James Hudson – Nutrition for Energy – “There has never been a better time for Veganuary”
It would seem like there has never been a better time to spend the month of January eating a plant-based diet. The supermarkets’ plant-based areas are expanding year-on-year making it easier to stick to such a restrictive diet, however, is trialling this diet in January 2022 a good idea? Will it help or hinder your running?
In this short blog, I want to give some advice and offer some things to think about to help you work out whether you want to do Veganuary. Full disclosure on my eating habits and my agenda: I am not a vegan and my goal is not to convert everyone to strict plant-based eating.
I have been eating a pescatarian diet for the last six years and over the past few years, I have been reducing my intake of seafood (limiting to once a week) and dairy products.
I’m writing this blog to help you decide if Veganuary is a good option for you. My agenda is to promote more sustainable eating, by encouraging others to reduce their intake of meat and dairy in favour of increasing their intake of plants. I want people to eat more consciously not only for their health but also for the health of our planet.
Veganuary could end in disaster?
If you are moving from a fully omnivorous diet, this change is going to be large, so consider how much time you have to invest into researching and planning new meals. The learning curve will be steep as you suddenly realise just how much animal product is present in the normal food you eat.
However, if you have the time to research appropriate swaps, then jumping in the deep end could be a good idea as you will gain knowledge fast, but if your time is limited, then your Veganuary could end in disaster.
The vegan diet is very restrictive already, so following it without having the time to plan how you will eat a variety of foods within its boundaries is a recipe for malnutrition, caused by not getting enough to eat, or eating enough of the right stuff.
How will Veganuary affect your running?
Will this diet allow you to fuel and recover from your training? When answering this question, I am going to discuss carbohydrates in relation to fuelling and protein for recovery. Although there is more nuanced than the following brief summary, please allow me to paint with broad strokes.
Fuelling
Fuelling means getting your muscle glycogen stores (your body’s energy store for high-intensity exercise) topped up enough so you can follow the desired stimulus in your training plan. If you don’t follow a plan and just go out and run long distances whenever you feel like it, fuelling properly allows you to run longer and harder before powering down. The more frequently you train and the higher the intensity, the more carbohydrate you need to consume between sessions.
Fortunately, the vegan diet has no restriction on high-carbohydrate foods, and you still have open access to all grains and starchy vegetables. So even those with very high training volumes should be able to adequately refuel.
Fuelling during long runs is also unlikely to be affected. Most of those ultra-running snack foods such as marmite sandwiches, boiled and salted potatoes, dried fruit and nuts are vegan friendly. That said, if you are a lover of sweets such as Haribo on your long runs, you will need to keep an eye out for gelatin on the list of ingredients.
Recovery
So fuelling is unlikely to be an issue, but what about recovery? Can you get enough protein to recover from long runs when eating plant-based? In short, the answer to this is yes, however it must be said you will have to plan a bit more. Optimal protein intake to support recovery is to have 0.3-0.4 grams per kilogram bodyweight (g/kg.BW) per feeding multiple (4-6) times a day.
This would give a total intake in the range of 1.2-2.4 g/kg.BW. I would only advise the higher end of this recommendation 2-2.4 g/kg.BW if you are trying to lose fat mass rapidly with a big caloric deficit, or you are trying to put on muscle mass as effectively as possible (remember that resistance training is needed for this).
An intake of 1.2 – 1.8 g/kg.BW is achievable on a vegan diet and would be best split into 4-6 meals. Adding a tbsp (30g) of peanut butter to your morning oats can lift the protein content of that meal from 14g to 22g which may be quite close to 0.3g/kg.BW. See the infographic for ideas on how to combine high-protein, plant-based foods.
Eating more consciously
By following any new diet, you will automatically be putting a lot more conscious thought into what and how you eat. This is a very good thing! Eating in a more conscious way usually results in more health-conscious food decisions. When runners make more health-conscious food choices they will typically see improvements in body composition (losing fat), which is going to help their running performance.
That said, you do not necessarily have to shackle yourself to the confines of a vegan diet to eat more consciously in January. For example, you could embark on a new habit of meal planning or cooking more from scratch.
Will Veganuary convert you to Veganism?
I think the question you need to ask yourself is? Why am I doing this? If you complete Veganuary successfully, will you want to become a vegan full-time?
I wanted to know the rate of those completing Veganuary who stayed vegan, so after a little research, found according to the Veganuary International Head of Communications…
“Nearly one-fourth of participants (23%) decided to stay vegan after Veganuary”.
I am somewhat dubious about the reliability of this statistic and I would consider 23% as a relatively high follow-on rate. But, what about the 77%, do they go back to their old habits or do they follow more of a flexitarian diet? If you are serious about drastically reducing your intake of animal products long-term, do you think a one in four-hit rate is actually good?
It is my view (from experience working with clients who want to eat more plant-based) that if you want to make long-term changes, then it is best to start small. A more gradual introduction to plant-based eating will drastically increase your chances of long-term adherence.
Is Veganuary easy? The rules of behavioural change
Veganuary could be the spark that ignites your long-term dietary change, or it could put you off completely. Let’s have a look at some points James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) says are important to consider when starting a new habit: he asks… is the habit obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying? So how does Veganuary fair considering these four questions?
Obvious – Because you have gone all-in, your guidelines are obvious. You just need to eat plant-based food for the entirety of January. I don’t think it can get much more obvious.
Attractive – Plant-based meals can be very enjoyable and tasty making them attractive to eat. I will caveat this statement by mentioning that plant-based meals do need to be well seasoned (lots of herbs and spices) to truly get the most out of the plants you are eating. This is especially true if these new meals are competing with flavour-rich animal products. To help make your plant-based meals more “attractive” follow recipes using ingredients that you know you like and want to eat.
Easy – Depending on your current starting point (how many animal foods you currently eat), the ease of Veganuary will vary. If you currently have animal products in all meals and snacks, then moving to a fully vegan diet is by no means easy. It requires a massive change of behaviour. This is where you need to assess your motivation and determination levels.
You will probably know if you are someone who is capable of making wholesale changes all at once, or if you are someone who needs to take a less aggressive route. If you are the latter, then my advice would be to make some vegan changes to your diet in January, but do not go all in. After all, you will be having a greater positive environmental impact if you can make some changes stick for a month than if you can go full vegan for a couple of days.
Satisfying – Moving to a fully plant-based diet can be very satisfying. For example, many will lose weight on a vegan diet due to a reduction in calories consumed from the reduced choice. It is also likely that due to a greater intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains (which are the foundations of the vegan diet) people can feel fuller on fewer calories.
This can make it easier to lose weight. But weight loss is not the only satisfying thing. Many will feel improvements in energy levels. This is likely to be caused by an increase in nutrient-rich foods, bringing their vitamin and mineral status up to normal, and/or a reduction in high-sugar foods.
Following the vegan diet through January with someone could potentially increase the amount of satisfaction you gain as well, so consider asking a flatmate or partner to join you.
Should I eat plant-based food in January?
In summary, it is getting easier to eat a plant-based diet. However, depending on the number of animal products in your diet now, that may still require a massive change. If you are a flexitarian and want the nudge to try a fully vegan diet, then Veganuary could be a great option as the change is not that drastic. If you are basically a carnivore and want to do Veganuary, then you need to assess your own levels of determination.
Factor in the amount of time you have to do the vegan diet justice. Although it does not have a catchy slogan, making small sustainable changes and thereby moving your diet closer to a vegan diet is still a positive move in terms of environmental eating. The answer does not have to be Veganuary or nothing. If you are not quite ready for Veganuary then why not take January as an opportunity to reflect on your current eating habits.
make small and sustainable changes that are specific to the way you eat. Remember paying more attention to your diet is very likely to have a positive impact on your running, be that joining Veganuary or making more subtle changes.
James Hudson is a SENr registered Performance Nutritionist with a Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Nutrition from the International Olympic Committee and a B.Sc. Degree in Sport & Exercise Science from Loughborough University. Not only is he a fantastic Ultrarunner but James is also the founder of Nutrition for Energy LTD.