Melanie Hoffmann, Editor-in-Chief

November 10, 2023, 9:48 am | Read time: 6 minutes

Ralf Moeller is a fan of vegan nutrition and knows that it can be not only healthy but also incredibly delicious. His favorite dish? Sweet potato with peas and almond hummus. The 64-year-old can not only prepare it himself, but his fans can now cook it too. It’s part of the vegan cookbook “Vegan Gladiators,” which Ralf Moeller released with his friend and chef Timo Franke. With FITBOOK, Ralf Moeller discussed not only his vegan lifestyle but also fitness into old age, the youth secret of famous Hollywood men, and his dietary tips for his former “Gladiator” colleague Russell Crowe.

Find more exciting articles on vegan nutrition here.

Ralf Moeller on …

… Cooking in Everyday Life

“Going to the market every day to buy vegetables would be the best way, and trying to prepare something myself each time–that doesn’t work. I do that on weekends. Or you’re with someone, an acquaintance, and say: Come on, let’s cook something together.”

… His Favorite Dish from His Cookbook “Vegan Gladiators”

“One of my ‘favorite dishes’ is, for example, sweet potato with peas and almond hummus. It’s relatively quick and filling.”

… Vegan Nutrition Combined with Strength Training

“I’ll put it this way: The gorilla, the elephant, and now Ralf Moeller are the strongest herbivores you can imagine. And you can see that there are a lot of proteins in that. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the strength and muscles. I obviously have to eat more than a chickpea, that’s clear. But there’s nothing better than plant-based proteins. Many top athletes have also experienced this by implementing it.”

… Meat-Based Nutrition

“Those other things we used to eat… I mean, animal fattening is just extreme. Cows are impregnated four times a year. Cruel things happen there. Or they get antibiotics and things injected. That’s not good. And our bodies have to deal with that.”

Also interesting: How does meat consumption affect our body odor?

… Dietary Change and the Belief of Many People That Vegan Nutrition and Muscles Don’t Go Together

“It took me a while too. And I had exactly the same opinion as maybe the readers or viewers. When someone first brought it up, I thought: vegan? Where do you get your proteins from? Just eat a real steak. I did it that way for 45 years. But then I changed and found that I feel even better since I avoid animal products as much as possible. Occasionally, I still have sushi or scrambled eggs on the plate. Or a piece of cheese because vegan cheese is still ‘flat.’ But that makes up maybe 15 percent of my diet and is hardly worth mentioning.”

… Celebrities and Especially Athletes Who Avoid Meat

“For example, Lewis Hamilton and Joaquin Phoenix. There are also more and more soccer players who are ‘smart enough.’ They’re not as prone to injuries anymore.”

… The Importance of Nutrition for Fitness into Old Age

“Those who win gold medals today should and want to be fit at 60 and 70. Many are even now. But that’s only because they eat right. And please forget the word diet. That’s nonsense. It’s about eating right. I want to tell people that they can do something to maintain joy in life in old age and also motor skills and all that. You can eat everything, you don’t have to starve. There are plenty of dishes, and that’s why I made this book.”

… Dietary Tips He Gave to His “Gladiator” Colleague Russell Crowe

“In ‘Gladiator,’ he was 32. Later, he played roles for which he gained a bit of weight and then lost it again. At 50, this ‘up and down’ doesn’t work anymore. He gained a lot for a role. He played a character who was really extremely fat, and he wanted to get very close to that. So he gained weight. The point is, he couldn’t easily lose it afterward and panicked. He then made two other films where he was plump. We’re in contact, and at some point, I said: If you don’t want to play Santa Claus for the rest of your days, then change your diet. Try vegetarian or vegan food. But since you can also consume a lot of carbohydrates with that, I advised him: Lower your ‘carbs’ and increase your protein. You have trainers, you have people. You have to go through it. Nothing happens in the first weeks. It takes! Easily six, seven weeks, two months, until the body reacts. On the contrary: After two weeks, the body notices there’s no more sugar and holds everything tight. But you have to go through it. And then after six weeks, you notice: Ah, something is happening, and it’s going down. That’s what happened to him. I don’t know the very latest status, but he definitely doesn’t have the weight he once had.”

… Hollywood Stars Who Look Great in Old Age Thanks to Plant-Based Nutrition

“Whether it’s Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, DiCaprio–they all mostly avoid meat. They may not be 100 percent vegan, they do eat fish and shrimp and such. But meat and dairy products are taboo. You might do that in the first and second chapters of your life. But not in the third and fourth chapters, or like me at 60. Brad Pitt is also already 59 and will soon be 60, but he still looks great. Or George Clooney. But they all take good care of themselves. They’re not massive meat eaters. People who look good in old age have changed their diet. That’s why they still look so good.”