Vegan Triple-Ironman (Raw Vegetables/Fruits)

Endurance sport requires a healthy and balanced diet. In this case report we present the findings of an ultra-triathlete (three times Ironman, means 11.4？km swim, 540？km bike, 125？km run in 41:18？h as a whole) living on a raw vegan diet and having finished the competitions under these nutritional conditions. To this end, the vegan ultra triathlete and a control group of 10 Ironman triathletes of similar age living on a mixed diet were investigated, using echocardiography and spiroergometry. In addition, blood samples were taken from the vegan athlete both in the sporting season and in the off-season. The vegan athlete showed no signs of dietary deficiencies or impaired health. In comparison with the control group, the vegan athlete showed a higher oxygen intake at the respiratory compensation point. This case demonstrates that even top-class sporting performance, like that of a three-time Ironman, is possible on a vegan diet. Whether a vegan diet offers advantages or disadvantages for the performance of endurance athletes remains an open question. 1. Case Report A 48-year-old male finished Triple-Ironman distance in 41 hours and 18 minutes (11.4？km swimming, 540？km cycling, and 126？km running). At the time of the examinations, he had been practising his current diet of raw vegan diet for 6 years. Prior to this, the vegan athlete had been living as a vegan for 3 years and as a vegetarian for the previous 13 years. All last competitions were performed only based on a raw diet. At the time of both examinations, the vegan athlete was 48 years of age and 1.80 metres in height. In the sporting season he was 79.7？kg in weight, with a body fat index of 12.9%; in the off-season he weighed 80.3？kg with a body fat index of 16.3%. Clinical examination showed a regular heart rhythm at 60 beats/min. Blood pressure was 115/70. The heart sounds were normal. Prior to the spiroergometry, echocardiography was performed based on ASA criteria (1). For comparison purposes, we refer to the values for 10 Ironman triathletes of similar age living on a mixed diet. The results of the spiroergometry are shown in Table 1, those of echocardiography are in Table 2, and blood analysis findings are presented in Table 3. The athletes of the control group were aged , weighed ？kg (with % body fat), and were 1.816 metres ±6.6？cm in height. In the active phase the vegan athlete was training on average 18 hours per week, consisting of 2 hours of swimming, 11 hours of cycling, and 5 hours running. This involved covering distances of 5？km (swimming), 330？km (cycling) and 50？km (running). The