Plant-based Diets for Athletes - Live Webinar (30/07/2020)
Around the world the popularity of plant-based diets, or at least diets that encourage the reduction of animal products, are on the rise. Proponents of these diets argue that there are health, environmental, and ethical benefits of ditching meat, egg and dairy – but what does this mean for athletes? Most text books will still tell you that the best sources of protein are from animal based foods, and many coaches, nutritionists and doctors still advise athletes to ensure they are eating meat, eggs and dairy regularly.
We have brought together four experts, with backgrounds in sports science, medicine, nutrition and fitness training, to talk about the benefits of plant-based diets for athletes, including:
- What nutrients we need to function optimally as an athlete (for strength and endurance)
- Which foods and supplements can get us these nutrients
- The factors that impair athletic performance, and which ones can be addressed by diet
- Other strategies to improve athletic performance
- Myths around Protein, Carbs & Soya- and a lot more!
Our experts:
Dr Yesheen Singh, MBChB MBA, is a plant-based physician based in Cape Town, South Africa. He has extensive experience in private and public health systems in SA and the UK and has additional post-graduate education and training in Functional Medicine, Public Health and Health System Engineering. Dr Singh’s personal passion is empowering communities through education on the role of nutrition and lifestyle change in changing the impact of disease on individuals, families and communities. He is the founder of Phyto Pro – Plant-based Cleans Nutrition, a range of plant-based protein shakes and supplements.
Simon de Waal (Bsc, BscHons, Msc, CSCS, PhD candidate) holds a Master’s degree in Sport Science, he is a lecturer in Sport Science and his teaching and research involves training load monitoring of road and trail runners as well as applied strength and conditioning. An amateur runner who competes regularly on the road and trail circuit in the Western Cape, South Africa and constantly striving to improve his performance, Simon believes strongly in concurrent endurance and strength training to better performance and avoid injury. As such, he also holds a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) qualification from the NSCA.
Dr Roxanne Becker, MBChB, graduated from UCT cum laude in 2018 and is currently doing her second year of internship at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto. During medical school, she spent a month at the Barnard Medical Center in Washington DC, studying plant based nutrition under Dr Neal Barnard and Dr James Loomis. She is also a certified CrossFit coach and has a keen interest in lifestyle and preventative medicine; using nutrition and lifestyle changes to prevent and treat chronic diseases.
Rhain Hoskins, a E.T.A Certified Fitness Trainer, has been in the fitness industry as a personal/group trainer and coach for nearly 10 years, with becoming a certified kettlebell instructor through StrongFirst in 2015. He has been into competitive sports such as triathlon, mountain biking, trail running, CrossFit and Kettlebell Lifting over the past 8 years and he has been vegan for nearly 5 years and vegetarian before that. He has also watched many clients over his time as a vegan make the transition to a plant based diet in his training facilities. He is also the owner of the The Iron Movement Gym in Durban.
The webinar will be facilitated by Donovan Will, the Director of ProVeg South Africa.
We are very excited to have amazing brands on board as sponsors to help make to get this information out to more people:
Rugani Juice: Being both the farmer and processor, Rugani Juice has year round supply of the freshest veggies that are harvested daily and extracted into a 100% juice within four hours. Our produce is fully traceable and undergoes a world first extraction process that ruptures 95% of veggie cells, optimising the nutritional content of our juice. Combining the ‘Harvested Daily’ principle with extraction technology, Rugani Juice is a nutritionally superior product. ruganijuice.co.za
Phyto Pro Clean Nutrition: Phyto Pro is a clean-ingredient, plant-based, sport- and functional-nutrition brand, inspired by nature and grounded in science. Its industry-leading formulations are created by a team of medical professionals with years of experience in plant-based medicine and bring their “first do no harm” philosophy to the food and nutrition spaces. PhytoPro.co.za
Outcast Foods: Outcast Foods creates easy-to-prepare healthy and yummy plant-based meals. We create instant whole-food falafel, burger and flapjack pre-mixes, but we don’t believe in shortcuts. Our pulses are activated to increase nutrient absorption and we use only whole foods. So no gluten, fillers, preservatives or additives. Just pure quality ingredients where natural flavours are brought to life. outcastfoods.co.za