Hector Bellerin hails vegan diet for helping his fitness

Arsenal’s flying right-back Hector Bellerin used to leave the field of play feeling ‘inflamed’ and ‘stiff’, but after ditching meaty meals for a plant based diet, the Spanish defender believes that veganism has transformed him into an energetic, revitalised professional and is hungry to remain at the top of his game.

The 23-year-old was formally hampered by an ankle injury last term and struggled to subdue the problem throughout the back end of the campaign, although now that animal products are a thing of the past on his plate, recovering from fatigue and irritating set-backs is a swift, painless process.

“I’ve been vegan since the beginning of the season more or less,” he said, via a report published by Evening Standard. “At the beginning I wanted to try it for a couple of weeks to detox my body and stuff, but I just felt so great after it that I’ve been doing it for more than six months now.

“For me the most important thing is the inflammation in my body after games and the speed that my body recovers compared to before. I’ve always had little problems in my ankles when I played very hard games, they would get inflamed and very stiff.

“Now I don’t even have to strap them to play anymore. It doesn’t just make a difference in your body but I strongly believe that what we’re doing to the earth we get paid back.

“Getting rid of all the food I was eating and going to this plant based diet it did take those few days to actually feel better, but when it got to the beginning of the third week I felt so good.

“I was waking up in the mornings and had so much energy whereas before I used to be that person who would snooze the alarm five times before they got out of bed.

“Players like Nacho Monreal – I hang with him a lot – and [Laurent[ Koscielny they tell me ‘Hector where’s the meat on the plate?’ They always try to put it on my plate but it’s all fun.”

A freshened diet has certainly aided Bellerin’s involvement during the 2017-18 term. The searing full-back managed to complete the full 90 minutes in the Gunners’ first 28 league encounters, a remarkable feat indeed, although he has been deployed more moderately in the Europa League, a wise selection decision by Arsene Wenger, given the fundamental fact that the former FC Barcelona man is still human, despite his super healthy eating habits.