Vegan Smackdown?

Daniel Bryan. (Image via Flickr)

Okay, we at Veggie Scene will admit that we're not the biggest WWE fans. However, when we heard about a popular WWE wrestler who followed a completely vegan diet, our interest was peaked.

Daniel Bryan stands at 5'10", weighs 210 pounds, can break a chair over your head, oh and follows a strictly vegan diet. Not only does Bryan wrestle as a vegan, he was even crowned the United States Champion.

So Bryan seems to be proving that you can follow a vegan diet no matter what your profession or fitness level. That said, Dave Scott, who won six Ironman triathlons while on a vegan diet, has recently commented on Bryan's veganism and stressed the importance of athlete vegans strictly monitoring their diets to make sure they get all of the needed nutrients and vitamins.

In an interview with Corey Erdman of The Score, Scott professed the benefits of a vegan diet but also stressed some of the pitfals that vegan athletes could face when planning their diets. Scott particularly stressed the dangers of consuming too many soy products.

"People think gee, if I have soy, it’ll help my calcium stores, it’ll help my bone density, it’ll help my electrolytes. And it’s really false. The soy actually negates the calcium absorption. Soy has phytoestrogens. It throws off men and women’s hormone levels. The amount of phytoestrogens is staggering in soy-based food. The unfermented ones, which are tempeh and miso and natto are the best ones. People should eat those."

Read the entire interview here.

Based on Bryan's physique, we think he probably monitors his diet pretty closely and proves that even athletes who want bulk and muscle can follow a vegan diet. What do you think?