Bears rookie Justin Fields goes plant-based, says ‘My job is to invest in my body’

The National Football League player says eating plant-based has helped his body recover faster and resolve his constipation issues.

NFL rookie quarterback Justin Fields has adopted a plant-based lifestyle saying his job is to “invest in my body”.

The American footballer made the comments in an interview with Insider.

The 22-year-old revealed he went plant-based in May 2020 after he and his family tried a plant-based 28-day detox.

“After the 28-day period, I liked the results that it gave me physically but also internally and how it felt inside,” Fields told the news company.

‘Plant-based speeds up the healing process’

According to Fields’ being physically strong and durable is critical to his sport as players are prone to injury on the field.

Earlier this year, the professional athlete broke multiple ribs and partially tore his iliacus muscle during a College Football Playoff game against Clemson University. However, he not only played on but was even back for the championship match against the University of Alabama two weeks later.

“Being plant-based speeds up the healing process,” said Fields.

“Science proves that being plant-based and eating those things heals your body faster and helps your body recover.”

He added: “My job is to invest in my body.

“Keeping your body healthy is the number one thing. If your body isn’t healthy, then you’re not getting the full potential out of yourself.”

Apart from boosting his physical strength, Fields credits his diet for helping him with his constipation issues.

He said: “Before I moved to plant-based, I would kind of be a little bit constipated.

“I didn’t take a number two as often as I do now.”

Field’s food choices

While plant-based burgers, falafel and vegan chicken nuggets are some of Fields’ go-to meals, the athlete wants to busts prevalent myths about vegan food and get more people to join the community.

He also hopes to open a vegan pizza restaurant in one of America’s biggest pizza cities.

“You rarely see famous Chicago pizza restaurants that have vegan cheese on it,” Fields told Insider.

“I hope so one day [to open my own vegan pizza shop]. That would be awesome.

“We would definitely create more knowledge to other people that think vegan stuff is nasty.

“So if I were able to do that, we could get the word out, and people would try it, and more people would think about going vegan or plant-based.”

Fields X PlantX

The athlete has also partnered with the online vegan marketplace PlantX The website will feature a new section with a  list of his favourite plant-based products.

PlantX offers more than 10,000 plant-based products across North America, as well as meal and indoor plant deliveries.

“I see a lot of value in PlantX being a one-stop shop for everything plant-based,” Fields said.

“A lot of people think being vegan is much harder than it actually is, but PlantX makes it easy for everyone to access healthy alternatives (and some of my personal favourites).”

Fields isn’t the only sportsperson to team up with the e-commerce platform.

Earlier this year, tennis ace Venus Williams became an investor and ambassador of PlantX.

The award-winning athlete, who has credited a plant-based lifestyle for drastically improving her quality of life is working with PlantX to help “others learn about the food system and how this lifestyle can help them achieve optimal health.”