Ask the Naturopath!

Your health and performance nutrition questions answered by NZ's foremost holistic performance nutrition expert Cliff Harvey ND, Dip.Fit, HbT, Adv. Psych-K

Q: I'm a vegetarian athlete and have been using whey protein to supplement my diet. Someone told me that whey is not vegetarian.  Is that true? I thought that it was because it's a milk product.

A: The answer is yes and no. Whey is derived from milk and it can be vegetarian (as it is derived from dairy it is obviously not vegan). However, much of the whey that we get comes originally from the cheese making process and often involves the use of rennet (a complex of enzymes from a cow's stomach) as a separation agent. Therefore whey is often not vegetarian.

The only way to be sure is to look for the vegetarian society seal of approval on your whey to be sure that it is made from an acid or microbial rennet extraction process (or get an assurance from the manufacturer that they don't use whey from the cheese making process). Or you could try one of the new, high quality vegetable derived proteins like Pea Protein Isolate (I use 'Vital Protein') which is every bit as good as whey and has higher levels of glutamine, BCAAs and is alkaline.

Q: I've been told to eat more meals by my coach, but I'm having trouble making, preparing and having enough options! Can you give me an idea of how you eat?

A: Sure thing! Two of the most effective strategies employed by me and my athletes to make eating well, consistently a heck of a lot easier is to: A) Prepare too much at dinner. This means that you will have enough for lunches. Simply cook two (or more) portions of what you will be eating for dinner and put the extra/s into a container for lunch the next day. B) Have smoothies! I have a whole food breakfast, lunch and dinner but for a morning and afternoon snack I am often too busy to prepare a meal and so I almost always make a nutrient dense,
primarily whole food based smoothie.

Here's how it looks in practice on a sample day:
On arising: One large glass of water, one additional glass of water with Vital Greens
(multi-nutrient superfood)
Breakfast:  Cliff's Spicy Oats ~ Whole oats, ground flaxseed, ground almonds, berries,
cardamom, turmeric and rice milk.
Smoothie (morning and afternoon):  Banana, natural peanut butter, blueberries, Vital Protein (pea protein isolate)
Lunch:  Homemade vegan sprouted lentil burgers (recipe: http://cliffharvey.tumblr.com/
post/3411867837) small amount of rice and organic baby spinach and rocket with chilli relish.
Dinner:  Sprouted mung beans, pumpkin seeds, organic salad greens, diced tomato, olive oil,
salt and pepper (organic, healthy simplicity at its finest!)

As you can see lunch and dinner are a similar theme (usually legumes + veggies + good fats such as avocado, olive oil and nuts/seeds – which also supply additional protein). In this case the dinner would be repeated the following day. Using this Lunch-Dinner and two x smoothies strategy has allowed me and many of my elite level athletes to perform at our best and remain consistent with our nutrition in spite of a heavy training and work load.

All the best in performance and health!

Cliff


About Cliff Harvey
Cliff is a Naturopath specializing in holistic performance nutrition and mind-body medicine.
He has lectured on the topic of holistic and sports nutrition for many prestigious events and organisations, including The University of British Columbia, Langara College, Can-Fit Pro, NetFit, and to many sporting organisations, multinational corporations and charitable events.

His varied pedigree includes:
2 x IAWA All-Round Weightlifting World Champion
Holder of several World Records for feats of strength
Consultant to dozens of World Championship, Olympic and Commonwealth Games athletes
Consultant to many national and professional sporting bodies.
Competitive submission wrestler

Cliff was one of the original experts featured in NZ Endurance Sport, NZ Multisport and Triathlete and Femme Fitness. He has recently returned from North America and will be answering reader questions. Send emails to info@cliffharvey.com with the subject line "Ask the Naturopath" if you have any questions!
www.cliffharvey.com


Originally published in New Zealand Triathlon & Multisport Issue 81, June 2011