The Buff Dudes (aka bodybuilders Hudson and Brandon White) are known for their month-long challenges, where they make big changes to their lifestyles to see what kind of impact it has on their health, fitness and overall wellbeing. With more and more people adopting a plant-based diet, and with research suggesting that a vegan lifestyle can help people live longer and reduce their risk of cancer, Hudson and Brandon decided to explore the effects of cutting out meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and all other animal products for 30 days.
Brandon starts with a shopping trip, stocking up on fruits and vegetables along with other sources of carbs such as rice and beans. And for those naysayers whose first and only argument against a vegan diet is that it doesn’t contain enough protein, Brandon explains that broccoli and spinach, for example, provide just as much protein as they do fiber, while nuts are an important source of protein and fats. Hudson, meanwhile, dives straight into vegan meal prep as a way of ensuring he is getting the exact calories and macros that he needs to keep up his workouts, without wasting extraneous time or energy in the week.
The most immediate and obvious side effect that both brothers experience is a common one for vegans: they fart a lot. The flatulence is so bad it apparently sounds like “a chainsaw having hate sex with a machine gun.”
“Every time I fart, my ass commits murder,” says Hudson halfway through the challenge, adding: “When switching from a meat to plant-based diet, this is typical, and as people have told me, it goes away in the first few weeks, but it’s day 15 and I’m right in the thick of it. Literally, the air is fucking thick.”
But how has the new diet affected the guys’ performance in the gym?
“I’m pretty happy so far,” says Hudson. “I think having a little bit of additional carbs has really helped me. I feel fuller, very pumped… I feel bigger after every workout, and my strength levels really haven’t decreased which is great.” (Unfortunately, the gassiness continues well into the final stretch of the challenge, so he is confined to his home gym for the safety of the public.)
“I can’t say I’m gonna continue on with a plant-only diet,” concludes Brandon. “This is not against veganism by any means. In fact, it taught me a lot; it taught me to implement more beans and greens into my diet, along with moderating my meats on a daily basis, and also supporting locally grown foods.”
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