Not your typical stereotype of a professional football player

Arian Foster of the Houston Texans. Labeled by Sporting News as the “NFL’s Most Interesting Man.”

Appearing on CBS This Morning (9-5-12) was the “NFL’s Most Interesting Man,”Arian Foster of the Houston Texans. Not drafted after playing for the University of Tennessee, Arian thought at first that his football career was over.

Later, after spending a year riding the bench in Houston, he got his big break—starting the first game of the 2010 and literally exploded on the field, gaining 230 yards rushing and scoring three touchdowns. He went on to lead the entire league in rushing for the season.

In an earlier article (See link below), it was reported that his new vegan diet was causing controversy. Here’s what Arian had to say about that:

Who would have thought that someone cutting meat out of their daily eating regimen would cause such hullabaloo. As Foster says, “People feel so strong about meat and milk. I wish they felt this strong about peace.”

The NFL’s Most Interesting Man. But, as he said, “If you’re not winning, nothing about you is interesting.”

Regarding the controversy, from the article: “Some of Foster’s Twitter followers gave him a hard time for his announcement. In response to Foster saying he’s never drank an entire glass of milk, one twitterer went as far to say he did when he was a baby. Foster responded, “My mom didn’t produce cow milk.”

When asked in the CBS interview (9-5-12) about him being called the “NFL’s Most Interesting Man,” he replied that that kind of thing accompanies success. When he and his team weren’t doing very well, no one ever thought of him as being that interesting. But now, they want to know all about that poetry, the quantum physics and yes—that vegan diet.

Two Minutes of “Arian Inspired” Vegan Controversy on ESPN

Another “interesting” vegan of the NFL—Tony Gonzalez of the Atlanta Falcons, veteran of ten pro-bowls.

But Arian disagrees with those guys as he explains some of the reasons for going vegan. He makes it real simple. He chose to go vegan for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons was for the added benefit of quicker recovery times after muscle-draining games. Perhaps he was also influenced by a number of elite athletes who had gone vegan before him. People like pro hockey player Mike Zigomanis, who says, “Triathletes, a lot of them are vegan. All the ultra-marathon runners are vegan.”

Other great athlete vegans include boxer Mike Tyson, Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier, football greats Desmond Howard & Tony Gonzalez and tennis star Venus Williams.

And this just in. Finally, a great health tip (for a change) on CBS This Morning(9-5-12). On tips that help women avoid gaining weight after menopause. Sounds a lot like 4Leaf to me; 4 simple steps:

This motorcycle plate provides the numerals for consecutive daily blog #582.

1. Reduce desserts
2. Reduce sugary beverages
3. Reduce cheese and meats
4. Increase fruits and vegetables

Finally, handy links to the source article along with links to a few of my earlier blogs about athletic performance and healthy eating:

• Source article. Arian Foster’s new vegan diet causes controversy.
• Olympic champions harnessing plant-based power
• Athletic performance & a whole foods, plant-based diet
• Athletic performance and plant-based nutrition…
• Animal Protein—Professional athletes don’t need it either.
• Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, vegan prize fighter

Know any young athletes out there who might want to learn how to help their body perform for them? You might want to forward this blog to them; maybe they’ll take advantage of some of the simple advice provided here:

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation