The Spain international revealed he initially opted for a vegan lifestyle at the beginning of the season in order to detox, but that the apparent improvements to his health and general well-being convinced him to stick with the diet.
“I’ve been vegan since the beginning of the season more or less,” the reported Real Madrid target told The Players Tribune.
“At the beginning, I wanted to try it for a couple of weeks to detox my body and stuff, but I just felt so great after it that I’ve been doing it for six months now.
“For me, the most important thing is that inflammation in my body after games and the speed that my body recovers compared to before. I’ve always had little problems in my ankles when I played very hard games, they’d get very inflamed and stiff. “Now I don’t even have to strap them to play anymore. It doesn’t just make a difference in your body but I strongly believe that with what we’re doing to the earth paying back the earth too.
“Getting rid of all the food I was eating and going to this plant-based diet it did take those few days to actually feel better, but when it got to the beginning of the third week I felt so good.
"I was waking up in the mornings and had so much energy whereas before I used to be that person who would snooze the alarm five times before they got out of bed.”