OrganicAthlete: Why did you choose to stop eating animal products? When?

I stopped eating meat in 1990, all animal products in 1999. Although I stopped drinking milk in 1990 as well, I continued to eat cheese until about 1994. After that I was near vegan but still ate some things that had cheese in them until 1999 when I became a "strict vegan". Originally I stopped eating meat in an effort to improve athletic performance, which didn't work until I figured out what I was doing. In 1990 to me becoming a vegetarian had meant, "stopping eating meat", that's about it. For example, if normally I would eat steak and potatoes for dinner - as a vegetarian I would now eat potatoes. Spaghetti and meatballs, became spaghetti, hamburgers became buns with ketchup. Needless to say this was not a healthy diet. Plus I started eating lots of cheese to fill me up. My performance declined. This is common for new vegetarians. As a result, many figure that vegetarianism is bad and return to their regular diet and forever are convinced that vegetarianism is not the way to go. I, however, was stubborn and curious. I wanted to make it work, so did the research, and experimentation. I figured it out, and I can honestly say that a vegan diet done right is incredibly powerful. I also started learning about the environmental benefits of vegetarianism, which solidified my desire to make it work.

OA: Describe your current diet.

Whole food based - sensible. It consists primarily of good quality carbohydrate in the form of fruit, vegetables, and grains such as rice, amaranth, kamut, and spelt. I get my protein from hemp, nuts, seeds, tofu, and a wide variety of beans and other legumes. High quality fat comes from hemp oil, avocados, and olive oil.

I also found that a South American root vegetable called Maca is a great benefit; I take a powdered form daily. Maca has had a significant impact on my ability to gain strength, its full of naturally occurring sterols. Also, Chlorella, fresh water algae from Japan, is rich in vitamin B12 and extremely alkaline which is a great combination for athletes. Yerba mate is another daily whole food supplement that I take, a natural energy booster, rich in vitamins and minerals - from South America.

The versatility and variety is vast. I'm currently writing a cookbook to be released by late 2004. Some of the recipes include: almond hemp brownies, high nutrition spicy red lentil pizza dough, chocolate hemp energy bars, banana mint chocolate recovery shake, nutritionally balanced ginger cashew granola, and high protein herb soda bread.

OA: What has been your experience as a vegan athlete? Have you noticed any performance or health benefits or problems?

Faster recovery times are the primary advantage I've noticed. Since I'm able to recover faster I can train more which of course leads to greater gains. The only negative thing I can say about a vegan diet is the convenience factor. It's of course hard to find balanced vegan food when eating out. Really though it's a small price to pay for the advantages. As more people are becoming vegan it 's getting easier to find good food while traveling or eating out.

OA: Have teammates and other athletes been supportive or critical?

At first other athletes told me I should really start eating meat. Now of course, they realize that vegan is a completely viable diet for high performance athletes. However some people still don't get it. They'll say, "I can't believe how much training you are able to handle, I could never recover from that kind of work load", then, when they see me eating something "different", they say, "Why do you eat that kind of stuff". The connection is often not made. Maybe what I eat has something to do with it? Could this be? Fine with me.

OA: What advice would you give athletes who want to stop eating animal products?

Have a blender drink daily to "pack in " lots of nutrition. I make mine with fruit (usually banana and pear), pumpkin seeds (iron), hemp seed oil (essential fatty acids), Maca (sterols), chlorella (vitamin b12), and hemp protein, all blended with water.

For more detailed information you can take a look at: www.brendanbrazier.com