: Definition of veganism | The Vegan Society.
Fields, H., Ruddy, B., Wallace, M. R., Shah, A., Millstine, D., & Marks, L. (2016). How to monitor and advise vegans to ensure adequate nutrient intake. The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 116(2), 96-99
Gazzani, D., Zamboni, F., Spelta, F., Ferrari, P., Mattioli, V., Cazzoletti, L., ... & Ferrari, M. (2019). Vegetable but not animal protein intake is associated to a better physical performance: A study on a general population sample of adults. Food & nutrition research, 63.
Guyatt, G., Rennie, D., Meade, M., & Cook, D. (Eds.). (2002). Users' guides to the medical literature: a manual for evidence-based clinical practice (Vol. 706). Chicago: AMA press.
Hebbelinck, M., Clarys, P., & De Malsche, A. (1999). Growth, development, and physical fitness of Flemish vegetarian children, adolescents, and young adults. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 70(3), 579s-585s.
Huang, Y. C., Lin, W. J., Cheng, C. H., & Su, K. H. (1999). Nutrient intakes and iron status of healthy young vegetarians and nonvegetarians. Nutrition Research, 19(5), 663-674.
Kim, H., Caulfield, L. E., Garcia‐Larsen, V., Steffen, L. M., Coresh, J., & Rebholz, C. M. (2019). Plant‐Based diets are associated with a lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease mortality, and All‐Cause mortality in a general population of Middle‐Aged adults. Journal of the American Heart Association, 8(16), e012865.
Król, W., Price, S., Śliż, D., Parol, D., Konopka, M., Mamcarz, A., ... & Braksator, W. (2020). A Vegan Athlete’s Heart—Is It Different? Morphology and Function in Echocardiography. Diagnostics, 10(7), 477.
Leischik, R., & Spelsberg, N. (2014). Vegan triple-ironman (raw vegetables/fruits). Case reports in cardiology, 2014.
Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P., ... & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: explanation and elaboration. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 62(10), e1-e34
Lynch, H. M., Wharton, C. M., & Johnston, C. S. (2016). Cardiorespiratory fitness and peak torque differences between vegetarian and omnivore endurance athletes: a cross-sectional study. Nutrients, 8(11), 726.
Mujika, I. (2019). Case study: long-term low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet impairs performance and subjective well-being in a world-class vegetarian long-distance triathlete. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 29(3), 339-344.
Nebl, J., Haufe, S., Eigendorf, J., Wasserfurth, P., Tegtbur, U., & Hahn, A. (2019). Exercise capacity of vegan, lacto-ovo-vegetarian and omnivorous recreational runners. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 16(1), 1-8.
Nieman, D. C. (1998). Exercise and resistance to infection. Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology, 76(5), 573-580.
Novakova, K., Kummer, O., Bouitbir, J., Stoffel, S. D., Hoerler-Koerner, U., Bodmer, M., ... & Krähenbühl, S. (2016). Effect of l-carnitine supplementation on the body carnitine pool, skeletal muscle energy metabolism and physical performance in male vegetarians. European journal of nutrition, 55(1), 207-217.
Orlich, M. J., Singh, P. N., Sabaté, J., Jaceldo-Siegl, K., Fan, J., Knutsen, S., ... & Fraser, G. E. (2013). Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. JAMA internal medicine, 173(13), 1230-1238.
Olfert, M. D., & Wattick, R. A. (2018). Vegetarian diets and the risk of diabetes. Current diabetes reports, 18(11), 1-6.
Qian, F., Liu, G., Hu, F. B., Bhupathiraju, S. N., & Sun, Q. (2019). Association between plant-based dietary patterns and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA internal medicine, 179(10), 1335-1344.
Raben, A. N. N. E., Kiens, B. E. N. T. E., Richter, E. A., Rasmussen, L. B., Svenstrup, B. I. R. G. I. T., Micic, S. N. E. Z. A. N. A., & Bennett, P. O. U. L. (1992). Serum sex hormones and endurance performance after a lacto-ovo vegetarian and a mixed diet. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 24(11), 1290-1297.
Rauma, A. L., & Mykkänen, H. (2000). Antioxidant status in vegetarians versus omnivores. Nutrition, 16(2), 111-119.
Slywitch, E. (2012). Nutritional Guide for Adult Vegetarian Diets. Medicine and Nutrition Department. Brazilian Vegetarian Society. Solis, M. Y., Artioli, G. G., Otaduy, M. C. G., Leite, C. D. C., Arruda, W., Veiga, R. R., & Gualano, B. (2017). Effect of age, diet, and tissue type on PCr response to creatine supplementation. Journal of Applied Physiology, 123(2), 407-414.
Shomrat, A., Weinstein, Y., & Katz, A. (2000). Effect of creatine feeding on maximal exercise performance in vegetarians. European journal of applied physiology, 82(4), 321-325.
Thomas, D. T., Erdman, K. A., & Burke, L. M. (2016). American college of sports medicine joint position statement. nutrition and athletic performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 48(3), 543-568.
Vegetarianismo. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2020, from Brazilian Vegetarian Society: O que é (svb.org.br)
Veleba, J., Matoulek, M., Hill, M., Pelikanova, T., & Kahleova, H. (2016). “A vegetarian vs. conventional hypocaloric diet: The effect on physical fitness in response to aerobic exercise in patients with type 2 diabetes.” A parallel randomized study. Nutrients, 8(11), 671.
Winston, J. C. (2009). Health effects of vegan diets. Am J Clin Nutr, 89, 1627S-1633S.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Marina Nascimento de Araújo; Alexandre Palma ; Paula Guedes Cocate
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
