Manchester United defender Chris Smalling believes his vegan diet has helped him stay injury free and revealed he plans his pre-match meals with the club chef.
The 29-year-old revealed last August that he had made the dietary switch after being convinced by his wife, Sam.
‘I think it is a blend of a lot of things and I think my diet is a big factor in that,' Smalling said. 'I think it helps me to recover quicker and the fact we play very two or three days, I did feel fresher.
‘I think that also comes along with the coaching side in terms of managing training and doing your recovery well but all of it goes hand-in-hand with the end goal. When you recover from that game, you are ready to go again. Everything came together last year.'
Smalling played 46 times for United last season and has already clocked 18 appearances in all competitions so far this campaign, although is currently sidelined with a foot injury.
He explained that he works closely with the coaching staff and chefs at United to ensure he is not missing out on any vital nutrition.
The nutritional side, we work closely with the chef to tick all the boxes,' Smalling said. 'He knows my diet at home and that I get the right nutrients, it is an easy setup.
'Me and my wife come up with a list we have at home and bounce ideas off rach other.
'At United there is often a nice buffet of food and one or two are plant based. Quite often, a lot of people who aren’t following that diet will try it as well because it is good food.
'Before I game I have pasta to carb-up before with a vegan Bolognese but there are so many ideas you never get stuck for what to have.’
While Smalling has credited his wife's influence before, he has underlined other factors in convincing him to remove meat and dairy from his diet.
‘There are so many documentaries out there and so much more information,' he explained in an interview on United's website. 'I think it is hard to ignore some of the facts and that is definitely a big part of why I will stay vegan.'
'I’ve spoken to Jermain Defoe at England when he was transitioning and quite a few other plant-based people who are following that diet. It is good it is spreading, it is a healthy way to live.
'It is popular in America, in England and I think more sports people will (go vegan) and the public as well. When you start looking into it, it is hard to avoid a lot of the positives that come from it.'
Andredu
52
Truly interesting to me. I’ve got a serious condition that I manage with diet. Strict on carbs and low animal product - basically pescatarian / vegetarian or whatever. The past few months I’ve slowly been able to work out again and I have hardly any pain or fatigue the days after working out. It’s an experience that’s blowing my mind, as I was used to feeling dead for 2-4 days after any exercise my whole life. Now I can workout everyday. Diet is everything for some people’s body, it can make a significant difference if you’re consistent with it and not just with weight. Smallings fitness, despite some of his technical flaws, has pushed him to 1st choice in a defence full of invalids. Clearly gaining a lead on everyone through this decision. Good on him