OrganicAthlete asked its Health and Nutrition Advisory Committee, "Why is a plant-based diet optimal for health and peak performance?"

Brenda Davis, R.D., author of Becoming Vegan

"Plant-based diets offer exceptional fuel for peak performance and optimal health at every stage of the life cycle. Organic vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds are loaded with vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants and fiber - the greatest protectors in the diet. They also effectively minimize the most damaging components in the diet - trans fatty acids, saturated fat, cholesterol, pro-oxidants, refined carbohydrates and environmental contaminants. Plant-based diets are naturally high the most healthful form of carbohydrates, helping athletes maximize glycogen stores, and allowing for harder work for longer periods of time. Those choosing plant-based diets also reduce their lifetime risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, gallbladder disease, and many immune/inflammatory disorders. While the advantages to our personal health are quite impressive, it is the advantages beyond our personal health that are perhaps most remarkable. Among the greatest contributions a person can make towards the preservation of this planet is eating simple, whole foods that are low on the food chain. Animal-centered, processed-food diets are not ecologically sustainable. Consuming a plant-based diet is also arguably the most powerful step a person can take to reduce cruelty, pain, suffering and death in this world. Plant-based diets are rooted in compassion and reverence for life."

Dr. Rick Dina

"Whole natural plant foods, especially in their raw and unprocessed form, can provide us with all of the essential nutritive components we need for optimal training and recovery. This includes biologically active (structured) water, soluble and insoluble fiber, carbohydrates, amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals (including electrolytes), enzymes, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and other beneficial substances science has yet to discover.

Animal foods and processed plant foods are collectively deficient in fiber, water, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and phytonutrients. In addition, they tend to be too high in salt, and pro-inflammatory fatty acids and advanced glycation end products. Processed plant foods additionally tend to supply us with an excess of refined carbohydrates, trans-fats, pro-inflammatory omega 6 fats, and acrylamide, a suspected carcinogen. Animal foods additionally tend to supply us with an excess of saturated fat, cholesterol, PRO-oxidants, pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid, and a wide array of environmental contaminants. They are completely deficient in carbohydrates (except for lactose in milk) vitamin C, fiber, and phytonutrients.

Arguably of even greater importance than the raw materials that foods do or do not supply is the ease at which they are digested, absorbed, assimilated, and eliminated. The less our food choices demand upon our digestive and metabolic capacity, the greater opportunity the body has available for recovery and regeneration after our training sessions. Animal foods and processed plant foods simultaneously demand a great deal of digestion, fail to supply us with all the raw materials we need, and fill us up with an excess of the performance inhibiting substances mentioned above. Therefore we have decreased capacity when training, and the recovery process is inhibited. A properly designed, largely uncooked, unprocessed, plant food diet creates far less digestive demand, supplies all the raw materials we need, and avoids toxicity. This allows us to work out harder, recover faster, and therefore maximize our ability in whichever athletic endeavor(s) we choose."

Lisa Dorfman, M.S., R.D., L.M.H.C., author of The Vegetarian Sports Nutrition Guide

"It's no wonder a plant-based diet is optimal for peak performance. Foods like soy, beans, grains, vegetables and fruits provide the best sources of complex carbohydrate, high nutrient--vitamin,mineral, phytochemical rich choices that fuel muscles, the brain, and blood for strength and endurance sports. Besides that, soy ranks as one of the highest biological protein foods on the planet, vital for building the system and recovering from training and competition. Many plant-based foods are also ideal fluid sources, ones that contribute to the athlete's total daily needs."

Dr. Doug Graham, author of Nutrition and Physical Performance

"Every nutrient known to be essential for human health is available, in proper concentration, in plant foods. This is not so with animal-based foods, as there are many essential nutrients that are totally absent in them. A diet consisting of whole fresh ripe raw organic plants is ideal for human health and performance as it most closely accommodates our anatomical and physiological needs for food. We are, literally, built to consume plants. In exactly the same fashion that a car will run best when supplied with the fuel for which it is designed, so too will humans be able to reach their fullest performance potential when utilizing the diet for which we are best built to accommodate."

Dr. Ruth Heidrich, author of Race for Life

"As a finisher of six Ironman triathlons, 67 marathons and countless other competitions, I know how important a plant-based diet is. Plants contain the optimal mix of carbohydrates, fat and protein; on average, 80% carbs, 10% fat, and 10% protein. Carbohydrates provide ready fuel for the muscles; fat provides insulation, padding, and a back-up source of energy; and protein provides the material for growth and repair of tissue on an as-needed basis. Obviously, athletes need lots of fuel which plants provide whereas animal foods lack carbs. Plants also provide the only source of phyto nutrients which our bodies need to neutralize the free radicals which exercise and ordinary daily living activities produce.

Plants have all the necessary amino acids so there is no need to eat the muscle of animals. In fact, doing so creates problems with circulation because all animal foods have cholesterol and saturated fat which are known to clog human arteries.

Eat fruits and vegetables in their whole, unrefined, unprocessed state for your best athletic performance and for the prevention of the degenerative diseases that plague nearly all those who eat an animal-based diet. Besides, plants are the most economical and certainly the most enjoyable foods we can eat."