Fueling The Game

Hi, thanks for dropping by again! Last week, I discussed the relationship between fans and food. Hence, I thought it would be great to continue that theme this week by exploring the players’ diet.

To give you a background, most professional clubs have their own sports nutritionists that are in charge of the players’ diets. This is to ensure that the team’s performance is maximised on the pitch, giving the club the best possible chance of achieving it’s sporting goals. The same applies to Liverpool FC, whose nutrition department has been credited for the club’s recent league title success.

A look into the players’ cafeteria at Anfield. Taken during my visit to the stadium earlier this year.

But unlike other top European clubs, the English champions have taken the unusual step of partnering with Quorn to provide vegan options.[1] But why Quorn of all companies? The chief reason would be its meat alternative product, which is made up of mycoproteins. Quorn claims their product is much more environmentally friendly than traditional sources, citing lower greenhouse gas emissions of up to 90% and 30% as compared to beef and chicken respectively.[2] This gives the club a leg-up in their vision for a sustainable future.

However, Liverpool FC’s partnership with Quorn doesn’t mean that traditional meat options are removed from the menu entirely. So why not a fully vegan diet? Well, that’s because there’s still much to learn about the relationship between vegan diets and athletic performances. This is backed up by a recent poll I’ve conducted, whereby surveyees’ opinions were split when asked if vegan athletes were able to match omnivorous athletes performance-wise.

With studies suggesting that vegan diets have a lower protein and calorie content[3], there’s concern that such diets might affect players’ capabilities. Given the fine margins between success and failure in this particular industry, it’s understandable for top clubs to be hesitant in implementing a lifestyle change that they do not yet fully understand.

Though such a radical change in the current diet seems unlikely soon, I’ll not rule out the possibility altogether. After all, Arsene Wenger’s appointment as manager of Arsenal FC in 1998 heralded a similar food revolution. Before his arrival, fast food like burgers and chips were a staple in the club cafeteria such was the eating habit ingrained in players back then.

Embed from Getty Images

Wenger, however, managed to overhaul this lifestyle, replacing the menu with ‘cleaner’ food like steam vegetables and mash potatoes.[4] Given the drastic overhaul, many rivals remain sceptical of the benefits and some even laughed at him. But the results did translate onto the pitch, and they weren’t laughing when they won the league in 2002 and 2004, the latter of which they went the entire season unbeaten. Slowly but surely, many clubs copied Arsenal FC’s approach and it eventually became standard practise as of today.

So who knows, vegan diets might just be the thing of the future. Forest Green Rovers, a fourth-tier English club, paved the way by becoming the world’s pioneer vegan football club since 2017.[5] Could other clubs follow suit in the future? Let me hear your thoughts, and do be back for next week’s post!

References:

[1] Liverpool FC. (n.d.). Reds team up with Quorn on food sustainabilityhttps://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/announcements/399510-reds-team-up-with-quorn-to-lead-on-food-sustainability

[2] Quorn. (n.d.). Recipes, Products and News from Quorn. Healthy Protein. Healthy Planet. https://www.quorn.co.uk/files/content/Sustainable-Development-Report2019.pdf

[3] Vegan diets: Practical advice for athletes and exercisers. (n.d.). Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-017-0192-9/

[4] Karen, M. (2018, May 13). How Wenger changed English football. ESPN.com. https://www.espn.com.sg/soccer/club/arsenal/359/blog/post/2959355/five-ways-arsenals-arsene-wenger-changed-english-football-forever

[5] Forest Green Rovers FC. (n.d.). The world’s first 100% vegan football club. Welcome to the greenest football club in the world. https://www.fgr.co.uk/our-ethos/100-vegan

3 thoughts on “Fueling The Game

  1. Hi Yu Xun,

    I really enjoyed your post as I have always been fascinated by the nutrition top athletes receive, seeing how what may be considered basic changes in diet for the regular person could lead to drastic shifts in the performances of athletes.

    I feel that even though football clubs and players might understand the importance of the environment, they might not be willing to compromise on their performance standards in order to accommodate going vegan as a sporting club’s main priority should be on the game. However, should more research be conducted that proves that vegan food leads to better physical stastics, it would immediately cause many clubs to make the switch.

    I also understand that some top athletes have their own dietary plans specifically catered to them to ensure that they are always at their peak, do you perhaps know of any who are vegan and why they have chosen to?

    Hope to hear from you soon
    Mark

    1. Hi Mark!

      Yes, I do know of a few footballers who’ve adopted vegan diets, with Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin and soon-to-be Roma player Chris Smalling being notable examples. In the case of Bellerin, he made the switch in 2017 as he claimed that it is healthier for his body. Environmental sustainability was another reason cited, as well as his belief that it combats animal cruelty. In terms of performance, his claim was backed up by the club’s nutritionist as he’d observed better overall output.

      But even as more athletes are making the transition to being vegan, there’s still scepticism among nutritionists about the supposed benefits of going vegan and call for more studies to be done. Even among the general public, an air of doubt remains over the subject. When Bellerin suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament (ACL) last year which kept him out for 9 months, there were fans and pundits alike who immediately blamed his diet for the long recovery process. I find this absurd, given that ACL injuries are serious in nature and athletes usually need 6-7 months to recover, which isn’t that far off Bellerin’s recovery time frame. Nonetheless, it shows that the majority still believe in myths about veganism, and I agree that more studies are needed in order to dispel these age-old myths.

  2. This…

    “I find this absurd, given that ACL injuries are serious in nature and athletes usually need 6-7 months to recover, which isn’t that far off Bellerin’s recovery time frame.”

    shows the kind of logical, critical thinking I love to see in students.

    jc

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