{"id":425678,"date":"2026-01-22T11:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/425678\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T11:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:06:07","slug":"plant-based-diets-can-fuel-ultra-endurance-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/425678\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant-based diets can fuel ultra-endurance athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long-distance cyclists can preserve fat-free body mass while on a plant-based diet, according to new research<\/a> involving a University of Alberta nutrition expert.<\/p>\n

Carla Prado<\/a>\u2019s team measured the energy balance of two cyclists \u2014 one male and one female \u2014 on a plant-based diet who crossed Canada in 30 days in the spring of 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth cyclists preserved or slightly increased fat-free mass, and the female athlete maintained body weight despite substantial energetic demands,\u201d write the authors, adding that male cyclist and Faculty of Science<\/a> post-doc Timm D\u00f6bert<\/a> gained muscle and lost fat, possibly because of sex-based differences in metabolism.<\/p>\n

The findings suggest that a well-planned plant-based diet high in protein can support performance while \u201cminimizing loss of fat-free mass during ultra-endurance cycling among recreational athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study is the first to assess energy balance in ultra-endurance athletes on a plant-based diet during a sustained, 30-day effort, adds Prado, with results similar to studies of athletes in events lasting from 12 hours to 17 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipation in ultra-endurance events has increased in recent years,\u201d say the authors, making these results important for \u201cthe growing number of vegetarian and vegan athletes whose plant-based diets may be higher in fibre and lower in energy and protein, posing challenges for meeting nutritional needs during extreme endurance efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carla Prado is a professor and Canada Research Chair<\/a> in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences<\/a> and a member of the Women and Children\u2019s Health Research Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long-distance cyclists can preserve fat-free body mass while on a plant-based diet, according to new research involving a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[10764,49,48,177916,635,84,14629,10129,395,37409,66,177917,177918,18895,18896],"class_list":["post-425678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-athletes","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carla-prado","tag-cycling","tag-health","tag-healthy-eating","tag-life-sciences","tag-nutrition","tag-plant-based-diet","tag-science","tag-timm-dobert","tag-ultra-endurance","tag-vegan","tag-vegetarian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}