They’re world-class athletes who’ve both taken home silver medals at the Olympics, but that’s not all Luuka Jones and Brooke Francis (née Donoghue) have in common.
The Rotorua friends are also vegetarians who are passionate about proving it’s possible to be an elite athlete without eating meat.
Together, with nutritionist Christel Dunshea-Mooij, Luuka and Brooke have combined their personal experiences and knowledge to write Sustain, a plant-based cookbook for athletes and active people.
“The myth is, it’s not possible to be a high-performance athlete and not eat meat. But it’s definitely possible,” enthuses Christel, 53, who stresses it’s all about ensuring calories and nutrients are properly replaced.
For canoe slalom paddler Luuka, who won silver at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, it was adopting pet chickens that inspired her to start following a plant-based lifestyle four years ago.
Luuka in action at the Rio Games.
“I couldn’t imagine my pet chickens being raised in a cage purely for consumption and it made me think quite deeply about my food choices,” says Luuka, 33, who admits she was initially hesitant about giving up meat.
“I’d been wanting to switch, but there wasn’t a lot of information specific to athletes. One of our slalom champions famously ate a steak every day, and I grew up believing in order to get enough protein and iron, I had to consume meat. But that’s absolutely not the case.”
Rower Brooke had similar concerns, especially as an initial attempt to go vegetarian as a teen wasn’t successful – her sporting performance suffered and she decided to eat meat again.
But by 2018, eating meat still didn’t sit well with her.
Brooke with sculls partner Hannah Osborne in Tokyo.
“This time, I trusted I could adapt my diet with research and support from nutritionists, and it definitely hasn’t impacted my performance,” shares Brooke, 27, who scooped a silver medal in the double scull rowing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “I’m getting everything I need from my food.
“There was a little bit of pushback in the beginning when I told people I wanted to stop eating meat. Everyone had my best interests at heart and it made me more conscious about doing it better to prove it can be done.”
In September, Brooke also became a mum to daughter Keira. “I think the same nutrition principles apply to being both an athlete and a mum,” says Brooke, whose go-to snack while breastfeeding is peanut butter cookies. “I tried to stay really active and healthy throughout pregnancy. I’m used to eating so much food as an athlete, so being pregnant and a mum is quite similar.”
The new mum with husban Jeff.
At home, Brooke’s husband Jeff and Luuka’s partner Brendan eat meat.
“A lot of us grow up with the meat-and-three-veg mentality, but I made Brendan vegetarian nachos the other night and he enjoyed them so much, he made them again for me,” laughs Luuka.
Partner Brendan still tucks into meat.
Both athletes insist Sustain is not about pressuring people to follow a specific diet, but instead showing it’s possible to be plant-based and active.
“People sometimes think vegetarians just eat salad, but there are plenty of meals that have adequate nutrition and are delicious,” says Brooke. “It’s just about sharing recipes that have all the nutrients you need if you want to eat a more plant-based diet.”
Head of performance nutrition for High Performance Sport NZ, Christel was integral in writing the book and says even her 23-year-old son is impressed by how good the recipes are.
The pet chooks are in safe hands with Luuka.
The trio have spent the last two years writing and refining Sustain, which combines technical information from experts and fellow plant-based athletes, and shares personal tried-and-tested recipes.
“It came about in a year which was filled with a lot of uncertainty,” says Luuka. “The Olympics had been postponed. We had trained for four years and weren’t even sure if it was going to go ahead. It gave us something to focus on aside from sport.”
The talented foodies say all profits will be donated to Waterboy – a Kiwi charity breaking down barriers so kids can participate in sport and personal development – and they hope their book will support other athletes and active people to consider a more plant-based lifestyle.
