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Lewis Hamilton claims that it is "absolute rubbish" that he has lost muscle mass because he doesn't eat meat anymore.
Last year Hamilton spoke out for the first time about his decision to embrace a vegan lifestyle.
The Mercedes driver urged others to follow his path, advocating that it is one way to help save the planet.
Not everyone applauded him.
The Brit was labelled a hypocrite by Fernando Alonso while fans also had a go at him given Formula One's gas-guzzling exploits.
Hamilton brushed it all aside and proved that swapping to a plant-based diet had not in any way impacted his physical health as he romped to a sixth World title.
Speaking to the media in Melbourne prior to the cancellation of the Australian GP, he once again defended his choices.
“I think my health has just got better and better over the last couple of years as I’ve gone to the plant-based diet,” Hamilton told The Express.
“It is not the easiest thing to straight away go to and you’re constantly learning about the foods and discovering more foods ... things that you probably would never ... no, things that I would have never really eaten before, to give you some variability.
“I focused on having consistent good solid meals; I had a chef during the winter so that was really why it was particularly a better period of time for me but I do feel a large part of the reason I have gone that way is because of the environment and for the animals.
“It’s a little bit difficult, sitting up here, because I know not all of us do… you know, vegan, not everyone continues but not for me, I’ve definitely felt the benefits from that on the health side of things and physically, it’s just enabled me to ... you know people do think you’re going to lose muscle if you don’t have your protein, that’s ... a lot of the time people say I need my protein but it’s absolute rubbish. You just need to do some reading online.
“I’ve managed to ... last year I bulked up, I put a lot more weight on. This winter I trimmed down, like cut but have more muscle and I’m able to lift more weight than I’ve ever done before and I haven’t been able to run further than I’ve ever been able to run before. That’s just enabled me to train better.
“But you’ve seen it in other sports, other sportsmen and women around the world are trying these things. Serena [Williams] has been working on it, (Novak) Djokovic, you’ve got a bunch of people out there that are doing it.
“I think it’s a positive and important way to go for us all. I think there are lots of areas that need to ... not just in food but there’s a lot of things that we all need to do better moving forward but one step at a time.”
Last year Hamilton appeared in a documentary called ‘The Game Changers’, which also featured Novak Djokovic and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
