Reducing meat in your cycling diet

Cycling fans might be familiar with David Zabriskie, the American who powered his 2011 Tour de France with a mostly vegan diet, consuming salmon as his only animal food source. According to Anne Zok, a registered dietitian in London, Ontario, eating less meat is a healthy option, and for cyclists looking to maximize their nutrition, it’s worth considering.

“For the most part, adhering to a diet that minimizes consumption of meat and focuses on consumption of foods of plant-based origin is arguably much healthier than a common omnivore diet,” Zok says. Dave Shishkoff, a cyclist in Victoria, British Columbia with experience in road, track, and mountain bike racing, takes this advice seriously.  After becoming vegan 16 years ago, for health and ethical reasons, he believed that being vegan has its benefits. “[Being vegan] gets me looking at what I’m eating and trying to eat better,” he says  Though eating less meat doesn’t guarantee perfect health and nutrition, it will likely improve the variety and quality of food in your diet. According to Shishkoff, rather than feeling limited, you’ll end up expanding your options. “You start looking with more interest in the produce section, which has an amazing amount of variety,” he explains. “Before you know it you’re experiencing a lot more amazing flavors than ever before.”Besides tasting good, replacing meat with a variety of alternatives including more produce, beans, and whole grains in your diet, means you’ll be eating more healthy fiber along with plenty of carbohydrates to fuel training and competition.

If you decide to start eating less meat, or to go vegetarian or vegan, you need to remember to take vitamin B12, but deficiencies in calcium, iron, and protein are rare. Many foods are fortified, and with a little extra attention, Zok says it’s easy for cyclists to meet requirements, even for protein. “Getting enough protein is something an athlete needs to be mindful of, but it certainly isn’t impossible and it isn’t that challenging.” She recommends athletes choose sources like dairy products, tofu, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.

Fortified foods and meatless substitutes provide a convenient option for people who want to eat less meat but aren’t sure what to eat instead, and they taste good. “There are a ton of amazing vegan versions of familiar foods,” Shishkoff says.

Zok added that omnivores who are smart and selective can enjoy healthy diets. She pointed to flexitarianism, or semi-vegitarianism, as an ideal plant-focused approach that includes small amounts of animal based foods such as fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acid. “There’s different degrees of healthy vegetarian diets and not so healthy vegetarian diets and there are healthy omnivorous diets and not so healthy omnivorous diets,” Zok says. “For the most part, we need to reduce the amount of foods of animal origin that we consume.”

There are a couple of considerations that will help keep your meat eating habits healthy, including monitoring portion sizes, which should be about the size of your palm, and making smart choices in the types of meat we buy. “Let common sense prevail, but lean meats are definitely OK,” suggests Zok, adding that athletes should choose options like lean roast beef, pork loins, chicken breasts or even skinless chicken thighs while avoiding marbled and fatty meats.

Perhaps the most important benefit of eating less meat, though, is the consciousness it brings to your diet. Shishk off, for one, sees the potential. “I see a lot of what my peers eat, and a lot of it is downright awful,” he says. “I would hate to see how much faster they’d get if they were to cut out the crap and focus on good food.”

Couscous salad

Nutritional Information For one serving

Calories: 256

256Carbs: 47 g

Saturated fat:1 g

Protein: 10 g

Fibre: 9 g

Ingredients

3/4 cup sodium reduced stock or water

3/4 cup couscous

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1/2 cup tomatoes

1 cup canned beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp finely diced parsley, packedJuice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin pepper

Serves four

Directions:1. Bring stock or water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the couscous. Let it stand for five minutes.2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.