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The dropping of Peter Siddle from the Boxing Day Test has inevitably raised hope in the bosoms of those who want to cling to the myth of the carnivore, despite all the contrary evidence.
According to a recent correspondent on The Roar, “Men. Need. Meat”. His only evidence was the presence of full stops between the words, and a disclaimer that “I have never studied nutrition, and I know very little about sports science”. Well, fair enough then.
The facts, however, can be found with a minimum of research, and are quite different.
Anyone who feels that a peak athlete needs meat should have a chat with sprinter Carl Lewis, ironman Brendan Brazier, MMA champion Jake Shields, strongmen Patrik Baboumian and Jim Morris (the latter still pumping weights at 75) or ultra-marathoner Scott Jurek, who runs 160 kilometres or more fuelled by foods like quinoa porridge with almond milk.
“If you eat a plant based diet you’re getting a lot of extra antioxidants from vegetables and fruit so perhaps you’re less likely to get sick so often and you can front up for training every day” Jurek told Fairfax Media.
Closer to home, take a look at former cricket captain Greg Chappell, surfer Dave Rastovich or runner Robert de Castella. Exercise physiologist and triathlete Dr Darren Morton pointed out that “when it comes to high-end performance, a high carbohydrate intake is important for endurance events as well as for power and strength, and this is what plants can provide”.
The Roar correspondent quoted above also maintained, with the same total lack of evidence and less full stops, that “All great human achievements have come from meat eaters”.
I wonder what Pythagoras, Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer and Albert Einstein would say to that – just a small selection of the many vegetarians who have chosen not to take part in tormenting and killing animals for the sake of a snack.
Plenty more high achieving vegetarians as well as great recipes are available in the PETA Vegetarian Starter Kit.
Peter Siddle has been a mainstay of the Australian team since the second Test in India in 2008. He’s not a bunny with the bat either – Siddle became the first number nine batsman to score a half century in both innings of a Test match against India in Delhi in March 2013, well after he gave up meat and dairy products. He played in all 10 Ashes matches in 2013-14, getting the figures of 5/40 at Trent Bridge. All as a vegan athlete.
Form comes and goes, and players get dropped all the time, mostly without being offered gratuitous and often fatuous comments about the contents of their lunchbox. There will still be vegetarians playing on Boxing Day – in fact two Indian cricketers had to leave the Gabba during the second Test last week to seek decent, cruelty-free fare elsewhere.
Peter Siddle has often said his playing has improved markedly since going vegan. He is the best judge of that, and, as he has said, he will be back: strong, healthy and vegan.
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