Was Popeye right all along?

I’m strong to the finish

Cause I eat my spinach

I’m Popeye the sailor man.

— From Popeye the Sailor Man

It seems that the first vegan “strongman” was Popeye the Sailor Man, the famous cartoon character of the ‘50s. His nemesis Brutus, who was bigger and more muscular, was no match to Popeye once he had his dose of spinach.

Was Popeye right?

Perhaps.

* * *

I hate violence in any form. This explains why I have never watched (until the Pacquiao vs. Bradley) a boxing match all my life. I will never understand how educated people who pay good money to watch a pay-per-view boxing match are only happy when the Pacman draws blood from his opponent. 

That is not a sport, that’s barbaric, if you ask me.

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But, I was drawn to Timothy Bradley because I heard him on a news conference say that his power comes from his vegan fight diet.

For vegetarians like me, Bradley has put the vegan diet at the forefront for athletes who are looking for the extra clean fuel edge to power their muscles.

“We know that veganism is revolutionizing the sports industry,”says Jason Baker, Asia-Pacific director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).  “I paid close attention to the fight because we know that so many athletes who are trying to get that extra edge are going vegan.”

Baker, who has been a vegan for almost 20 years, is a vegan for animals, as he has committed his life to making sure that animals get treated humanely.

But, to him, the reason a person goes vegan (those who don’t eat any form of dairy products) or vegetarian is what is important. “It is the healthiest diet,” he adds.

Vegetarians and vegans who watched the Pacquiao-Bradley fight knew that power of Timothy Bradley came from his vegan diet plan.

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On the site http://eat2behealthy.com/tim-the-vegan-bradleys-big-fight-against-pacquiao-saturday-night/, Bradley is described as a different kind of fighter. Although it is admitted that Manny Pacquiao is the better fighter, Bradley had a secret that a lot of endurance athletes seem to be touting lately — a vegan diet.

Matter of fact, Bradley was quoted as saying, “It gives me a lot of fuel to train hard. Recovery’s a lot quicker, digestion’s a lot quicker… I’m able to use energy a lot faster than if I was consuming animal protein. I feel great.”

Bradley goes pure vegan for three and a half months before a fight, a diet plan he has been following since 2008. That means no meat or dairy products whatsoever. 

“I just feel so much better. Cleaner, mental clarity,” Bradley says. “You see the physique. I don’t lose any muscle. I’m a lean, mean, fighting machine.”

So how did Bradley get turned on to the whole vegan thing, anyway?

“I met some doctors who are vegetarians. They said something along these lines —  ‘You see those 350-pound gorillas? Do they eat meat?’ I was like, ‘Do they?’ They said they don’t eat meat. They eat fruits, plants, natural vegetation.’”

Baker says that Bradley has put vegetarianism and veganism in the forefront. But there are many other people who turned vegetarian because of its health benefits.   

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“Bill Clinton is a vegan. His daughter Chelsea is also a vegan,” adds Baker.  “He was close to having a heart attack. Chelsea said to him that she was worried that he wouldn’t live to see his grandchildren. That really hit him hard so he talked to some doctors who had been advising him to do this originally.”

Baker says that Bradley is not the only vegan athlete. 

“ My best year of track competition was the first year I ate vegan,“ says Carl Lewis, world famous track star. He adopted a vegan diet to prepare for the World Championships in 1991. Carl Lewis earned a total of 10 Olympic medals over his career, nine of them, gold.

 Baker explains that athletes look at the science of being vegetarian. A person gets more energy from a plant-based diet because the muscles that one builds from vegan diet protein synthesize better.

“When a person is vegetarian he or she does not go through the difficult process of processing meat that a meat-eater does,” quips Baker.

 And for humans who insist that cow’s milk is best for babies, Baker has this to say, “There is no other species on the planet that drinks breast milk after they are babies. And there is no other species on the planet that drinks the breast milk of another species.”

Baker asks the question, “Will Pacquiao be a vegan for the rematch?”

“Because if you compare the two fighters I think that Pacquiao is the better fighter, “ he says. “But, I do credit the vegan diet, which was what pushed Bradley. It is the same diet that many other fighters — from Ultimate Fighter Competition (UFC) to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) say gives them the edge.”

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 When Mac Danzig won the UFC in 2008 as a vegan, it was one of the more standout moments that rang a bell for a lot of people. He has been a strict vegan since 2004 and is an animal rights advocate.

In the UFC there are so many vegans. These big guys have been seen eating a bowl of tofu and sprouts. They are breaking the stereotypes about meat eating.   

Go Vegan

“There are many reasons why vegan has sort of taken hold, not only because it is the healthiest thing,” says Baker. “On top of that, there is the ethical al argument and on top of that is the environmental arguments.”

Recently, the United Nations put out a report talking about how the meat and dairy industry are in the top carbon producers in the world.

“Veganism isn’t just hippies from the ‘70s anymore,” Baker smiles. “It is mainstream. There is soymilk at Starbucks.”

Many athletes who have discovered the benefits of a vegan or vegetarian diet want to tell others about it.

There have been a number of books that have helped change things. Two books have been written: Skinny Bitch for girls and the one for guys, Skinny Bastards.

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Baker shares that the two books are about the health benefits of a vegan diet and how it gets you fit.  

Skinny Bitch was a massive New York Times bestseller.

Peta and Ethics

Baker has been to factory farms and seen how chickens live, how cows live, how eggs are produced and how milk is produced. 

“I don’t want to have part of it,” he adds. “A chicken has to spend approximately 24 hours in a cage for one egg. The average space that it is given is the size of a legal bond paper.”

Baker adds that chickens spend their entire lives in a cage, never spread their wings, oftentimes their feet grow into the wire cages, they don’t get to raise their young, they don’t get to fly — “it’s a miserable life.”

It’s the same thing with the dairy industry. In order to get cows to keep producing the cow farms have to make sure that the cows keep having babies. Their babies are either sent to be more dairy cows, or if they are male, they are killed.

“The babies never get to have their mothers milk, which is where the profits are,” Baker laments. “Meat production is a leading cause of greenhouse-gas emissions, water pollution, and land degradation. The best way to fight the cruelty and pollution of factory farms and slaughterhouses is to kick the meat habit.”

Advice For Pacman

Two for Veganism: After being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s Syndrome, professional tennis player Venus Williams switched to a raw, vegan diet. Her sister Serena Williams switched as well, for moral support.

 “I would tell Manny to talk to someone like Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, who is Bill Clinton’s doctor. Talk to someone who is on the cutting edge of sports medicine,” says Baker. “What veganism does is put the best fuel in your body. If you want the most efficient high-power fuel, a vegan diet gives you that.”

A vegetarian diet does not have any of the saturated fats from meat that one has to work extra hard to get rid of. Making a meat-eating boxer like Manny move slower than the vegan Bradley. 

“Vegan vs. Vegan rematch, that is what I think it will be,” says Baker. “And, I am willing to bet that if Manny goes vegan he will win because Bradley will lose his edge.”