Spotlight on Brendan Brazier – Professional Triathlete, Best-selling Author, Renowned Speaker and Vegan…

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Brendan Brazier, born March 1, 1975, in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a Canadian endurance athlete, author, advocate of a plant-based diet for personal and environmental health, and creator of a line of whole food nutritional products. Brendan is one of only a few professional athletes in the world whose diet is 100 percent plant-based. He’s former professional Ironman triathlete (1998-2004), who has gained notoriety for his books, The Thrive Diet (Penguin, 2007) and Thrive Fitness (Penguin, 2009). They are considered ground-breaking works in the genre of plant-based nutrition, and as such, Brendan is commonly accepted to be the world authority on plant-based sports nutrition.

During his professional athletic career, Brendan won two Canadian 50 km Ultramarathon Championships (2003, 2006) and was regarded as one of Canada’s top endurance athletes and among the world’s best ultramarathoners. Since his professional Ironman career, Brendan has gone on to formulate an award-winning line of plant-based whole food nutritional products called Vega. When racing fulltime, he originally made these formulas for himself in his kitchen.

Named as one of the Top 40 Under 40 most influential people in the health industry by Natural Food Merchandiser, Brendan has also twice been nominated for prestigious Manning Innovation Awards for the creation of Vega. Additionally, his Vega formulations have garnered international accolades and are available throughout Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan.

Brendan presented a lecture that was recorded and included as part of the curriculum for a certificate program at Cornell University through its online division; eCornell. Entitled “The Plant-Based Diet and Elite Athleticism,” His lecture is based on his bestselling books Thrive and Thrive Fitness and is a component of a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition, created by T. Colin Campbell, the best-selling author of The China Study and long-time professor at Cornell.

Brendan Brazier with Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. T. Colin Campbell

Touring extensively, Brendan and has become a renowned speaker, and as such, is a member of National Speakers Bureau. In 2006 Brendan addressed the United States congress. He spoke of the significant social and economic benefits that could be obtained by improving personal health through better diet. The focus of his speech was to draw attention to the role that food plays in the prevention of most chronic diseases currently plaguing Americans. Named one of the “25 most fascinating vegetarians” in 2007 by VegNews magazine, Brendan gave the keynote address at the annual conference of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that year.

A keynote speaker on Canada’s largest environmental tour, Brendan traveled across Canada in October 2008. The Students for Sustainability tour spanned the country from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, BC. Making stops at 21 universities, it featured David Suzuki, Stephen Lewis, and Maude Barlow who spoke about general environmental issues, while Brendan spoke of the significant draw food production has on the environment. He advocated a plant-based diet as the most environmentally friendly way to feed the world. In June 2009 he appeared on the cover of LA Health News magazine. And in a 2009 pole conducted by VegNews magazine, he was voted by the readers as “Favorite Vegetarian Athlete.”

Swimming, running and cycling are all part of a triathlon

As a result of Brendan’s success, he has garnered a reputation as an innovative cook and recipe developer of performance enhancing plant-based creations. Speaking and providing cooking demonstrations throughout North America, Brendan continues to educate on the value of a properly implemented plant-based diet for improved vitality and performance.

Brendan has been vegan since the age of 15. In an interview with HLife he explains about calcium and a vegan diet:

It’s not that we don’t get enough calcium in our diets – it’s that we take too much out of our bones by eating acid-forming foods. If you eat meat, dairy, white flour or synthetic drugs – it’s all acid-forming. Calcium, which is alkaline, is pulled from the bones into the blood, so that the blood can always be neutral (the body is very resourceful). But over time, one, two, three decades of eating the standard American diet of acid-forming food, you get weak bones, because the calcium just gets drawn into the bones to balance that acidity. And that’s why we’re seeing people getting osteoporosis int heir 20s now, having grown up with the standard American diet. It’s not lack of calcium – it’s that we’re taking it out of our bones. And milk too, you know, it’s acid-forming when you pasteurize it. There are much better sources. We’re not really meant to drink cow’s milk, it just doesn’t make sense, an adult human drinking something that was designed for a baby calf. It’s the wrong species eating this. It doesn’t digest well, it doesn’t help our bones. It’s not a coincidence that the top five countries with osteoporosis are also the top five dairy-consuming countries. The connection is pretty clear.

Read the rest of this superb interview here: http://hlifemedia.com/2010/03/brendan-brazier-vegan-4-life/

THRIVE in 30 – 30 Days To Optimum Health and Vitality with Brendan Brazier

In January 2009, Brendan launched this FREE online programme. Made up of concise written and video segments created by Brendan to help busy people transition to a high performance, plant-based diet, THRIVE in 30 is also ideal for those looking to improve athletic performance. It is based on his bestselling books, The Thrive Diet and Thrive Fitness. THRIVE in 30 has since become part of the curriculum for the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition (CSNN).

The website states:

When you join Thrive in 30 you’ll learn:

How to combat stress using whole, plant-based foods and
high net-gain nutrition
The whole food truth about protein, fats and carbs—
and how balancing your diet will help you build a younger body