ATTN: VEGANS/VEGITARIAN RUNNERS

Solgar makes an iron supplement that comes in vegicaps, they make a non-animal source B-12 pill as well.

I used to drink Spirutein protein shakes 2x a day which helped with protein and vitamins.

For the 2 years I was vegan I really felt pretty good during most of my runs. But I was about a minute slower than you, probably 7-8 yrs older, and running recreationally 40-60 mpw.

After going lacto-ovo and even trying some fish for a while I'm thinking about going vegan again because I really felt better and was injured less during that time.

Good Luck.

I was a vegetarian for over 15 years and always was fighting off anemia and other health problems (esp. food allergies). I finally had to dump wheat, dairy, sugar (including most fruit)anything with bran and added in lots of veggies, tofu, nuts, fish and red meat at least twice a week (finished a tasty beef terriyaki as I read this). My blood ferritin is now at least low end of normal, but I still have to supplement the iron.

I converted my girlfriend to my diet and she went from 6:30 to 4:32 for 1500 meters, and lost the dark circles under the eyes, easy bruising and fatigue which accompanied her supposedly "healthy" vegetarian diet. God bless those for whom it works, it didn't for us and I doubt it does for most athletes pushing their limits.

Hey,

I have been a vegetarian since I was a young child and became vegan three years ago, when my doctor suggested giving up dairy products would help improve my asthma. For me, there did seem to be a direct correlation between the two, as my breathing has improved immensely.

I have never been anemic. I get my blood tested routinely, and have normal levels of everything. I think this is due to the fact that I eat a very varied diet and I love nuts, tofu, beans, etc. Being vegan isn't good if you're a picky eater.

I have had success [although I don't know how exactly you want to measure this] running with a vegan diet, but I also know a few people who attempted it and had tons of problems with iron stores. For females, a vegan diet and amenorrhea don't mix! If you don't get periods due to low body fat or insufficient calories/hard training, you'd probably be better off getting iron from meat sources. Or just eat more.

So to sum it up, it works for me. But I don't have much to compare it to.

Caelum

doesn't answer any question, but worth noting, that patrick nthiwa, one of the top young kenyans in road racing today, is a vegetarian as are a number of other kenyan runners. patrick eats eggs and beans daily, but nothing else special in his diet.

vegans eat eggs?

There are several categories of vegetarianism. Vegan is the most strict about usage of animal products (none). Some vegans wouldn't even consider wearing a leather belt. Then there are ovo-vegetarians who include eggs, lacto-vegetarians who include milk products, and ovo-lacto vegetarians who include both eggs and milk products. I think some people call themselves vegetarian as long as they don't eat red meat (beef, pork, lamb, etc.), and others if they don't eat any land animals (i.e, seafood is OK by them), but I don't think that's a standard definition. It seems to me that vegetarianism pretty much excludes animate life forms.

I have been on a vegetarian diet for over a year, and have not been injured or sick once. I haven't suffered from energy problems either.

I ran 50-70 a week on average in the summer, and worked full time. If I was tired, it was from the busy schedule and running.

I am not a vegan. I eat eggs and sometimes drink milk (mainly with cereal). I am not an elite runner, i am "okay."

For some it works, some it doesn't. Honestly, my diet as far as "getting everything" probalby isn't as strict as it should be. But I am careful enough.

Occasionally I'd take a multivitamin and calcium pill each day. However right now I don't have any. heh.

email me at

westlund@wam.umd.edu

if you have any questions on the diet.

Hey there..

I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian runner/triathlete. I had some anemia problems at one point and found a great way to get some iron. The stuff to look for is called Guava juice - usually sold by Jumex, a Mexican juice company. This stuff used to only be available in Mexico and border areas, but it's nationwide now. Check your local grocery in the foreign food/Mexican aisle. Or if you live in a larger city likely you can find it all over.

Anyway, this stuff packs a whopping 20-25% of your daily intake of iron into one, 210 calorie 12.5 oz can. Here's the real secret, though: your body absorbs iron better when the iron is combined with vitamin C. One can of Guava Jumex has 260% of your daily intake of vitamin c. This will help you absorb iron better than just taking iron pills. This stuff also has decent amounts of fiber and carbs.

I call it liquid gold. A can a day will do 'ya!

So far, everyone has offered great advice. If you're interested in some more details checkout

http://www.lisadorfman.com

. Lisa Dorfman is a running nutritionist, who wrote The Vegetarian Sports Nutrition Guide. It has all the details you'll want and more.

Hope this helps also.

Ryan Grote was a vegetarian and got anemic. I don't think running 120+ miles per week and a vegetarian diet are a good combo... not enough Fe consumption.

Hi again,

I also wanted to add that I don't take any supplements either, so it is quite possible to have a vegan diet and get enough iron and calcium.

For anyone looking for an easy way to add both to a vegetarian diet, blackstrap molasses is a good sweetner. You can use it to replace [or half replace] other sweetners in baked goods, as well as on oatmeal, pancakes, etc. One tablespoon has 20%of your daily iron, 20% of your daily calcium needs and a lot of potassium.

There are tons of resouces for athletes on vegetarian diets on the web. Just go to google and type in "vegetarian iron sources" or something along those lines.

Hi Doug,

Please don't make generalizations like that, especially if you haven't tried it. I train upwards of 60 mpw running, 250+ on the bike, and 4+ swim sessions (1 hour each) per week. I do fine on my lacto/ovo diet, as long as I remember to get enough of the right foods. Anyone that active (me, or a 120mpw runner) should be watching what they eat. It's really not different.

Humans are omnivores, simple as that.

Scott Jurek is a vegan and has owned the Western States 100 the last few years.

Well, here's my story.

I've been a lacto-vegetarian for twenty-five years. For much of that time, my diet has been essentially vegan (no diary products), and has generally been very strict (e.g., very low sodium, very low fat) even by vegan standards.

I became a vegetarian when I was nineteen. At the time, I was a junior varsity runner at a Division III school (M.I.T.). My best time for any track race was slightly under ten minutes for two miles (which I ran on perhaps the fastest indoor track in the country). I was in my fourth year of competitive running.

Over the ensuing years, I improved to the level of a sub-30 10k runner (at the age of 24) and sub-2:20 marathoner (at the age of 30).

I have always avoided making claims of athletic benefits from my diet. As far as I can tell, my improvement in running has come from hard training, not through dietary manipulation.

At the same time, I will admit to having gotten a bit irritated at times when people would suggest that I would run faster and get injured less often if I had a steak once in a while. I got injured a lot when I was a slow, low-mileage meat-eater, and I got injured a lot when I was a considerably faster, high-mileage vegetarian.

I have no idea what diet is optimal for a distance runner. If I could do things over, I would probably be more careful about supplementing my diet with iron, calcium, various anti-oxidants, and a few other nutrients (including fatty acids). I would probably also increase my protein intake somewhat, particularly during periods of heavy or intense training. Beyond that, I don't know.

I believe that, if there is one major flaw in the diets of most American runners, it's that they consume too many calories for the amount of energy that they expend. (I realize that, for some runners, the opposite is true, and I don't mean to belittle the legitimate concerns that have been expressed about those individuals.)

It's great to read a thread like this...

not to flog a dead horse, but I've been a vegan for a good 4 years or so, and I'd say i'm a mediocre collegiate runner. Lots of spinach and other greens are good for iron, and I think what happens to a lot of runners in terms of low iron is the actual absorbtion of the iron they are taking in. So, I'd try to make sure to get tons of iron-rich foods in ye olde diet, along with keeping iron blockers out of the diet. Most people seem to get plenty of vitamin C, but having some vitamin C-rich foods/drinks in your diet is a good way to maximize iron absorbtion...as others have clearly pointed out. If you're worried about your iron intake, a good bet would be to have some sort of iron staple in your diet every day, or every meal, where you know you are getting a good chuck of iron everyday from that one source. Also, i know its rare in men, but if you're menstruating, that could signal an iron problem, among others...

I hesitate to ask this because it'll probably start something, but what the hell. I have a question for the vegans.

Why?

Is it an animal rights thing? I've just never understood, despite the explanations given me in the past. I thought I'd let you guys take a crack at it. Mind you, I'll never become one, but I would to at least understand why.

everybody, and rightly so, is concerned with their iron levels. spinach is mentioned often, but eating loads of it and chewing it all properly is not something everybody finds time to do. many of us would benefit more from supplementing a pound or two of vegetable juice as opposed to eating a pound or so of high iron greenery which is more likely to be contaminated by another food, that doesn't combine well with it, that is taken into the stomach before the greens have the time to move out. if you are juicing a pound of spinach, kale, etc. a day you'll likely be doing just fine with your iron levels. i personally dig a celery/apple/spinach/kale combo post workout and periodically throughout the day. the green star juicer from rawfood.com has worked out nicely.