Not only am I a vegan athlete I am also sugar free. The latest nutritional theories and research I have been reading are finding that our bodies run on electricity (electrolytes) not sugar! Sugar gives us a false high which then results in a huge low afterwards giving our body an energy debt it needs to recover from, slowing exercise recovery.

The longer it takes to recover the longer we need to rest between training. The less rest we need the more we can train and the fitter become. Brendan Brazier, Vegan Iron Man Triathlete explains this well in his book The Thrive Diet, in the chapter on stress.

So what do we eat during exercise?

Raw, Sugar Free, Natural, Energy Bars

There are now sugar free bars readily available in health food shops and some supermarkets, the best ones I have tried are; Nakd and Trek, these bars are fantastic, reasonably priced, great tasting and sugar free nutrtion bars. I use them as energy bars during and after a long bike ride.

Brendan Brazier has created his own natural, raw, sugar free energy bars called Vega whole food energy bar. These are more pricey but when you check out there highly nutritious ingredients you can see why.

The cheaper alternative is to make your own. There are plenty of recipes for these in Brendan’s book, The Thrive Diet.

Some of the natural ingredientts in Brendan’s reciepes include:

 Dates

Raisins

Almonds

Blueberries

Flaxseed

Hemp Protein

Quinoa

Amaranth

Sunflower seeds

 I ensure I eat plenty of these in my diet, when I get in from training I often make a bowl of raw oats, dates raisins, almonds, ground flaxseeds, sunflower and pumpkins seeds with water. The first 45 mins after exercise is the window of oppertunity to restock the muscles with energy. I also have a glass of greens after a training session.