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

and heat over medium heat. Pour in pancake batter to desired size pancake. Cook for 5 minutes or until bubbles begin to appear in the batter. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Following the Thrive Diet principle of cooking only at low heat, and since these pancakes contain essential fatty acids that are destroyed at high heat, they are cooked at a lower temperature than traditional pancakes. They therefore take a bit longer to cook.
     
    Variation: Add 2 tsp ground yerba maté.
     
     
    Makes 2 large servings.
     
    At a Glance
     
    • Regular exercise combined with proper nutrition continually regenerates the body’s cells.
    • Only a moderate amount of exercise is necessary to create and maintain peak health.
    • For long-term success, choose a form of exercise that complements your lifestyle, one that you enjoy.
    • Eating the right balance of carbohydrate, protein, and fat as determined by exercise intensity will dramatically improve performance.
    • The sport-specific foods detailed in this chapter will help enhance your workout quality and therefore fitness level; these homemade versions are much healthier than most of their commercial counterparts.
     
     

five
     
    staple foods for the thrive diet
     
    The Thrive Diet is composed of a number of staples. These are reflected in the Thrive Diet pyramid, on page 40. Although some of the foods central to the Thrive Diet 12-Week Meal Plan are not common in a typical North American diet, most can be found in grocery stores, with the exception of the next-level foods discussed at the end of the chapter. Bigger, more progressive supermarkets may carry them, and health foods stores will almost certainly stock them.
     

vegetables
     

leafy greens
     
    Dark green leafy vegetables are a rich source of chlorophyll, important in offsetting stress by alkalizing the body. Chlorophyll also cleanses and oxygenates the blood, making it an essential “modern world” food and a true performance enhancer. Having more oxygen available in the blood translates to better endurance and an overall reduction in fatigue. In their raw state, chlorophyll-containing plants possess an abundance of live enzymes that promote the quick rejuvenation of our cells. The consumption of chlorophyll-rich, leafy green vegetables combined with moderate exercise is the best way to create a biologically younger body.
     
    All leafy greens are healthy; here are some of the more readily available ones:
     

     

dinosaur kale
     
    A large coarse leaf with a blue-green tint, dinosaur kale is a member of the broccoli family. It is rich in vitamin K, folic acid, iron, and calcium. Packed with chlorophyll, raw dinosaur kale is highly alkaline-forming. Dinosaur kale is less bitter than regular kale, and its bigger leaves can more easily be used for wraps. Rubbing sea salt and lemon juice on the kale will soften it, making it more lettuce-like.
     

fibrous vegetables
     
    Fibrous vegetables are the base of the Thrive Diet pyramid, and the base of a nutrient-dense diet. They include:
     

     

starchy vegetables
     
    Starchy vegetables are an important part of the Thrive Diet; however, only small amounts are needed. They are at the top of the Thrive Diet pyramid and include:
     

     

sea vegetables
     
    Sea vegetables, often referred to as seaweed and less commonly as wild ocean plants, have been a staple of many coastal civilizations for thousands of years. Most notably, Asian cultures have long since embraced sea vegetables as an important part of their diet.
     
    Sea vegetables are among the most nutritionally dense foods in the world. Containing about 10 times the calcium of cow’s milk and several times more iron than red meat, sea vegetables are easily digestible, chlorophyll-rich, and alkaline-forming. Packed with minerals, sea vegetables are the richest source of naturally occurring electrolytes known. Electrolytes allow our cells to stay hydrated longer, thereby improving endurance—of particular significance for active people—so it’s important that we get an adequate amount from our diet.
     
    Dulse, nori, and kelp are the most popular sea vegetables in North America. Dulse provides the perfect mineral balance in a natural form and so is a superior source of the minerals and trace elements we need daily for optimal health.
     
    Other, less common, sea vegetables are agar, arame, kombu, and wakame.
     

legumes
     
    Legumes are plants that have pods containing small seeds.