NFL’s Tony Gonzalez talks up plant protein, Wonderful Pistachios

Professional Football Hall of Fame member Tony Gonzalez talked to media members on Nov. 18 about his use of Wonderful Pistachios as his go-to source of plant protein.

Gonzalez is part of Wonderful Pistachio’s The Next Big Thing advertising campaign, which features six comedic commercials to highlight the nuts as the perfect snacking option.

Gonzalez said he was in his 10th year of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs when he changed his eating habits after reading “The China Study,” a book emphasizing a plant-based, whole foods approach to eating. He dropped fast foods and sodas and focused on healthy foods.

While he was vegan for only a few months, Gonzalez said he started learning about plant proteins, and changing his diet did help, he said.

He extended his playing career seven more years, in large part because of his reformed diet.

“My body felt better, I was able to recover faster, I was able to think clearer. On the football field, I was lasting longer in the fourth quarter.” 

Gonzalez said pistachios are a great snack and ingredient in smoothies and other dishes.

“When I found out that I was going to be able to work with Wonderful Pistachios, it was like a match made in heaven for me,” he said.

Maggie Moon, registered dietitian and senior director of nutrition at The Wonderful Co., said plant-based eating is not a passing fad.

Gonzalez was an early adopter of plant-forward eating during the later part of his National Football League career, Moon said, and more people today are moving that way.

Moon said about 3% of the public identifies as vegan and 6% as vegetarian.

“The biggest opportunity to improve public health is with the 59% of people who want to strike that right balance between animal and plants,” she said, noting that one in three people are trying to eat more plants.

“That’s a big step in the right direction.”