A new Yale study compared 49 people: meat-eating athletes (highly trained successful Yale athletes), vegetarian athletes, and sedentary vegetarians. The sedentary vegetarians were mostly plant eating physicians who weren't athletes.
“The experiment furnished a severe test of the claims of the flesh-abstainers.” And, “much to my surprise,” wrote the researcher, the results proved that the vegetarians “have far greater endurance than those who are accustomed to the ordinary American diet."
The first test measured how many continuous minutes the participants could hold out their arms horizontally: meat eaters vs. vegetarians.
The meat-eating athletes were able to keep their arms out to the sides for about ten minutes on average. The vegetarians did five times better.
The maximum time of the meat eaters was only half the vegetarian average. Two-thirds of the vegetarians reached fifteen minutes while only 2 of the meat eaters did.
Half of the plant-eaters reached half an hour, while none of the meat-eating athletes.
Nine vegetarians exceeded an hour, four exceeded two hours, and one participant reached three hours.
Vegetarians outperform meat eating athletes
The second test was deep knee bends. The meat eating athletes averaged 383, the vegetarians creamed them, averaging 927, and the sedentary vegetarians averaged 535.
In terms of recovery, everyone was left sore after deep knee bends, but 1 of the meat eaters was unable to rise after the exercise and another was bedridden for days. While one of the vegetarians went for a run and another went back to work.
Irving Fisher, a once skeptical Yale researcher, concluded “It may be inferred without reasonable doubt that the flesh-eating group of athletes was very far inferior in endurance to the abstainers,” the vegetarians, “even the sedentary group.”
In conclusion, a vegetarian diet high in ancient grains, vegetables and fruit, has great health benefits.
However, it's important to avoid processed and refined foods, which are on supermarket shelves. These foods are just empty carbs.
instead opt for ancient wholegrains like ancient grain sourdough breads from Joseph's Organic Bakery (see below). These breads are prepared and fermented in a special process, and are very high in probiotics, vitamins and enzymes.
The more vegetables, fruits and berries you consume the more anti-oxidants and vitamins you consume, so try to eat as much as you can.