CHARLIE Mulgrew has revealed how going on a high fat diet during Ronny Deila’s time at Celtic doubled his cholesterol levels and left him concerned for his health due to a family history of heart attacks.
Mulgrew, who is in South America with the Scotland squad on their tour of Peru and Mexico, has become a vegan and believes he is reaping the rewards of eschewing animal or dairy products.
It a far cry from his time under Deila at Parkhead – the centre half recalled how embracing the radical eating regime the Norwegian introduced during a spell out injured had made him worried about the long-term impact on his physical wellbeing.
The Blackburn Rovers player claimed that the dietician the former Stromsgodset manager had brought in to the Glasgow club had been “brainwashed” into believing it was good for the players when he felt that exactly the opposite was the case.
“At first I thought: ‘This is keeping me trim, even though I’m injured’,” he said. “To be fair, it stripped everybody’s fat, everybody’s body fat was down. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you are fit enough.
“When I went back to play I would get injured again. I never really had the chance to say ‘this isn’t working for me’. Because I was injured so often injured you couldn’t judge it anyway.
“The dietician who came in was brainwashed to think that was the way to do it. It is hard when someone is brainwashed to then say ‘that isn’t working for me’ because they say ‘you need to do it more’.
“It was the caveman diet - high fat, just meat. My body fat was low, I was ripped. But I was injured at the time so it was easy for me to do. When I went back training I had a lack of energy and my cholesterol was through the roof.
“I have a history of heart attacks in my family. That was part of the reason I went vegan as well. I got into it after watching Netflix documentaries! They were big on not eating high fat and dairy and meat.I have just tried to educate myself on eating and that sort of stuff and I’ve felt brilliant on it.
“I got my cholesterol checked by the doctor at the club. It had doubled or something. My dad had a heart attack and his mum and dad both had heart attacks in their early 70s. I knew I couldn’t keep that going. I just changed after that.
“I think at that point you know your body and you know what’s best for you. As long as your body fat is not too high and you’re not looking unfit you can live how you want to live.”
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