Serena Williams, Nate Diaz, Novak Djokovic and 3 more vegan sports superstars who thank plant-based diets for athletic sporting success
From MMA to NFL, tennis to trailrunning, these world-beating athletes say that eating only plant-based food has improved their fitness and alertness – and helped them carve their way to success
Gone are the days when fitness prowess was associated with eating meat. Some studies have recently shown that plant-based diets, including vegan ones, can actually enhance athletic performance. Don’t believe the hype? These world-renowned celebrity athletes all credit veganism for their success.
Lewis Hamilton
This F1 superstar first turned to veganism out of love for the environment. But what he didn’t expect was that his new plant-based diet would also affect his performance on the racing track.
Hamilton has since said that going plant-based completely changed his life. Just last March, he told Men’s Health UK: “I'm physically in better shape than I've ever been, and I'm more successful than ever right now, and my plant-based programme has played such a big role in that.”
Venus Williams
Williams switched to a vegan diet after learning she has an autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011. She and her sister Serena then added a large amount of raw plant foods and smoothies to their diets.
While their eating regime is still fairly strict today, these queens of tennis have gradually eased up over the years, allowing themselves cheat days of chicken or fish every once in a while.