9 celebrity athletes who are vegans or vegetarians, from Venus Williams and the Los Angeles Lakers’ DeAndre Jordan, to NFL rookie Justin Fields and footballer Alex Morgan
- Chris Paul said veganism helped him return to the NBA All-Star game and he even lead the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals, while Jordan hosts the vegan cooking show Cooking Clean
- Williams adopted a plant-based diet for health reasons, but Kyrie Irving was inspired to go vegan by Netflix’s What The Health while he was with the Boston Celtics
While vegetarianism and veganism might be on the rise in an increasingly health and environmentally conscious world, many still believe that the diets are incompatible with an athletic lifestyle. However, many professional athletes follow strict diets to sustain their physical durability and performance.
Meet nine sports stars who swear by vegan and vegetarian diets.
Chris Paul
Plant-based diets are growing in the pro sports world, as many star athletes have ditched meat and dairy to gain a competitive edge and maintain longevity in their careers.
Chris Paul’s switch to veganism has been credited for his late-career resurgence. The basketball player switched to a vegan diet in 2019 at the age of 34 when he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the switch helped him return to the NBA All-Star game for the first time in four seasons, he told Men’s Health.
Paul returned to the All-Star game again the next season and even helped lead the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals.
Venus Williams
