Text and Photos by Leandrae T. Lapinig
When Timothy Bradley Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao on June 10, 2012, Filipinos and boxing fans around the world were stunned. Members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia had one theory why Bradley won over Pacquiao: vegan diet.
In a press statement, PETA said that “plant-powered athletes, such as Bradley, pack quite a punch.” It was learned that months before the bout, Bradley adopted a vegan diet, eschewing animal products entirely. The decision was based on an adviser’s request for Bradley to switch to greens prior to a fight in London in 2008.
“My thoughts are clearer, crisp. I am sharp. Everything is working perfectly – I feel clean,” the American professional boxer was quoted as saying.
According to an article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Bradley reportedly followed a strict vegan diet for three months before a fight, but not year-round.
Pacquiao’s diet, on the other hand, includes beef and chicken. An article on LiveStrong.com said that the Filipino boxing phenomenon’s secret was a simple diet featuring two post-workout meals.
“My favorite meal for my fighters and myself is the post-workout meal: Raw oatmeal, nonfat milk, fresh berries and honey,” Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza told Monique Savin on LiveStrong.com.
Carmela G. Lapeña, in a post on “GMA News Online,” reported that Pacquiao’s first post-workout meal was meat-free, but it was still not allowed in Bradley’s vegan diet because honey is an animal product. The Filipino boxer’s second meal consists of beef tapa, steamed white rice, tinolang manok, and a plate of melon and mango.
“Vegetarian diets provide all the protein athletes need without all the artery-clogging saturated animal fats and cholesterol found in meat, giving meat-free fighters the energy to go the distance,” PETA said.
Unlike animal protein, plant-based protein sources are easily absorbed by the body and contain healthy fiber and complex carbohydrates, PETA claimed. “Vegan athletes stay lean and build muscle without slowing themselves down with cholesterol and saturated fat,” said PETA.
For planetary health as well
During the nutrition month celebration last July, the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) hosted a webinar where the invited speaker, Dr. Renzo R. Guinto to eat more plants and less meat. Crop consumption is not only good for your health but to the environment as well.
Planetary health diet – the consumption of more plant and less meat – is better for human and planetary health, said Dr. Guinto who’s the director of the Planetary and Global Health Program of St. Luke’s Medical Center.
According to Dr. Guinto, overconsumption of red meat raises cancer risks and its production contributes to around 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions. A greenhouse gas, if you care to know, is a kind of gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the so-called “thermal infrared range,” causing the greenhouse effect.
“The world is consuming high carbon and less nutritious food products like red meat,” Dr. Guinto pointed out. “Our diet should be healthy for both the planet and the people. The planetary health diet plate includes 50% for leafy vegetables, around 15% for whole grains, around 3% for meat, and starchy vegetables, dairy foods, plant-sourced protein, unsaturated plant oils, and added sugars sharing the remaining percentage.”
Dr. Guinto stressed that the food system, from food production to consumption, affects the health of humans and the planet earth. The demise of the planet, he said, is inextricably intertwined with human health.
“The planet’s health is essential in preventing infectious diseases in humans. As people destroy ecosystems through land use change, wildlife trade, and the use of animals increases the chance of another virus jumping from an animal to a human being,” he said.
The story of Daniel
Even during Biblical times, it was proven that eating vegetables is healthier than eating meat. In the book of Daniel, the prophet did not want to defile himself by eating the “royal food and wine.”
So, he asked the guard who took care of him and his three companions (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) to give them nothing “but vegetables to eat and water to drink.” He told the guard: “Then compare our appearance with that of young men who eat the royal food.” The guard agreed and tested them for ten days.
Daniel 1:15-16 said: “At the end of the ten days they (Daniel and his companions) looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So, the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.”
More plants, less meat
Those who eat more vegetables and less meat are most likely to live longer than their counterparts. According to a recent study, people who limit how much meat they eat and stick to mostly fruits and vegetables are less likely to die over any particular period of time.
“I think this adds to the evidence showing the possible beneficial effect of vegetarian diets in the prevention of chronic diseases and the improvement of longevity,” Dr. Michael Orlich, the study’s lead author from Loma Linda University in California, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Previous research, done in the United Kingdom, suggested that vegetarians are one-third less likely to be hospitalized or die from heart disease than meat and fish eaters.
“We’re able to be slightly more certain that it is something that’s in the vegetarian diet that’s causing vegetarians to have a lower risk of heart disease,” said Dr. Francesca Crowe, who led the study at the University of Oxford.
“If people want to reduce their risk of heart disease by changing their diet, one way of doing that is to follow a vegetarian diet,” Dr. Crowe added. – ###
