There’s an old joke about vegans that goes something like this: How can you tell whether someone is vegan? Because they tell you… again, and again and again and again. All jokes aside, though, a vegan diet is becoming more and more popular, and Alana Blanchard is one of the people who has adopted it.
It’s fairly common in surfing, with Tia Blanco, Jack Freestone, Nikki van Dijk, and of course Dave Rastovich also on the v-train. One of the common misconceptions about veganism — and as a disclaimer, I am not a vegan — is that it’s tough to get enough protein with a plant-based diet. That, as is true with most common misconceptions, is not true. Soy products like tofu and edamame are also loaded with protein, as are things like chickpeas, lentils and nutritional yeast, the latter of which is unreal on popcorn.
Now, for some people removing any and all animal products from their diet might be a little extreme. But for many, the welfare of animals and the impact we have on them is a big part of the reason to make the switch. For others, it might be strictly a health-based decision. For even more, it’s likely a mixture of the both.
If you do it right, a vegan diet can offer quite a few benefits. Research has shown it can help promote weight loss, reduces the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels, lowers the chance of getting certain types of cancers, and can lower A1C levels, which is helpful for diabetics. Those are just a few of the good things about it. Anyway, Alana Blanchard recently took to YouTube to give her audience a quick breakdown of what she eats in a day as a vegan pro surfer and mom.
