Vegan Athlete Cam Newton Reveals His Plant-Based Thanksgiving Menu

For anyone scrambling to figure out what to eat on Thanksgiving, look to New England Patriots Quarterback, Cam Newton for inspiration. Newton revealed what he is eating for his second vegan and turkey-less Thanksgiving on the sports radio show, The Greg Hill Show.

Newton talked to radio personalities Greg Hill, Danielle Murr, and Jermaine Wiggins on the morning show about the Patriots' disappointing loss against the Houston Texans. After talking about the upset, the hosts turned to the subject of Newton's favorite vegan dishes for Thanksgiving.

Newton is planning on having various dishes influenced by the Gullah Geechee culture, which include descendants of enslaved West Africans who live in coastal areas and islands in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. and making these dishes vegan with plant-based meat alternatives.

“My family is kind of Geechie when it comes to having rice with everything. My family does great red rice with sausage but you can kind of transform that with either Beyond or Impossible meat instead of sausage and mac and cheese- I found a way to do that, too,” said Newton.

When it comes to Thanksgiving sides, Newton doesn't have to make change his traditional recipes to fit his lifestyle. “There will be some alternative meals for sure. Everything that you probably have for your Thanksgiving, I can still do outside of like turkey… You got stuffing and you’ve got collard greens, said Newton.

Newton first went vegan in 2019 after suffering an injury to his shoulder, which he had surgery on. He made the switch to a vegan diet with the goal of recovering faster from injuries but ended up loving the way he felt and stuck with it. He told ESPN, he felt "like a rookie again" at the age of 31 while eating a vegan diet.

This past July, Newton teamed up with PETA in an ad to tell the world that you don't have to eat animal products to be built like an NFL superstar. The tagline: Built Like a Vegan, shows Newton in a heroic pose. "I've seen such a remarkable change in the way my body responds to the food that I eat," Newton told PETA.