vegetarian alert

pader

Is there any particular advice any vegetarians follow as they increase the volume and intensity of training ? My leg soreness seems to be taking longer than usual to clear. I'm pretty good about eating soon after a ride and am mildly obsessive with fluid intake. thanks

Ste_S

Is the soreness just purely because you've upped the volume and intensity of your training ? Do you schedule rest days and/or recovery rides into your training plan ?

I'm a vege, and in a similar situation training wise to yourself. I eat a reasonably balanced diet, and take a multi-vitamin/mineral tablet every day - not sure how much benifit it gives, probably take it more out of habit.

jerry3571

I eat Vege Burgers from a supermarket beginning with "T". Linda McArtney vege Burgers help too. They take about 20hrs to work so eat them well before a hard ride. The same supermarket does a low fat (1%) Cheddar Cheese which has a really high protien content. The Health Food Store Holland and B... have a cheap Protien drink in powder form; this can help.
Take a multi vitamin with 100% RDA fro Iron. Makes a bit of a difference.
Cheers Jerry

jerry3571

PS- Maybe take a spoonful of fish oil a day as you don't get Omega 3 for your brain. Made a big difference with me after trying Flax Oil (no good).
Cheers Jerry

Shadowduck

jerry3571 wrote:

PS- Maybe take a spoonful of fish oil a day as you don't get Omega 3 for your brain. Made a big difference with me after trying Flax Oil (no good).
Cheers Jerry

Bit debatable as to whether fish oil would be considered vegetarian... There's a lot of shades of grey on this but I use the "if it's got a face, don't eat it" criterion which rules fish out!

OffTheBackAdam

Does Robert Millar's autobiog give any info on his diet? Must be the most famous vege cyclist.

jerry3571

Quite agree about Fish Oil being non veg but I think it's the only way to get Omegas in such amounts to be worth while. Omega Eggs and Omega margerine have a small amount but not enough. I never used to have any fish, meat etc for 18 years but when I tried the Oil I could think better and also I used to get a little bit "Graham Obree" from time to time and since then have never looked back. I'm sure that's why so many Vegans smoke dope is because thier brains are starved of what they need. Bit of a generalisation I know.
Cheers Jerry

Shadowduck

jerry3571 wrote:

Quite agree about Fish Oil being non veg but I think it's the only way to get Omegas in such amounts to be worth while.

If you're in one of the areas where they exist, Morrisons supermarket do a vegetarian Omega 3, 6 & 9 supplement. It's made from linseed, rapeseed, evening primrose and sunflower seeds and even the capsule is gelatin-free.

Each capsule has 95mg Omega 3, 146mg Omega 6, 90mg Omega 9 and 2.5mg Vitamin E - how does that compare to the fish oil?

If you're not near a Morrisons, I'm sure you could find somewhere else selling something similar.

Simon Notley

The protein powder from H+B isn't vegetarian either (assuming you mean their Whey protein)... I'm not a vegetarian, but my girlfriend is, so I notice these things...

Bart Puss

I`m veggie and remember reading somewhere that the veggie diet lacks creatine...anybody had any experiance of creatine supplementation for non carnivores ?

Simon Notley

It's convenient that this thread has resurfaced so I can point out that H&B have changed their whey protein formula so it is veggie now! They also sell soya protein for a very good price if you're after a good recovery shake. I've been experimenting with it recently and it seems to be doing me good.

I don't know anything about creatine though, sorry. I had a medic friend who was convinced by the science and gave it a go, but I don't know if he got any good results.

Simon

La cucaracha

Bart Puss wrote:

I`m veggie and remember reading somewhere that the veggie diet lacks creatine...anybody had any experiance of creatine supplementation for non carnivores ?

Yes, creatine is a component of skeletal muscle and so a true vegetarian diet contains none. In meat eaters, approximately 50% of stored creatine is synthesised in the body and 50% is derived from the diet. Vegetarians meanwhile have no dietary source and rely solely on biosynthesis to provide creatine, therefore probably have more potential to improve their muscle mass by supplementing their creatine intake. In fact, the benefits of creatine supplementation are often doubted because most carnivores already meet their requirements through their unsupplemented dietary intake. I once glanced over the abstract of a study into the effect of supplementation in vegetarians vs non-vegetarians in which it was found that the performance improvement in vegetarians as a result of taking additional creatine was 50% greater than the increase in performance of the meat-eating athletes.

Most creatine supplements are synthetic and therefore suitable for vegetarians. It's not a banned substance and can be bought from Boots, H&B and some sports shops. It is best absorbed when taken little and often (eg 1tsp, 4 times a day) preferably with a meal and for the first few days you might want to take a "loading dose" (2tsp each time).

Having said all this, I've not used it myself and I'm not an expert in sports supplements so best to cross-reference anything I've said!