You probably have heard of Leonel Messi.

He is one of the world’s greatest footballers and soccer messiah, he is also happens to be from Rosario, Argentina, where I was born.

I was reading a local newspaper the other day, where I found this story that surprised me and I decided to share it with you.

After Argentina failed to succeed in last World Cup, Messi felt his performance in the pitch wasn’t right and decided to change his diet; a decision quite unusual for a football player.

You would think that nutrition should be an important part of professional football training, especially considering how much money is at stake on the player’s performance?

But shockingly, it is not. Players are left to eat whatever they like.

Messi’s action was clever in my opinion. He felt his diet was not working for him, and decided to do something about it.

He consulted an Italian nutritionist that recommended the foundation of his new diet should be:

Water

Good quality olive oil

Whole grains

Fresh fruit

Fresh vegetables

Nuts and seeds

It turned out that what Messi was prescribed is pretty much a vegan diet, making emphasis in organic wholefoods and plenty of fruit and vegetables; which is similar to the diet I recommend but with some differences.

Let’s take a look at the parts of his new diet I don’t agree with:

• Olive Oil

Olive oil (just as the rest of oils: canola, sunflower, safflower, coconut, etc.) and regarding of its “quality”, is not a healthy food because it is refined.

In their concentrated forms, oils are pure fat, and large amounts of that fat will be directly absorbed into the bloodstream, adversely affecting your blood chemistry and blood thickness.

On the contrary, when you consume “wholefoods” such as fresh olives or sunflower seeds (eaten in moderation), you incorporate all the essential nutrients designed by nature to accompany that fat.

• Grains

Grains are addictive, low in nutrients, and taste bland. That’s why we need to cook grains and add sugar, salt, spices, fats, and deadly “excitotoxins” to them to give them flavor, which compromise their potential health value even further.

I’d only recommend eating grains as “transition” foods while you incorporate healthier raw, plant based meals into your diet.

When you remove grains from your diet, you remove the need to eat cooked food pretty much completely, since healthier vegetables taste much better raw than cooked.

Why is the low fat raw vegan diet more effective?

As I already highlighted the benefits of avoiding oils and keeping your diet low fat, eating raw food is healthier because the act of cooking denatures proteins in foods, renders fats carcinogenic, and caramelizes carbohydrates.

Eating raw tastes better too, without the need to add salt or anything.

Even though the diet Messi was given could have been a lot better in my opinion, the changes he made by restricting the consumption of animal products and eating more fresh fruit and vegetables made a decisively positive impact on his performance.

By implementing those simple changes, Messi lost roughly 3 kilograms in weight and stopped his muscle injury problems. He is also scored 98 goals in 102 games for Barcelona, ending Cristiano Ronaldo’s run of Golden Ball success.

His new, more athletic performance also massively helped Argentina ascend in the World Cup qualifier, which I witnessed watching Argentina play live in South America.

The news of Messi’s success diet spread all over the world, so quickly that other players, such as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, is also following suit.

So, how do you know if your diet is working for you?

In the same way a professional athlete takes decisive action to improve his performance, you also need to ask yourself if you are getting any of these symptoms that can affect your life?

• Do you feel you are not energised enough?

• Do you feel tired often?

• Do you get sick regularly?

• Do you have intense cravings for food?

• You feel your digestion isn’t great.

• You are gaining weight.

• You feel you’re not at peace with your body.

Your body never lies.

If you feel any of these symptoms, you too can improve your health – not by taking stimulants or prescription drugs, but by making intelligent changes to your diet.

If you want to fast track your health to greater results, I created a 5 Day Raw Vegan Meal Plan for Endurance Athletes you can download for free (below).

Click Here for Free Download