Vegan Kicks

AFC Bournemouth’s Jermain Defoe tells Andy Greeves how having a virtually vegan diet has helped to keep him at the top of his game and why beetroot helps him run faster

- Andy Greeves

DURING his fourth Formula One World Championship title-winning season in 2017, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he had become a vegan. “I stopped eating red meat two years ago,” the motorsport star told BBC Sport. “I’ve generally been pescatarian for the majority of the last year and now I’ve cut out fish,” he declared.

“I feel the best I have ever felt, physically and mentally,” he added, in another interview on the subject of his veganism with Motorsport.com. “All year I have felt strong mentally, but physically I have taken a big step and that is with the decision I have taken to change my diet.”

Hamilton is the latest in a long line of elite athletes to adopt veganism, with boxer David Haye, tennis players Serena and Venus Williams and the UFC’s (Ultimate Fighting Championships) Nate Diaz all following a largely or totally meat, fish and dairy-free diet. AFC Bournemouth’s Jermain Defoe – amongst the top ten Premier League goal scorers of all-time – is another virtually vegan convert. He credits it as the major reason why he is still performing at the top level for club and country aged 35.

“I made changes to my diet last season and instantly felt better for it,” Defoe tells me. “My girlfriend is a dedicated vegan and seeing what she was doing inspired me. I started reading up on the subject and discovered the benefits it could have for me.

“One of the big things for me over the past few years has been thinking of ways I can carry on playing for as long as possible. Cutting certain things out of my diet made sense to me. Why continue eating foods my body doesn’t really need?”

Like a number of the athletes mentioned above, Defoe isn’t fully vegan. He still eats fish a few times a week, but he has cut meat and dairy out of his diet entirely.