Among South American vegan athletes, Pablo Nunez is among the best. Can you tell me how he is doing ten years after Veganuary began? An increasing number of sportsmen and women are opting for plant-based diets.

While vegan athletes are not new, what impact has Veganuary’s month-long push to promote plant-based diets had on the sports industry as a whole?

Pablo Nunez, a Mexican fencing sensation, just won silver at the Pan American Games. Just lately has Nunez, who is 30 years old, adopted a plant-based diet. However, she was already a vegetarian in 2020, inspired to make small adjustments by the documentary Game Changers.

“When I started to stop eating red meat and then white meat, we had a preseason in early 2020,” he remarked.

After taking a month off, we’re back to our regular schedule of weightlifting and specialist fencing courses. Our meeting schedule is Monday through Friday, three times each week. So, it was a little difficult. On day five, I noticed a change in my healing state. “Hey, what’s up?” I greeted my colleagues on day four. Excellent, I’ll accompany you. Doing this is within my capabilities. “No, dude, I’m dead,” my friends said. No one can assist me. Because I cut off red meat, they teased me. One of my first thoughts was, “This is the advantage.

 

After returning from the Pan Am Games, which were a complete failure, Nunez—then in his mid-twenties—made the change. He started by eliminating red meat, then white meat, fish, and eventually all meat from his diet in an attempt to jumpstart his career. In order for him to participate in the Olympics while being vegan, his vegan lover has just given him a plan.

He does not deny that his experiences may have been a placebo effect, but he maintains that there is sufficient data to indicate that there is more going on than just a change in viewpoint.

Recovery benefit

Reduced recovery times are a direct result of plants’ antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and a number of recent reviews and studies have shown that plant-based diets reduce cardiovascular risks and blood pressure. Nunez, who has a soft spot for tofu, can identify with this impact.

“My injuries were reduced by, I don’t know, from 60-70% to 5% per year,” he said.

“In the four years since I have only one or two issues, and the two issues showed up only this year because I trained a little bit extra,” he stated.

I thought this was paradise on earth. Sometimes I worry that I train too much. Starting over the next day, I felt as light as a lettuce leaf.

There have been some challenges along the way, but overall, the method has helped him become a better fencer.

When it comes to national rankings, we’re in the top fifteen or twenty. Despite our little stature, we want to make our voices heard and fight for our rights. Nevertheless, South America presents a significant obstacle.

Disparities in cultural norms

Beyond the harmless banter amongst coworkers, the societal gaps between the country and the continent are even more pronounced. The great majority of Chile’s over 20 million inhabitants still choose meat, even if there may be more than 1.5 million vegetarians there, according to an environmental study from 2018.

The Chilean people love their red meat. Their specialty is red meat. Grilling is a popular pastime. Nunez made the mild analogy to a cult.

Holy cow, it is just shocking. The minute we see a barbecue, we want to set one up. “What about veggies?” I asked. I would be OK with zucchini.

In last year’s Santiago Pan American Games, only two out of twenty-five meals were vegan, according to Nunez. There was a salad and a protein-based entrée. He took home the silver medal that day.

The 30-year-old Nunez claims that some people have told him that being vegan shows weakness. Nonetheless, this has only served to inspire him to champion underrepresented communities and raise veganism’s profile.

The story revolves on an effort to break out from this binary pattern. As Nunez puts it, “the attitude is not ‘don’t eat meat because it’s bad,’ but ‘eat less meat because it’s better.'”

Cut down on your use of animal products for the sake of your wallet, your health, and the planet. You’ll be helping future generations out in the long run.

People often wonder why I’m the only one taking this approach. Is reducing your meat consumption really going to change the world? I reminded myself that I am insignificant, like a grain of rice. If you just have one more grain of rice, you can cover a whole plate with it. So, I’m doing my part independently.

The number of athletes who follow a plant-based diet is unknown, but according to Veganuary’s 2023 report, which found that over 700,000 people signed up worldwide, the habit is quickly growing from a tiny minority to a fast increasing one. Pablo Nunez is hoping to qualify for the Paris Olympics this year by demonstrating the advantages of a plant-based diet to his sport, his country, and the world.

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