78-Year-Old Vegan Bodybuilder Might Make You Reconsider Your Diet
by Arjun Walia
Jim Morris was a competitive bodybuilder for 30 years, and became vegan within the past twelve. At 50 he was a vegetarian, and at 65 he was a vegan.
Our understanding of human health continues to evolve and change over time, just like anything else.
As science continues to shed light on the health benefits associated with eating less meat and more ‘earthly’ foods like organic fruits and vegetables, more people around the globe are making a transition to a vegetarian and/or vegan diet for a variety of reasons. There is a reason why a plant-based diet can help prevent over over 60% of chronic disease deaths.
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Jim isn’t the only one, I wrote an article in November of 2013 on Frank Medrano, another Vegan bodybuilder who displays enormous amounts of strength. I show these videos to dispel the protein myth that commonly plagues vegans and vegetarians. It’s not like you’d ask a gorilla where it gets its protein from, would you?
Research indicates that rates of heart disease and certain cancers are strongly associated with animal protein-based diets. Plant-based foods on the other hand have plenty of protein and calcium along with far greater amounts of other essential nutrients like antioxidants and complex carbohydrates that you won’t find in meat or dairy products. Here is a list of 10 protein packed plants if you would like to get started.
The protein in animal products is filled with fats and chemicals and all sorts of stuff that’s harmful to you. When I was competing and stuffing down all that stuff, I had lots of digestive problems, I was constipated and bloated, just miserable all the time. I don’t concern myself with protein anymore, because there is enough in what I eat. I am not only healthy, but I feel better about myself and how I relate to other creatures in the world. – Jim
If you are curious about vegetarian and vegan diets, hopefully this article will inspire you to look into it further. Studies show that vegetarians and vegans live, on average, 6 to 10 years longer than meat-eaters and they’re less likely to suffer from chronic illnesses. It’s always important to do your research if you are considering a major dietary change; don’t just take my word for it, look, search, and you will see for yourself.
Below is an interview with Jim and PETA, he talks about health problems he endured when he ate meat and dairy products. He explains that if he continued to eat unhealthy animal based products he wouldn’t be alive today.
Sources:
- http://www.peta.org/blog/vegan-bodybuilder-jim-morris/
- http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444184704577587174077811182
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562864
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562864
- http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/48/3/712
- http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/48/3/712
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Arjun Walia writes for Collective-Evolution, where this article first appeared.