June 12th 2008
Ultimate Fighting Champion Reveals His Knock-Out Vegan Diet
Filed under: food & drink, sports — Michael Andre d'Estries @ 3:27 pm
A couple weeks back, we profiled Mac Danzig — a finalist in Men’s Health magazine’s profile of the “25 Fittest Guys In America”, and a competitor on the show The Ultimate Fighter. What makes Mac unique amongst all the other fit finalists is that he’s a vegan. Since we dig that, we thought we might share a bit more.
Danzig received so many inquiries into his diet that he’s posted an in-depth look at how he stays in shape, along with what he eats to remain in peak form. Here’s a highlight:
“For the record, I cut dairy completely out of my diet in 1999 (over 5 years before I ever committed to a full-Vegan diet)… This was due to an allergy that I developed in my adolescent years to dairy that effected my sinuses and everything connecting to them. For a good part of my teenage years, I suffered from severe ear infections and chronic Vertigo (which is completely miserable). It took me a few years of to finally realize that the antibiotics were only temporarily subduing a much bigger problem. I did my research and finally found the source.
A lot of people don’t realize how hard milk, whey, and other dairy products are on the sinuses and respiratory system, and the dairy industry would like you to believe that you need milk to get calcium. That notion is as oxymoronic as you can get. Although not everybody has as severe an allergy to dairy products as I did, I just wanted to point out that after years of battling with ear and sinus infections, eliminating dairy completely cured my problems. Anyone with similar problems may want to try it for a while.”
Jump here to take a look at the full post — and perhaps grab some tips on how to cut meat and dairy out while still leading a healthy (and strong) lifestyle.
Stuff global warming in your stocking! Dedicate trees this holiday season through 
[...] You’ve got to think that he’s got a ton of fans who are paying close attention. Link. Spread the word: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]
Bravo to him!
I LOVE stories like this because I get to forward them to all of my male friends who question strength, manliness, and being a vegan. Boohyah!!!
Yes. Mac is a great example for all the ignorant people out there who think that a vegan diet is going to somehow hinder their strength or make them weak. I think anyone who has seen Mac in action will understand that the human animal does not need to eat animal flesh to be healthy and strong. However a vegan diet most certainly will provide a diet rich in compassion, health for the planet and all around ethical benefits for everyone.
Yeah this guy is an inspiration. Makes me proud to be Vegan when people like Danzig are able to reach the top of their game and make everyone realize you can be tough, strong and healthy with a Vegan diet.
Wow, I’m impressed! Danzig is bad ass. That’s cool he goes against the grain and is a vegan.
Cool.
Also check out Ahmed El-Ghandour’s interview at veganbodybuilding.com
He’s vegan and a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which provides much of the groundwork used in MMA.
[...] need only look at famous vegan athletes like Kumar, NFL star Tony Gonzalez or Ultimate Fighting Champion Mac Danzig to realize that vegetarianism packs a serious [...]
[...] — but apparently Mark has never heard of all-vegan Ultimate Fighting Chamption Mac Danzig. Let’s just say I hope he didn’t read your last part about snapping like twigs. [...]