Unlocking Athletic Potential: Vegan Diet and CrossFit Performance

This is a summary of the key findings from a 2022 scientific research article that examined the effects of following a vegan diet versus a mixed diet including animal products for 4 weeks. The study was conducted on 20 moderate CrossFit trainees aged 30-33 years old.

Positives of Following a Vegan Diet

The main potential benefits found in those who followed the vegan diet included:

Improved strength endurance for the deadlift exercise - Participants on the vegan diet were able to complete significantly more deadlift repetitions with a heavy weight over the 4 week study. This indicates enhanced strength capabilities specifically for that exercise.

No negative changes in blood health markers - There were no significant detrimental effects of following the vegan diet for 4 weeks on blood cell counts, cholesterol, iron levels or liver enzymes. Some blood markers related to nutrition even improved. This is positive as it shows vegan diets are not necessarily deficient if well-planned.

Decreased body fat - Previous research shows plant-based diets can help reduce body fat percentages. Lower fat mass is tied to improved cardiovascular fitness.

Lower inflammation - Diets focused on fruits, vegetables and whole grains tend to reduce systemic inflammation levels according to prior studies. Less inflammation aids recovery from exercise.

Increased glycogen - Glycogen is the carbohydrate stores in the muscles that provide energy. Vegan diets tend to be higher in complex carbs, which can increase glycogen availability.

In this 4 week study, those on the well-planned vegan diet were able to improve in certain areas of fitness and performance, with no detrimental effects observed in blood markers. This indicates a vegan diet can potentially be adequate for supporting training adaptations in active individuals over short time periods.

However, the researchers conclude vegan diets are unlikely to confer significant additional performance benefits over mixed diets in those performing high-intensity functional training. Well-planned mixed diets also provided fitness improvements. Further study is still needed, especially for longer diet and training interventions. But for 4 weeks, a properly supplemented vegan diet provided health and fitness outcomes on par with mixed diets.

Durkalec-Michalski K, Domagalski A, Główka N, Kamińska J, Szymczak D, Podgórski T. Effect of a Four-Week Vegan Diet on Performance, Training Efficiency and Blood Biochemical Indices in CrossFit-Trained Participants. Nutrients. 2022 Feb 20;14(4):894. doi: 10.3390/nu14040894. PMID: 35215544; PMCID: PMC8878731.