The article recommends health practices and behavior for vegetarian athletes. Vegetarians can be categorized by the types of foods that they consume. Vegetarian diets are more common among adolescents with eating disorders than in the general adolescent population. Athletic trainers should be concerned if symptoms of eating disorders surface in an athlete who states that he or she is a vegetarian

Laquale, Kathleen M.

Kathleen M. Laquale

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Athletic Therapy Today

Practical Suggestions for Vegetarian Athletes

Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University

Bridgewater State UniversityVirtual Commons - Bridgewater State UniversityMovement Arts, Health Promotion and LeisureStudies Faculty PublicationsMovement Arts, Health Promotion and LeisureStudies Department2006Practical suggestions for vegetarian athletesKathleen M. LaqualeBridgewater State College, klaquale@bridgew.eduThis item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts.Virtual Commons CitationLaquale, Kathleen M. (2006). Practical suggestions for vegetarian athletes. In Movement Arts, Health Promotion and Leisure StudiesFaculty Publications. Paper 24.Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/mahpls_fac/24NUTRITION NOTESPractical Suggestions for Vegetarian AthletesKathleen M. Laquale, PhD, ATC, LAT, LDN • Bridgewater State Collegel \ / 1 ANY ATHLETES State that they are vegetari-L Y JL ans or that they are eating vegetarian foodsand consequently are vegetarians. In thepurest sense of the word, however, vegansare the only true vegetarians. Vegans consume plantproducts and avoid all foods of animal origin and theirderivatives such as gelatin, stocks, and bases. Examplesof food items that they avoid are dairy products, eggsand egg by-products, sauces made of butter or cream,white cane sugar, honey, yeast, and finally some soy,which can contain casein or whey (a beef by-product).The goal of a vegetarian's diet is to consume neither toofew nor too many calories to maintain a healthy weightfrom products that employ humane farming practices.Vegetarians mainly rely on plant foods such as grains,vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes, and soybeanproducts. With this restricted diet, nutrients that mightbe limited are vitamin D, iron, calcium, riboflavin,vitamin B,2, and high-quality protein. The physiologicaland nutritional demands of a sport can make it difficultfor an athlete to be a true vegan. Many athletes whochoose a vegetarian style of eating usually include acombination of dairy and eggs in their diet.Categories of VegetariansVegetarians can be categorized by the types of foodsthat they consume. The semivegetarian/plant-baseddiet consists primarily of vegetables, fruits, grains,and other foods from plant sources. It might includea modest amount of meat with an abundance of veg-etables and fruits. Ovovegetarians include eggs butnot milk in their diet, as well as fruits, vegetables, andgrains, and they might only eat eggs from free-rangehens. Vitamins and minerals possibly lacking in thisdiet include iron, vitamin D, calcium, and riboflavin.Lacto-ovovegetarians avoid eating animal flesh but con-sume dairy products and eggs in addition to vegetablesand grains. This diet possibly lacks sufficient iron. Lac-tovegetarians consume vegetables, grains, and dairyproducts but avoid eating animal flesh and eggs. Theyprefer products from certified organic farms employinghumane farming practices. As with lacto-ovovegetar-ians, they might be limited in their iron intake.Caloric Intake and Protein NeedsFor any athlete, vegetarian or nonvegetarian, thenumber of calories consumed is influenced by thedemands of the sport along with athlete's weight, bodycomposition, gender, and training program. The Website www.nat.uiuc.edu provides a method for athletesto assess their diet and calculate their energy intake.'Of the six basic nutrients, protein, fat, vitamin, andmineral intake are different for vegetarian athletes;carbohydrates and water are the same as for nonveg-etarian athletes. Whole-grain foods, dark green leafyvegetables and legumes (beans), and tofu are examplesof nutrient-dense food choices for vegetarian athletes.With proper planning, vegetarian athletes can obtainthe nutrients necessary for a healthy diet. Dairy prod-ucts, meat, fish, and poultry contain all nine essentialamino acids and are considered complete proteins.Vegetarians can obtain complete protein by consum-ing tofu, tempeh, and soy milk. Plant foods, nuts, andfruit are considered incomplete proteins.It was thought that vegetarians needed to comple-ment their diet by eating one type of food with anotherat the same sitting to obtain adequate protein. We nowknow that vegetarians do not need to complement theirprotein at each sitting, but they do need to consumea variety of foods to obtain an adequate amount ofprotein in their daily diet. A vegetarian needs six meat"exchanges" daily. One meat exchange equals 4 oz(D Z006 Humon Kinetics - ATT ll(<.), pp. 59-60ATHLETIC THERAPY TODAY JULY 2006 1 5 9TypeWeb sitePositionpaperWeb siteWeb siteTABLE 1. RESOURCES FOR VEGETARIANSProviderDepartment of Food Science andHuman Nutrition, University of IllinoisAmerican Dietetics Association andDietitians of CanadaDietetic Practice Group of the AmericanDietetic AssociationVegetarian Resource GroupResourceNutrition analysis tools (NAT)Appropriate dietary guidancefor the vegetarian athleteGuidelines for vegetarian ath-letesResources for the vegetarianLocationwwvi^.nat.uiuc.eduJune 2003, Vol. 103(6)wwvk'.andrew.edu (accessedApril 10, 2006)www.vrg.org (accessed April19,2006)of tofu, two egg whites, and 2 tablespoons of peanutbutter or half a cup of cooked beans, peas, or lentils.Some vegetarians consume too much saturatedfat and cholesterol by choosing high-fat dairy productsas their protein source. Soy products are a healthiersource of protein and contain ingredients that mightalso protect against heart disease and cancer.Vitamins and MineralsA vegetarian diet requires foods fortified with iron,riboflavin, calcium, vitamin D, folate, and, especially.Vitamin Bi^ . Vitamin B^^ is only found in animalsources. Foods such as sea vegetables and spirulinamight contain vitamin B,2 analogs, but neither thesenor fermented soy products can be counted on as reli-able sources of active vitamin B^ .^ Lacto-ovovegetarianscan get adequate vitamin b^^ from dairy foods andeggs if they consume them on a regular basis. VitaminB|2 is important because it plays a key role in folatemetabolism. A deficiency in vitamin B^ ^ can lead to afolate deficiency, which can lead to anemia. Accord-ing to Herrmann et al.,^  the vegetarian diet is typicallyhigh in folic acid, which can mask the hematologicalsymptoms of a vitamin Bi^  deficiency.Anemia can be a problem for any athlete, butvegetarian athletes are more susceptible to it, so theirblood profiles should be monitored closely. A balanceof nutrients is vital to prevent anemia. In addition toanemia, stress fractures and fatigue might result ifa vegetarian athlete does not pay close attention tohis or her intake of the aforementioned vitamins andminerals.O'Connor et al.' reported that vegetarian diets aremore common among adolescents with eating disor-ders than in the general adolescent population. Recentstudies suggest, however, that adopting a vegetariandiet does not lead to eating disorders; rather, a vegetar-ian diet might be selected to mask an existing eatingdisorder.* Thus, athletic trainers should be concernedif symptoms of eating disorders surface in an athletewho states that he or she is a vegetarian. Nonetheless,with careful dietary planning (see Tkble 1 for helpfulresources), vegetarian athletes can successfully per-form at all levels of competition. IReferences1. Dietary assessment and energy intake calculation. Available at: www.nat.uiuc.edu. Accessed July 26. 2005.2. Herrmann W, Schorr H, Obeid R, GeiselJ. Vitamin B-12 status, particu-larly holotranscobalamin II and methylmalonic acid concentrations,and hyperhomocysteiner vegetarians. AmJClin. Nutr. 2003;78(l): 131 -136.3. O'Connor M. Simmons T, Cooper M. Assumptions and beliefs, dietingand predictors of eating disorders and related symptoms in youngvi'omen and young men. EatBehav. 2003;4(l):l-6.4. Martins Y, Perry C, McGuire M, Neumark-Sztainer D, Story M. Charac-teristics of vegetarian adolescents in a multiethnic urban population.J Adolesc Health. 2001;29(6):406-416.Kathleen Laquale is an associate professor and program director forthe athletic training education program at Bridgewater State College.She is a licensed dietary nutritionist (LDN) and a certified and licensedathletic trainer. She received her doctorate from the University of RhodeIsland in food science and nutrition.60 I JULY 2006 ATHLETIC THERAPY TODAY

Practical suggestions for vegetarian athletes

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