Veganism and sport might seem like unlikely bed-mates but a burgeoning number of athletes appear to be turning to it in a bid to avoid injury or recover more quickly from training. It’s a curious thing when a Premier League footballer such as Arsenal’s Héctor Bellerín embraces a plant-based diet in a bid to improve his fitness. Mostly met with scepticism, Bellerín’s solution to an ankle injury that had prevented him from playing was one that involved eliminating animal products and fuelling up on wholefoods instead. Despite the naysayers, it seems to have done the trick, allowing the Spaniard to return to his pre-injury form but not without ruffling a few feathers in the process.

With veganism on the rise then, why are many professional athletes still so averse to accepting that adopting a plant-based diet might just give them that desired edge? One club that does understand the power of a plant-based diet is Forest Green Rovers, who have opted to keep their collective diets entirely animal-product-free during training. To many people’s surprise, the team recently got promoted to the football league for the first time in their 128-year history, leading people to wonder whether veganism had played a part in their success.

Endurance athlete extraordinaire Rich Roll might just have a few answers when it comes to linking a plant-based lifestyle to increased performance, listing some of the obvious benefits as being able to maintain weight, as well as expeditiously furthering the body’s ability to repair exercise-induced stress. Named as one the world’s 25 fittest men by Men’s Fitness magazine and at 52 still taking on challenges that would make people half his age wince, Roll’s approach to training involved swapping his penchant for pepperoni pizza to veggies, lentils and “tons of greens”.

Speaking from his home in the Malibu hills, the author of Finding Ultra said: “I think many would be surprised to learn that I don’t excel athletically despite my plant-based diet, but because of it ... Many people think I must be eating gigantic amounts of food daily. I have found that to not be the case. In addition to being highly adapted to the training load I endure, the foods I eat are so nutritionally dense that I don’t require the calorific density one might imagine. In other words, I do better with less.”

And it’s not just the immediate gains athletes are now concerned with but also their long-term health. With many athletes succumbing to heart failure at a young age, are the new generation now thinking ahead, hoping to avoid the same fate as many of their peers? Some cases are indeed congenital (or the result of high-intensity exertion, which can lead to structural, functional and electrical changes to the heart) but that doesn’t necessarily mean a plant-based lifestyle can’t have a significant impact in combating chronic disease. Roll explains this was a major factor in his own wholefoods overhaul: “With heart disease in my family lineage, this was a prime motivator for me making the switch back in 2006 ... in addition, eating a wholefood, plant-based diet is the one diet that has been proven to prevent and even reverse a litany of chronic lifestyle illnesses including type-2 diabetes.”

Because sugar and processed-food consumption are currently at the forefront of many people’s minds, particularly in the wake of Jamie Oliver’s recent #AdEnough campaign, Roll thinks it’s also pertinent to point out that not all vegan food is healthy. “A wholefood, plant-based diet should not be confused with a vegan diet, which despite being animal-free can or may include processed and other less healthy ingredients.” This might be disappointing news to many who think a tub of dairy-free Ben & Jerry’s is tantamount to having a smoothie bowl, but with an increasing array of junk food alternatives on the market, it’s vital to remember that these should be regarded as occasional treats and not something to rely on daily.

So, what is the future for veganism in sport and if you are considering making the switch yourself, where exactly should you begin? Roll maintains that while endurance athletes have led the charge when it comes to plant-based eating and performance, many mainstream professionals are now following in their steps, including tennis virtuoso Serena Williams who’s previously claimed her new diet “changed her life”.

Keeping things abundantly simple and nutrient-dense seem to be the mantra from most with Rich stressing that it’s important not to be intimidated by the prospect of an entirely vegan diet. “If you’re not ready to jump in 100%, simply begin prioritising whole plant foods as close to their natural state on your plate. And yes, your athletic performance – over time – just might surprise you.”

• Aine Carlin is a vegan food writer and blogger, and author of Cook Share Eat Vegan (Octopus)