Hector Bellerin
Hector Bellerin is a Spanish professional footballer and has been vegan since 2016. Bellerin began his career playing for Barcelona before moving to Arsenal in 2011, He returned to Barcelona in September 2022 and now plays for Betis – a team in the Spanish Premier Division. In 2023, Bellerin invested in the world’s first vegan football club, Forest Green Rovers.
Bellerin initially went vegan due to health reasons, after watching documentaries such as What the Health. In a promotional video for Veganuary, he said:
“Being a professional footballer means your diet has to be absolutely on point. I was already eating meat less and less when I started watching documentaries like What the Health. I realised then that there were athletes out there that were not just vegetarian but actually vegan. So, I started researching and found out that a vegan diet wasn’t just suitable for me, it was actually better for my body so I switched. My family is Spanish and eat meat with almost every meal but I wanted to try veganism to see if it could help me reach my full potential. And it did. Really quickly. My ankles, which used to get inflamed, improved, and I found that I was recovering quicker between games.
Health is not the only reason I am vegan. It was the ground zero, but now there are other reasons that push me to do it. The sustainability of the environment and animal cruelty now motivate me just as much as health. The way I feel physically and mentally, knowing that I’m doing the right things makes me really happy to be a vegan.”
