From ballerinas to tennis champs this diet is way more than a trend.

By Jessica Ciencin Henriquez

“I’ve been dancing since I was 3,” says Juliet Doherty, an 18-year-old ballerina. “When I was training, I was told protein, protein, protein all the time, but I would get so lethargic.” In an effort to increase her stamina, Juliet started eliminating meat from her daily menu little by little and began seeing an improvement. By the time she cut out all animal products, Juliet knew she was onto something. “With a vegan diet, the food is dense nutritionally but not necessarily calorically, so you have to keep eating a lot throughout the day instead of just three heavy meals,” she explains.

Juliet credits the continuous consumption of concentrated nutrients for her sustained stamina while en pointe. “When I’m performing or I have long days at the theater, I still feel like I have a lot of energy,” she says with a bounce in her voice. In fact, since going vegan, the talented dancer has added another gold medal to her collection of awards: at the finals in the Youth America Grand Prix, the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition. Juliet attributes her success to a combination of discipline, communication, and hard work — and becoming a vegan hasn’t hampered her one bit.

Judging by the nearly half million Instagram photos tagged #veganathlete and #poweredbyplants, more and more people are beefing up without the beef, and awareness of this plant-filled lifestyle is creeping into the mainstream.   >>MORE