Now I don’t follow UFC in any way, but I still know who Conor McGregor is. His personality is larger than life. His tattooed bulk frame, Irish accent, and machismo attitude epitomizes the sport of competitive fighting.

McGregor had a fight last weekend against Nate Diaz. Going into this battle, McGregor was undefeated in UFC fights.

He was the Ronda Rousey of male UFC fighters. No one expected him to lose.

But he did.

I don’t really care, since I don’t follow the sport. Sure I know him and his personality well, simply from being a sports fan, but the fact that he lost doesn’t mean a thing.

Except for one fact: Nate Diaz is vegan a plant-based athlete, following a mostly raw vegan diet.

Yes.

A vegan just took down the world’s most accomplished and feared fighter.

Why does this matter?

This probably doesn’t matter to most of you reading this. You probably don’t follow UFC, don’t know who these people are, don’t care.

But you know who does?

The male roommate of one of my friends, who has no real knowledge of or interest in the vegan diet. About all he knows is that vegans supposedly suffer in their search for protein in their measly leaves they eat.

But as we sat around talking about how both of us are vegan and loving it, and trying to open his mind to it, I casually threw out this fact: “you know the guy who just beat Conor McGregor is vegan…”

His ears perked up. I had his attention. This stood out to him.

So no, the result of this UFC fight is not very important to my life. But is is very important to the vegan movement. Not because Nate Diaz needs to be an ambassador for the lifestyle. But because his accomplishments can speak to a demographic that other vegans simply can’t.

The strongest man in the world just got beat by a vegan. Deal with it.

Now I normally don’t subscribe to the theory that you should do things because famous people do them. But when those famous people are athletes that win Super Bowls and you are talking about the diet that helps them do it, I’m open to it.

A recent interview with the personal chef for New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady revealed that he and his wife eat a diet very dissimilar from standard American fare.

As the chef, Allen Campbell, states, Brady and his wife eat a diet based on whole plant foods.

While the two are not fully vegan, the chef estimates that they eat about 80% whole foods plant-based, with the remaining 20% of the diet coming from meat and fish.

I’m not here to focus on that 20%. Want to know why?

I’ll answer with a question.

Do you know what percentage of the average American’s diet is whole plant foods?

If you guessed 12%, you’d be right.

Now, do I believe that number should be 100%? Yes, definitely. If you can, you should get 100% of your daily calories from whole plant foods.

But when a Super Bowl winning quarterback, who is still performing at peak performance, is getting the vast majority of his calories from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans, well, I can’t help but celebrate.

People look up to pro athletes. It means something, what they do. And in the case of an athlete, the diet they choose is of particular interest, as they are constantly pushing their bodies to the limits.

So eat like Tom Brady. Get 80% of your daily calories from whole plant foods. Bonus if you can get to 90%, because at 90% the benefits are almost identical to going 100% vegan.

But 80 is good too.

Just do what you can, and get out there and win some Super Bowls!!!

SOURCE: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tom-brady-s-personal-chef-details-quarterback-s-diet-201642671.html

SOURCE: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/calculate-your-healthy-eating-score/

I get it. As a meat-eater, going vegan just sounds impossible. If you’re even remotely interested in the first place, it just sounds daunting. (It isn’t as bad as you think, but not the purpose of this post).

So I don’t want to talk to you about going vegan right now. Cutting out ALL animal products might sound like I’m proposing you just stop eating.

I don’t want that, and neither do you.

So here’s my story. On Sunday, I was over at a friend’s house to watch football. Just me and a few other guys (all meat-eaters).

My buddy who was hosting was roasting a 10-pound ham. So you could say it was a relatively hostile environment for the vegan message. And of course, I didn’t preach.

I just did my thing.

I made guacamole, brought refried beans and salsa, and had a nice spread. And, I figured it was a good chance to expose these guys to some meatless stuff as well, so I brought a package of Gardein Crispy Chick’n Tenders.

As the ham roasted in the oven, right next to it were my Gardein meatless chicken fingers, cooking away.

Nice and crispy, I pulled them out of the oven and onto a plate with some ketchup and barbecue sauce. To the untrained, or even trained-eye, it looked like any plate you’d find in any home in America on Football Sunday.

They looked something like this (photo from gardein.com)

Without solicitation I had several friends come up and pop one in their mouths and then proclaim that they were “good.”

When they found out they were meatless they said, “you could fool anyone with those.” Another friend, who works at an elementary school said, “they should serve these at lunch, the kids would love ’em.”

Meatless As Good As Meat

And that’s what I am here to ask you to do. I don’t have to convince you of why you should be vegan. You can browse my other posts for that.

Just switch some of your meat meals to Gardein (or any other meatless product, though I tend to think they are the best out there).

That’s it. Easy switch. The stuff literally fools unsuspecting meat-eaters all the time. You WON’T notice the difference, I guarantee it.

My younger brother watched Cowspiracy (now on Netflix!) with us as a family, and overnight he and his girlfriend switched to using only Gardein for their “meat-based” meals. It was that easy. They didn’t go vegan and yet that one switch is making a HUGE difference.

Sure these meatless products aren’t “whole foods plant-based” approved. But is it healthier than actual chicken? Chicken that is full of antibiotics, industrial toxins, e. coli and salmonella and MRSA, and fecal matter? Pumped full of sodium as filler? Loaded with artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol?

Yes, yes it is healthier than that.

It has none of those things. It is better for the environment. And it saves chicken’s lives.

It’s an easy swap. I challenge you, the next time you are at the grocery store, hit up the frozen section and pick up some Gardein for the week. You won’t regret it, and any reduction in meat is an increase in health for you, the environment, and the animals. Win–Win–Win.

Last Monday two important things happened in the world: the World Health Organization (WHO) published their report, a summary of over 800 studies, categorizing processed meats — bacon, sausage, deli meat, hot dogs, etc — as category 1 carcinogens and red meats — mammals like cows, pigs, and sheep — as category 2A carcinogens (SEE: It’s Been A Bad Week For Hot Dogs).

And the second important thing that happened in the world last Monday is I bruised my ribs playing basketball.

Most of you reading this would probably argue that those two things are on very different levels of significance. However if you ask me, I’d say they are pretty much on par. I am, after all, the one writing this, and the one dealing with the pain.

Now it’s my job to convince you of the same, and show you how these two things are related.

Meat Eaters React

The reaction to the news from the WHO among meat eaters varied from reasonable to comical to downright dishonest. Among the most common reactions was to throw up one’s metaphorical hands and say one of two things, either “we’re all gonna die from something!” or “everything causes cancer these days.”

While the second statement is just false (in fact, we know a lot about foods that protect against cancer, not cause it! here and here), I’d like to talk about how it relates to the first one.

There seemed to be a level of apathy among meat eaters upon hearing this news, sort of a feeling of “yeah but I’ll be old when I get cancer and I’m going to die of something anyway so…who cares.”

This might be a good way to rationalize your current dietary habits, but let’s evaluate the statement a bit closer. I want to talk about my ribs.

The Dirty Play

While on the court last week for my basketball rec league, a player on the other team, notorious for hard fouls and non-stop complaining when calls don’t go his way, pulled a pretty dirty stunt. He and I were competing for the same rebound when our arms got tangled up. No big deal, it happens, just separate them and move on.

Not this time.

This “gentleman” grabbed my arm with both of his, yanked it downward, and refused to let it go. In shock, I reacted by trying to free my arm and I pulled back with force. He did not relent.

The force of the struggle lead to a strain in my ribs that would prove excruciating as I lied down in bed that night. I am talking nearly unbearable. For the last 8 days I have been subjected to this same agony every evening while climbing into bed and every morning upon waking.

Ribs are notoriously slow healers, and every deep breath, cough, sneeze, or laugh causes me real pain.

“How Does This Have Anything To Do With Cancer?”

You may ask yourself..

Here’s the deal. Think about yourself, right now. Are you sick? Have a cold? Are you dealing with an injury, chronic or acute?

No?

Are you thankful for that? Is it on your mind 24/7? Or are you taking it for granted?

Think about the last time you were sick as a dog. You couldn’t think about anything else could you? And you swore, “when I finally get better, I am never going to take another mucus free breath for granted again! I’ll never take a pain free deep breath again without thanking my ribs for being healthy! I’ll never take another step without feeling truly blessed that this ankle is no longer sprained!”

Of course we get healthy and we don’t feel this way anymore. We forget. We take it for granted.

That’s The Point!

This idea that “we’re all going to die from something so it doesn’t matter what we do now even if that means ingesting known carcinogens day in and day out” is hubris!

It’s easy to say that when you are relatively healthy now — you are taking your health (and lack of pain) for granted!

But cancer is painful.

Cancer treatment is, if you’re lucky, a long and painful process that saves your life. If you’re not as lucky, it can be a long, painful death.

You say that now, that you’re going to continue eating your processed and red meats because “we’re all going to die of something.” But when that day comes, and you are faced with the pain of cancer, you are likely going to rethink this decision and pray for a natural death in your sleep at a very old age.

You have a choice to eat a diet centered on whole plant foods, avoid known carcinogens like tobacco and processed meats, and give yourself a better chance of that painless death at an old age. Or you can choose to stay the same and dream of that time when you weren’t in pain every single day for the rest of your days. Choose wisely.

(One More Note About My Ribs)

Yeah yeah, I know. They hurt!

There are a few ways I have been treating the pain with whole plant foods. Pain is essentially inflammation, and most pain killers are just anti-inflammatory drugs.

There are several great plants that are highly anti-inflammatory that I have been eating more of and noticing a difference. Of course I’ve also taken some actual pain killers when it gets unbearable, but I prefer to avoid them if possible.

For me the name of the game has been cherries, watermelon, and turmeric (+ black pepper). There is great research behind all three as being very anti-inflammatory, good for exercise recovery in general and for pain management. Check out the links to learn more about these foods and learn how a plant-based diet can help prevent cancer!

David Carter, an NFL Defensive Lineman, is stronger than you. Way stronger. And at 310 pounds, he is all vegan muscle.

Just signed by the Chicago Bears, Carter is a force to be reckoned with. This guy is for real.

I think the story of Carter, or his avatar “The 300-lb Vegan” is worth sharing for several reasons.

First, he completely crushes the myth that you can’t get enough protein on a vegan, plant-based diet. In fact, let’s see how he crushed that myth.

Carter was following a typical Western diet when he entered the league. As a linebacker, this meant doubling down on that diet. Loads of eggs, meat, milk, whey protein, cheese, etc. Lots of high-calorie, animal protein foods.

Muscle needs meat…

Every nutritionist and team doctor he ever spoke to told him this was the only way for him to grow muscle and be big and strong, ready to compete at the highest level.

So when his wife went vegan 5 years ago, he initially declined joining her. Do you blame him? His career allegedly hung in the balance. There were no vegan defensive lineman… These are the biggest guys on the field — he needed to be big.

Then something changed.

After a night of binge-watching every food related documentary on Netflix, he and his wife landed on Forks Over Knives, the documentary that has turned countless people toward a vegan, whole-foods plant-based diet. Something clicked. Carter went vegan overnight, on Valentine’s Day, 2014. He didn’t have a plan. Didn’t know how it would affect his performance on the field.

But he was thinking beyond that. The stats on former-NFL players are not great. Life expectancy is mid-fifties. Diet is a big reason why. Carter wanted to wrack up his career stats, but this was one he did not want to become.

Over the course of the next couple months, he lost 40 pounds. Normally this is a fantastic result, welcomed by those switching to a plant-based diet. But remember, his career depended on him being big.

You Can Build Serious Muscle on Plants

Training in the offseason, and focusing only on whole plant foods (Read: No Protein Supplements), Carter was able to gain back the 40 pounds he lost and gain an additional 10, putting him at 310 pounds. Of nearly pure muscle. Built with nothing but plants.

Carter immediately began to notice incredible benefits to training on his diet — he had more energy, increased stamina, improved strength, and reduced recovery time. The last one is key. It is sometimes said that the benefits of exercise are not in the activity itself but the recovery. The recovery is when you build your new body. And with quicker recovery times, you can increase the frequency and intensity of the work you do, leading to more muscle building.

Carter has yet to prove himself

On the eve of the 2014 season, Carter suffered a season-ending injury during a preseason game. Every player’s worse nightmare. So over the last year on the sidelines he has been recovering, building strength, and waiting to prove himself.

On July 28, 2015, the Chicago Bears signed Carter to a 1-year deal. This season will be the first full season for a fully vegan defensive lineman in the NFL. I can’t wait to see what he does.

David Carter, the 300-lb vegan, proves that to be manly, to be strong, to be an athlete, to build muscle, you don’t need meat. In fact, he is proving that a plant-based diet is optimal for athletes in all sports, not just endurance athletes.