Healthy Aging and Athletic Nutrition Celebrating a half century of a plant based nutrition lifestyle

 

PDN Vegetarianism Energy/Endurance Healthy Aging Developed by Donald Thomas- 1977

Complex Carbohydrates →     60% or greater depending upon activity and individual needs Post Workout meal 3 to 1 complex carbohydrates to protein   Protein →     10 - 15% 0.8 grams/kilogram of body weight Minimal 12 grams of protein per meal 25-30 grams for people over 50 Fat→ 9 - 20% Soluble and Insoluble Dietary Fiber Per Day→ 1½ oz. or more 40 grams/day for adults Children up to 18 years old Age plus 5 in grams Calories Per Day** NJS Calorie Counter→ Women: 1,600-2,400 Men: 2,000-3,000  athletic endurance and physique development, training and competition  1,800 to 8,000

*Back in the late 1970s, Dr. Julian Whittaker suggested—writing in Runner’s World—that keeping dietary fat around 10% might improve endurance by preventing red blood cells from “clumping” (a process called rouleaux), which he believed could interfere with oxygen delivery. It was an interesting and forward-thinking idea at the time, especially since it tried to connect diet directly to how efficiently the body moves oxygen during exercise.

Since then, science has taken a closer look at this. What we now understand is that normal levels of dietary fat don’t play a major role in causing red blood cell clumping in healthy people. Instead, factors like hydration, inflammation, and certain blood proteins are much more important. When it comes to improving VO₂ max and aerobic performance, the biggest drivers are still consistent training, cardiovascular conditioning, and how well your muscles adapt—not whether your fat intake is exactly at 10%.

That said, Whittaker’s broader emphasis on a carbohydrate-rich diet does still line up with modern endurance nutrition. Today, the consensus is more flexible: a range of about 10–30% fat can work well, as long as you’re getting enough carbohydrates to fuel your activity and enough healthy fats to support overall function. So while the specific mechanism he proposed hasn’t held up, his work remains an important early step in understanding how nutrition supports endurance performance.

In 1976, the Japanese received only 9% of their total food calories from fat, with only one-third of that fat being saturated. According to Japanese Health Ministry statistics as of 1988, the Japanese now receive 25% of their food calories from fat. Concomitantly, chronic degenerative diseases, for example, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neoplasm have increased to account for two-thirds of all deaths. They still however have some of the highest rates of longevity among nations.

This 10% fat diet as a part of reversing/preventing some forms of heart disease and cancer disease is now recommended by such notables as Drs. Ornish, Shintani, McDougal and Bernard.

Nutritionist Robin Hur observed that in countries where children ate a high tuber-based diet, they tended to be more muscular than in countries where children were fed grains as the main source of protein. The muscular diet of NJS is designed to produce an athlete with optimum body weight/fat for their athletic endeavor.

The primary sources of complex carbohydrates should come from tubers and root vegetables, legumes (cooked and sprouted), fruits (berries and melons), and sprouted whole grains/grasses rather than refined grains and simple sugars.

**Athletics that require high caloric expenditure both during training and competition (marathons, triathlons as well as professional athletes) may require 8,000 calories or more per day. Two and a half times ones basal metabolic rate appears to be the upper limit of how many calories the individual can digest.

"At age 50, you need 200 fewer calories a day than you did when you were 20, assuming you are equally active," according to Dr. Stacy Weiss, M.D. "After age 60, you need 400-500 calories less. If you're moderately active, up to age 50, around 2,000 calories a day is good. After 50, you need to decrease to 1,800 calories."

American Dietetic Association Endorses Vegetarian Diets

U.S. Pointer Cognitive Decline Study

PDN Canine Longevity diet

 

Jeet Kune Do Sports Nutrition