Why Are So Many Pro Surfers Going Vegan?

If you’re in the know, you might see a lot of our favourite world tour pro surfer posting more pictures of smoothie bowls and hashtagging the words vegan in their Instagram post. You might not really care or even bother what these pro surfers eat, but over the last few years, there has been a real change in the way we eat especially in the surf world. The big Vegan tag isn’t only for hipster and animal rights activists who want to jump on the bandwagon of today’s what’s a hot topic, are a legitimate lifestyle and diet change that is giving these pros the edge in performance and recovery that’s backed up by modern science. So, if you were thinking about improving you airs or working on your rail game maybe the fuel that you eat could have the answer.

The King Vegan Kelly Slater

Kelly Slater the 11-time world champ of surfing has always been known for eating pretty healthy, and if you watch any interview with him talking about food by god he knows a lot about health and nutrition. But more recently on Kelly’s social media channels, he has been talking about his adoption of a vegan (plant-based diet) in the videos the 11-time world champion said: “I haven’t had milk for probably 20 years now.”  And for good reason for those of you that follow Kelly he talks out about the ethical problems with drinking milk and eating other dairy products and has always been opposed to eating most animal products and prefers getting his protein from things like chia and plants.

Yep the now 2 time back to back world champ is pretty much living of a plant-based diet and if John John has got enough energy to win world championships then I think it’s probably good enough for me and you John John said “I’ve become increasingly aware of food and its effects on the human body. All signs point to the idea that a plant-based diet is far superior to that of high animal-product intake.” When you a pro surfer looking for any edge you can get maybe having that extra energy or less inflammation post surf is allowing John to find that extra gear and win competitions.

Alana has been the pin up girl for Ripcul and with her killer surf style and gorgeous looks who wouldn’t want to live Alana life. Being aware of her footprint in the world as well as super conscious about her health and the food she eats Alana has been eating this way for years and know with her hubby jack and their baby they will be living the ultimate vegan surfer family Alana said “One of the reasons I am vegan is because I love animals so much and could never even imagine hurting one.” 

And if you think about it as surfer we tend to think of ourselves and more InTouch with mother nature than most why have the death of another being on your plate just to eat when its not necessary.

Rob Machado

One of surfing most iconic and most loved soul surfers Rob Machado is one surfer you probably love for his laid-back approach to surfing and his love of all the fish shapes in surfboards. But one thing you might not know about Rob is that he’s been predominantly a plant-based diet for most of his life rob said “I was raised a vegetarian so I was always aware of environmental issues. There wasn’t a whole lot of vegetarians around in the 80s—so we were ahead of the curve in that way.” Obviously, rob know better than most the massive effect that animal agriculture has on the environment from ocean dead zones from animal waste to dumping of toxic water quality from runoff farms. As a surfer that’s hugely affecting your health on a daily basis. And going plant-based means you eat about 90 or so fewer animals a year so 90 lives saved means that you also don’t contribute to the system that is destroying the planet.

Jack Freestone

jack being from a classic auzy background was raised on meat and a typical diet a lot of surfers might relate to. Since meeting Alana he has seen the light and become fully fledged plant based not only for potential health benefits but for ethical reasons do. 

Tia Blanco

If you follow surfing younger scean or the ISA then you might know of a pretty promising surfer called Tia Blanco she won her 2^nd gold medal at the (ISA) International Surfing Association world cup and is set to be heading to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were she will compete in the first Olympic surfing event in history. Tia has been vegetarian since birth but made the change to go vegan because of ethical reasons Tia said “I went vegan for the animals. I love them all and I don’t want to eat my friends.” She’s also has an online YouTube channel were she talks all things vegan and also shows you what she’s eating day to day. Tia contributes a lot of her success to a vegan diet obviously making it easy to stay lean and health but also helping her to lose the fat, gain muscle and have loads more energy. Is there anything a vegan diet can’t do   Tia Also said in an interview with teen vogue “I love animals too much to contribute to … suffering,” “From an environmental standpoint, animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.” And Tia we are totally with you.   As a surfer doing our part to keep the oceans healthy is massive guardians of the sea and to have a huge affect it only requires that I don’t eat animal products then I’m all in with you.