b'PLANT-BASED DIETIn recent years, diets that predominantly or exclusively include plant foods have gained widespread popularity. The term plant-based is recognised by health care professionals to describe diets that mainly consist of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices, with or without animal and animal-derived products. In consumer media, however, the term is typically associated with vegan and vegetarian diets. There are many drivers behind this trend, including animal welfare, climate protection and purported health benefits. It is widely accepted that high consumption of plant foods confers several health benefits including reduced risk of metabolic diseases, mental health conditions and some cancers. Many of these benefits are mediated directly or indirectly via the gut microbiome. Research has shown that consumption of at least 30 unique plant foods per week increases the diversity of the gut microbiota, rather than the categorical diet (omnivore, vegetarian, vegan etc) 33 . Vegan, vegetarian and other plant-based diets containing intact plant cell walls, larger food particles and with minimal processing have low nutrient bioavailability. While these dietary features increase the risk of certain nutrient deficiencies, there is increased delivery of microbe-accessible nutrients to the lower GI system, thus enriching the microbial community. As such, those with high fibre and polyphenol intake typically have concentrations of beneficial bacteria including Ruminococcus, Eubacterium rectale, and Roseburia, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, and increased production of SCFAs 34 .Plant-based dietary patterns have anecdotally been associated with enhanced athletic performance, at least partly due to the proliferation of social media. While there are indeed a multitude of benefits associated with increased plant intake, there is currently insufficient evidence to support enhanced performance with a vegan or vegetarian diet beyond that of a nutritionally equivalent omnivorous diet. Notably, a poorly designed vegetarian or vegan diet may increase the risk of macro- and micronutrient deficiencies, thereby impairing athletic performance. Nutrients at risk include omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, zinc and calcium. Endurance and ultra-endurance athletes may also struggle to meet overall energy requirements 35 .17'