How a change in diet could improve your environmental impact and lead to better athletic performance.
More and more people are making an effort to move towards a more plant-based or vegan diet. When choosing to focus on a cleaner, healthier diet, people can notice their body is more prepared for optimal athletic performance, while also creating a positive environmental impact.
Orange County SC midfielders Dillon Powers and Tony Rocha are two individuals who have made this change and experienced some of these benefits on and off the soccer pitch.
“The biggest [difference] is recovering better,” Rocha said. “I noticed I wasn’t as sore after some of the workouts I was normally sore after, which is definitely a benefit.”
Rocha could be noticing this difference due to vegan and plant-based diets being low in saturated fats and free from cholesterol. This has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body and leads to better performance and recovery.
One of the main deterrents of adopting a vegan or more plant-based diet is the myth of not getting enough protein. Powers notes that this should not be a fear when considering this change.
“I think within the plant-based diet, there are a lot of ways to get the protein needed,” Powers said. “It’s just about educating yourself and I think one thing we don’t understand is that if we eat the right things, we can get a lot of that protein naturally.”
Along with all of the personal benefits, a plant-forward diet can also be one of the best ways to maintain a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
Thistle, a new partner of OCSC, notes that “given the widespread environmental impacts of raising animals and their feed, eating a plant-forward diet is the single most impactful way to reduce your overall environmental footprint.”
How is this possible? Brave Robot, the official animal-free ice cream of OCSC, echoes these sentiments and puts it into perspective. They say that if everyone were to switch to an animal-free ice cream alternative, it would be the equivalent of saving the emissions of nearly two million cars on the road.
“I think we all have a role to play in general, not just in terms of diet, if we are wanting to take care of this planet that we are all a part of,” Powers said. “It starts with the individual. Even if that’s in a small way like doing a ‘Meatless Monday,’ or carpooling, or whatever it is, we all have a responsibility to take care of where we come from.”
Our partner, Thistle, is offering $120 off over 5 weeks with the code: SOCCER120. Enter the code on their website!
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