Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

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Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Tony Gonzalez is the enemy—sorry, I’m an Oakland Raiders fan—he is a vegan. Seriously, this 247-pound football player is all about the veggies. Reed Albergotti of The Wall Street Journal reports:

So last year, on the eve of the biggest season of his career, Mr. Gonzalez embarked on a diet resolution that smacked head-on with gridiron gospel as old as the leather helmet. He decided to try going vegan.


Living solely on plant food, a combination of nuts, fruits, vegetables, grains and the like, has long been the fringe diet of young rebels and aging nonconformists. Even the government recommends regular helpings of meat, fish and dairy. Vegans of late have gotten more hip with such best sellers as the brash "Skinny Bitch," and its more scholarly cousin, "The China Study." Both books argue vegans can live longer…

…Professional athletes, especially NFL players, need thousands of calories a day. Many enjoy a high-protein, high-fat smorgasbord of steaks, chops, burgers, pizza, ice cream and beer. Mr. Gonzalez's tight-end job requires him to push around monstrously sized opponents. Occasionally, he gets to catch a pass. Mr. Gonzalez is famous for combining the brute power of an offensive lineman with the acrobatic skills of a nimble receiver. "My biggest thing is strength," he says. "If you lose that strength you get your butt kicked."

Experts say athletes in training need as much as twice the protein of an average person to rebuild muscle. Their bodies also require a big dose of minerals and vitamins, as well as the amino acids, iron and creatine packed into fish, meat and dairy foods. It's fine to be a vegan, says sports nutritionist and dietician Nancy Clark, if you're willing to work at it. "It's harder to get calcium, harder to get protein, harder to get Vitamin D, harder to get iron," she says. "You have to be committed."

Now, despite my hatred for an AFC West rival, I must say, kudos to Tony! He’s certainly one of the few, because as we’ve seen in the past. Many sports stars are a bust when it comes to healthy eating. Here are a few examples:

• Tank Johnson and is 162 beef sticks,
• Bernard Berrian’s bacon and maple syrup obsession,
• And Richard Hamilton gobbling up cheese, grits, steak, and butter.

Now, not to toot my own horn, I’m far from a professional athlete, but, I’m a lot bigger and more physical than most of the meat-heads I see at the gym sucking down protein shakes and bragging about beef, and, I only eat fish a couple times a month—go figure!