We’re back with another spicy topic after an awesome conversation with our friends at Well Balanced Nutrition!
This time, we’re touching on the debate of “Plant Based” vs. “Carnivore” diets; when it comes to being an athlete, is one better than the other?
In case you haven’t picked up by now, I’m actually not a big fan of binaries, better, or worse, good, or bad. We all make choices, and different things bring about different benefits. As my clients hear me say, there are strategies, and they have different outcomes.
What does the outcome of a diet or specific eating plan depend on? Your goals, your body, and most importantly, what feels nourishing and satisfying to you. After all, it can be the best diet in the world, but if it doesn’t bring you joy and doesn’t leave you feeling good, it’s probably not the best fit!
And, as I’ve said before, the world of nutrition is probably one of the most complex, having to deal with genetic variations in individuals and in the food consumed, associated with timing, frequency, on top of methods of cooking, not to mention how much someone is sleeping, so really, nutrition is an incredibly complicated field. So if anyone ever tells you “This one thing is always the best way,” turn in the other direction and run. Or at least walk fast.
One of the most common debates I hear all the time is “Plant Based” vs “Carnivore” diets. This blog is not meant to describe the moral debates between the two; there’s an abundance of complex evidence about how plant based diets can considered more ethical or environmentally friendly, but that they can also induce humans to eat more processed food, and drive the utilization of fossil fuel utilization compared to consuming local meats. That is not the purpose of this blog. We’re assessing the nutritional and wellness aspects of these diets, and how they impact the individual.
I stumbled across a fascinating article that put this to the test. Two identical twins experimented with two different diets; one twin ate a carnivorous diet, while the other ate a plant based diet. You can check it out here.
Essentially, the twins (genetically identical, raised together, and participate in similar training programs and sports) volunteered to eat separate diets for 12 weeks. The plant based twin saw a sharp drop in cholesterol, and an increased sensitivity to insulin (and therefore increased resistance to Type II diabetes). He also expereinced a steep decline in the diversity of his microbiome.
Micro-what?
Micro-biome. Believe it or not, our gut is actually thriving and alive with millions of bacteria, and it’s a good thing! They help us digest food, regulate our system, and are actually quite supportive. And the same way a healthy forest or garden has a lot of species, the more diversity in our microbiome, the better. Think of it like the legs of a stool; the more legs, the more stable it is. The fewer the legs, the more wobbly.
With this decline in biodiversity, the plant based twin is going to be more vulnerable to infections, potentially digestive issues, and reduced ability to absorb some specific vitamins.
What’s shocking to our nutritionist friend, Isabella, is this drop in biodiversity; “Usually plant based dieters have much more diversity due to the diet containing more plant variety and fiber than meat eaters.”
Big wowza. Bear in mind, this is just one study, one set of twins. So, what’s the general trend look like if this twin is such a shocking outlier?
In a literature review from 2021 (essentially summarizing the state of the research), the general trend is that plant based diets have a more positive impact on the quality and quantity of the gut microbiome. To be fair, these are also studies comparing the diets of rural Africans vs. African Americans living in the US, and there are so many other extenuating factors that could be determining content of micriobiota. And, it does take some time for these changes to take place; after 3 months, participants who shifted to a vegetarian diet didn’t necessarily have more diversity, but they did have higher numbers of positive species.
The Plant based twin also experienced steadier blood sugar (that’s the resistance to Type II diabetes), so his energy level would be more consistent.
This is actually the shock to me; plant based diets have more carbohydrates in them (typically), so there’s more “sugar” floating around in the system, so I would except him to be more sensitive to sugar, given how much he’s eating, and more irregularities. That’s the benefit of high protein and high fat diets, in theory, is that they stabilize your blood sugar.
Meanwhile, Meat eater twin (that’s the official name), experienced more dips in his blood sugar and energy, and did not experience a decline in his cholesterol, and maintained his microbiome.
So, that’s a cool nugget, that may mean plant based diets do have some good benefits, but might drastically kill off some of the bacteria we need.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg; I talked with Isabella Swiecicki more about this amazing topic. When it comes to athletes, plant based or animal based?
I’m going to wade into this slowly, for a few reasons, namely: 1) we are still learning a lot about nutrition every year, 2) nutrition and weight are a sensitive topic for many people, and 3) there is no “one best fit” for anyone.
My goal for this blog is to help clear aside a few misconceptions. First thing’s first, there are articles out there like this, that say “Effect of changing to a self-selected vegetarian diet on anthropometric measurements in UK adults” that say fancy things like “The findings of our study suggest that significant dietary changes, helping people to conform more closely to current dietary recommendations, occurred when people became vegetarian.”
My issue with this kind of study is that 1) These are self selected dietary changes. These people are choosing vegetarian for a reason, and are probably motivated to lose weight, they’re not just transitioning diets, and that very intention to lose weight is a skew effect on the impact of the diet. Secondly, the study is using skin fold technique (which has an error of over 10%). Thirdly, these people were consuming fewer calories when they switched diets, and that’s going to have an impact on composition and bodyweight.
And most importantly, trying to lose weight is not the same thing as eating to promote performance, though many people often treat them as the same thing. Sports nutrition is different from your run of the mill nutrition.
Now, I know carbohydrates are a complex topic, but let’s zero in specifically on vegetarian vs. carnivore in this context.
One thing to consider with plant based diets, there’s a higher carbohydrate to protein ratio (consider a piece of falafel vs. a steak). These aren’t the carbohydrates of wheat, or sugar, but denser, more nutrient dense fibers. So when studies say “plants are typically high in carbohydrates, they foster effective glycogen storage”, it’s not an endorsement to go out and eat a lot of bread. It might be better to say a more whole foods diet, which has higher amounts of fiber, antioxidants, which soak up free radicals and reduce inflammation.
“Athletes perform better on a plant-based diet, and, since vigorous exercise exposes you to higher levels of free radicals, they’ll also recover faster with a plant-based diet full of antioxidants [which squelch the radicals].”” –Julieanna Hever, M.S
Which I won’t quibble with. I 100% agree. But to me, that sounds more like an endorsement to actually eat an appropriate amount of vegetables, fruits, and complex carbohydrates. These papers even acknowledge that we can’t solely assume these benefits are coming from the vegan diet itself.
“Moreover, “vegans are more health-conscious“ (active on a regular basis, no or less consumption of alcohol or tobacco) (pp. 105-106).” That is to say there is a confounding factor impacting the results of a ‘vegan’ diet is that mindset of these individuals in not including tobacco, which will have a positive impact on heart rate, blood pressure, and lung capacity. It’s also worth noting that the vegan diet is often a more expensive one, selected by those with more privilege, and socio-economic status ia much stronger predicting factor for health. It would be faulty to attribute all these health benefits to the vegan diet, but to the mindset and means of the person adopting the diet.
The second thing that I want to name is that there’s some research that plant protein isn’t as digestible or bioavailable, and most plant protein lacks a critical amino acid. As such, it’s actually recommended vegetarians bump their protein consumption by about 10% to account for this indigestion. It also means it’s easier to miss some of the critical amino acids if you’re not eating a well rounded diet. IE, wheats and grains are low in lysine, while legumes are low in sulfur based amino acids. That’s why variety in protein sources is especially key for vegetarians to meet their diverse needs.
Even Vegans, who are constantly accused of not getting enough protein, can get all the protein they need. “vegans of all ages typically can not only be adequately supplied with enough protein to meet their recommended daily intakes, but can even exceed their protein requirements , without the use of additional protein supplements. According to ample scientific evidence, both the amino acid and protein needs of non-active vegans, and even the higher requirements of athletes, are easily met with a vegan diet.”
I’ll quibble a bit with “easy”; when you’re Vegan, you do have to externalize a lot of your digestion of these vegetables, using meal prep techniques, and it’s a more extensive cooking process. It takes more time, that’s a fact, unless you’re using meal prep and pre-cooked things, in which case you hit the difficulties of consuming even more processed food.
The bottom line though, is that the Vegan diet, when done well can meet all of your protein needs, it just requires a bit more thought about diversity of protein sources, and a slight bump to account for any potential incomplete digestion.
There are some benefits to the vegan diet, but I’d really argue these benefits come from eating a variety of complex carbohydrates (vegetables) with density of micronutrients, and don’t necessarily mean we need to exclude meat.
So, when thinking about your diet, think about what feels good to you, what your goals are, and what’s sustainable for you.
Bear in mind, I’m not a nutritionist. I have a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, so I’m an expert on anatomy, physiology, and movement. If you want to dive deep with a professional nutritionist, check out Isabella Swiecicki, who contributed to this blog post, at Well Balanced Nutrition.
