Raw vegan NHL player stays muscular with these foods

I recently had the chance to sit down with former NHL Right Wing for the Montreal Canadians, Georges Laraque, at the Raw Aura restaurant hosted by Chef Douglas McNish.

Georges shared that he’s a strict 100% vegan and 80% raw, and he was this way even when he was on the ice.

I asked him how he is able to maintain enough muscle mass while competing in the NHL on a raw vegan diet.

His advice: “Tons of kale. Lots of goji berries, as they’re a complete protein, full of amino acids. It was very important for me to eat a lot of cooked quinoa when I was on the ice. Vega protein powder helped me as well.”

Georges went vegan for animal rights purposes, but now reports that he’s never felt better, and he wishes he had made the decision years ago. A quote from his official website states, “my energy level is stronger and my strength has increased too. My health has never been better in all areas.”

He goes on to say, “If you want to try to be a vegetarian, but are under the impression that you will not get enough protein or that you will look skinny, rest assured that there is tons of protein in vegetarian products that are much better for your health because vegetarian products aren’t filled with the cholesterol that animal protein is filled with.”

“Some of the greatest athletes in the world are vegetarians like retired four-time NBA champion John Salley, Carl Lewis (who was named Olympian of the Century by Sports Illustrated), NFL’s Tony Gonzalez and the MLB’s Prince Fielder among others.”

We love Georges tremendously for his compassion towards animals, his passion for activism, and the fact that although he was the most feared player on the ice, he was one of the kindest ones off the rink.

Have a look at his campaign for Haiti, view the film Earthlings which converted him towards veganism, or book a spot on a raw vegan retreat to learn how to go vegan yourself.

Follow Georges on Twitter here.

Cruda: Toronto’s Newest Raw Restaurant

We’re very excited about welcoming Cruda Café to the Toronto raw food community!

Cruda Café is a raw food restaurant which is currently under construction in the basement of the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, at the intersection of Front and Jarvis.

We stumbled upon it recently, as the House of Verona Toronto office is right next door.

When they open, they’ll serve vegan, organic living foods for eat-in or take-out in biodegradable containers.

The GTA now supports 5 raw restaurants – staggering growth, consider we had only 1 from 2000 to 2008.

The number of restaurants is a telling metric of the nature of the health community in Toronto, and the growth rate of the raw trend.

In comparison, Montreal has 1, New York has 7, and the L.A. area has 20 and counting.

Welcome, Cruda!