Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life

within a couple of weeks. Cortisol levels rise, causing the body to retain body fat and cannibalize muscle tissue, which is certainly not the desired effect.
     
    To speed recovery, the body needs simple carbohydrate to enter the bloodstream—the quicker the better. This means that the post-exercise snack should contain very little fat (even the good kind) and no fiber, since both slow the rate at which carbohydrate enters the bloodstream. For normal everyday activity, a slower release of simple carbohydrate is desirable, and so a small amount of protein is good: As much as 20 percent of the total snack can consist of an alkaline-source protein. Up to one part of protein for every four parts of carbohydrate can be beneficial. This small amount of protein helps speed glycogen synthesis, the rate at which the muscles absorb the carbohydrate. However, a greater amount of protein, in excess of 4:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio, will slow recovery.
     
    Immediately following a workout, either a recovery drink or an easily digestible pudding is the best snack. The body often has trouble digesting when it is fatigued (since digestion requires energy, energy the body may not have much of after a hard workout), so liquid and near-liquid-consistency foods are best. You’ll find recipes for my Recovery Pudding on page 126 and for my recovery drinks starting on page 127. These recipes contain the appropriate ratio of nutrients. The Recovery Pudding, for example, contains bananas and blueberries, both of which provide simple and complex carbohydrates, as well as electrolytes to replace those lost in sweat. The ground flaxseed and hemp protein supply a small amount of protein, just enough to assist the carbohydrate in the muscle glycogen-regeneration processes. The small amount of hemp oil (or EFA Oil Blend, recipe on page 210) in the recovery drinks helps in the repair of soft-tissue damage, that inevitable by-product of exercise. These foods, especially once blended, are easy for the fatigued body to digest and utilize.
     
    Once an hour has passed since eating your post-exercise snack, it’s time for a complete, nutrient-rich meal. Ideally, this meal will consist of high-quality, easily digestible raw protein such as hemp, omega-3 fatty acids (also from hemp and flaxseed), and vitamins and minerals from natural whole-food sources. If the workout was a particularly hard one and you are feeling drained, a liquid meal is the best option. A whole-food smoothie is easier and quicker to prepare than most other complete meals, in itself desirable after an exhausting workout. But, most important, a liquid meal shortly after exercise is of value because the majority of the body’s blood will be busy rapidly circulating throughout the body, clearing lactic acid and other metabolic waste from the extremities and delivering nutrients. Remember, the consumption of a conventional meal at this time will require a large amount of blood to travel to the stomach to aid in digestion. Since the blood is needed in the stomach, it cannot remain in the extremities going about its “clean up and delivery” job. With the extra strain of digestion removed by consuming complete liquid nutrition, recovery will dramatically improve.
     
    You’ll find recipes in the smoothie section, pages 222 to 226. I also outline there next-level ingredients that are beneficial. Of even greater value after intense exercise and other types of augmented stress, these ingredients will help rebuild adrenal glands, keeping them functioning properly, and speed recovery in general. Or you may choose to use the powder formula I have developed, called the Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer. In addition to the basics, this ready-made smoothie mix contains all the next-level ingredients you’ll need. It’s available in most health food stores.
     
    I don’t classify raw energy bars as exercise specific because they are useful for many types of activity levels. Recipes for these can be found starting on page 226.
     
    The table on page 121 shows the best time to consume selected sports-specific snacks (recipes follow) for maximum effectiveness.
     

     

alkalizing foods and exercise
     
    Alkalizing foods are an integral part of the body’s post-exercise repair process. If not dealt with, lactic acid build-up from physical exertion, general stress, and acid-forming foods will lead to muscular stiffness, fatigue, and joint pain. If an acidic system becomes chronic, it will