Why Athletes Need More Protein

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

I’ve been an endurance athlete for a long time, but I haven’t always been strong and thriving. For many years, I battled an eating disorder that resulted in me being weaker, more prone to injury, and of course, unhappy. During this time, I embraced a vegan diet under the false pretense that it would be both healthier and better for the planet. I stopped eating meat, then I stopped eating dairy and other animal products. My protein sources were mostly tofu, tempeh, and beans. I occasionally drank a protein shake, but found most of them hard to stomach.

I clung to veganism hard, even after I went through treatment for my eating disorder, even after I started running ultramarathons, and even though I wasn’t feeling good on a diet of rice, beans, vegetables, and tofu. I spent over a year seeing a dietitian who specialized in eating disorder treatment, and she was concerned not only with my tendency to resort to my old habits during stressful times, but also with my loyalty to veganism.

“Running these long races puts a tremendous toll on your body,” she told me. “You need adequate energy intake, but you also need bioavailable protein.” It wasn’t until I ran a hard 100K race and had a lot of trouble recovering that I reconsidered my stubborn stance. Maybe she was right, I thought. So I started…