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Yeovil Town defender Nathan Smith has opened up about his decision to turn to veganism.

Smith, Yeovil’s record appearance holder in their EFL history, turned vegan three years ago and credits the change as a key factor in improving his lifestyle.

The 30-year-old, who last month signed a new one-year contract with the Glovers , has spent part of his off-season volunteering at Our Cottage, a health food shop in London which specialises in vegan produce.

In an interview with YouTube channel Vegan Hustle TV , he explained how he gradually removed all animal products from his diet.

Smith said: “One day I just said, ‘do you know what, just let me try something different’.

“Before you know it, I went on the pescatarian vibe for a bit, and then one of my friends, Sam Morsy, who is at Wigan at the moment, I told him about it, I said listen, after a few days I felt light.

“I couldn’t explain it. So then he went on it. Then a few months later he said he was 14 days into trying out the vegan stuff, so I’m like tell me this, tell me that.

“So he’s told me all the stuff he was having, and I tried it out.”

(Image: Tom Sandberg/Pinnacle)

Smith’s time in London is not the first time that he has spent his summer holidays in a way that you would not necessarily expect from a professional footballer.

Last summer, the two-time Jamaica international visited India, where he spent ten days meditating at a silent retreat in India.

Although keen to embrace the idea of going vegan, Smith admitted that the change did present some dilemmas when his footballing duties forced him to stay away from home.

“When I’m going to the hotels for the weekends, it’s the same standard white rice, broccoli that’s cooked out, carrots that’s cooked out, bits of chicken and salmon, the usual,” he said.

“So I remember one day saying I’ll go vegan for a week or so, trying it out. I felt a lot better but I thought ‘you know what, I need to eat something’. You know those times where you’re thinking protein?

“So I’m thinking you know what just let me eat some fish for today, or what not, but the belly just went berserk. It was ridiculous.

“So from then on I said ‘you know what, if we’ve got a weekend match, on Thursday I’ve got to prepare two meals for the Friday and two meals for the Saturday, until I get back’. It just begun from there.”

Smith says he has felt the benefits of going vegan both on and off the pitch.

He added: “You just feel like you think a lot more clearly, and your recovery time improves.

“I remember last pre-season, at lunchtime, some of the players were eating eggs, and I can’t remember what I was eating but it was obviously going to be pure.

“When we were going back out to run, I’m hearing them talking about their stomach, about the egg, but I just felt good. You know when you just feel good, and they’re just complaining the whole time.

“Gradually as you go on and on and you start learning a few more things, and times to eat certain stuff as well.

“You just start feeling better within yourself. You never really feel tired.”