Athletes have special needs when it comes to fuelling for optimized performance.  Nutrition requirements are continuously shifting depending on the desired activity as well personal goals such as weight loss or improvements to lean muscle mass. There are a growing number of vegetarian athletes at the amateur and professional levels which raises discussions on whether or not an athlete is put at a disadvantage when choosing to eliminate some or a majority of animal derived foods.  While there are several types of different vegetarian diets, including but not limited to lacto-, ovo- and macro-, we are going to discuss the

Watermelon is a plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, a vine-like flowering plant which was originally domesticated in West Africa and grows wild in South Africa to this day. The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred roughly 5000 years ago in Egypt and is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics. A highly cultivated fruit worldwide, watermelon has more than 1000 varieties. Often thought of as the iconic summer fruit, the cold, sweet texture of a watermelon on a hot day is a fantastic way to keep cool. Since it is loaded with electrolytes and is 92% water1, it helps to keep you hydrated

At the end of each of our chromosomes there is a non-coding, repeating DNA segment called a telomere. Telomeres act in a similar way to the protective cap on the end of a shoelace. Like the plastic or metal cap keeps the shoelace from fraying and unraveling, telomeres cap each strand of DNA to protect our chromosomes from damage. There is significant research showing the correlation between telomere length and lifespan. Prematurely shortened telomeres have been linked to increased risk of disease and decreased longevity. As we age, our telomeres will naturally shorten by 20 to 40 base pairs each