By: Riha Rao Image credit: People
The vegan diet, according to Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, is the key to his success.
However, Djokovic doesn't only like food for its taste. His success depends on it. “Because of my family, I’ve always had a love for food,” he explained. “But as an athlete, it became something more.”
“[Food is] the fuel that determines how I play, how I recover, and how alert I am on the court,” he added. “I attribute a great deal of my professional success to my diet.”
Speaking of his previous approach to food, Novak says, "Physically, I couldn't compete. Mentally I didn't feel like I belonged on the same court as the best players in the game. "But then, lo and behold, I made some changes and that transformed everything."
To "Help his body cleanse," Novak always begins his day with a glass of warm water and lemon. Following a glass of celery juice and a green smoothie, both of which are loaded with antioxidant-rich components like spinach and algae, Novak begins his daily regimen.
Lunch usually consists of a mixed greens salad and gluten-free primavera pasta (including rice pasta, summer squash, courgettes, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes and optional vegan cheese).
Before he switched to a plant-based diet, Novak's meals included a lot of readily digestible, antioxidant-rich foods, white meat or fish, and leafy greens.
“From sport, the movie industry, different fields of life, very successful people who are eating plant-based, being healthy, happy and successful in what they do. This is what it is all about.” Novak expressed.
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