bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Lise Poulsen Floris

A 40th birthday is a milestone and Auzani Ridzwan wanted his to be special. He planned to celebrate the positive changes he had made to his life by taking part in a serious athletic challenge.
“I had gone from a sedentary lifestyle to the best shape of my life thanks to walks that led to runs, then cycling and swimming, so I decided to sign up for my first ever half Ironman, the Langkawi 70.3, [in] 2018,” the Malaysian says.
But Ridzwan’s life turned upside down one week before the big event.
Following a 5km (3.1-mile) run after a stressful week of travelling for work, he sat down for breakfast – and had a heart attack.
While waiting for the ambulance, he had a second heart attack.
Why heart attack survivors need regular physical activity
In hospital, thankful to have survived, he was shocked by the doctors’ counsel.
“After all that hard work to become fit, they said I wouldn’t be able to do high-impact sports any more as my heart now had a fixed limit,” he says.
With triathlons off the agenda, he focused on swimming and started training three times a week with MySwim Coaching, a swimming school in Petaling Jaya.

Swimming, a resistance-based activity, was perfect for his heart condition as he would be buoyed and cooled off by the water.
“I had to abandon my dream of becoming an Ironman [which requires swimming, cycling and running] but decided I could still become an Oceanman [an open-water swimmer],” says Ridzwan, who is the sales engineering manager for software company Sitecore.
While swimming made Ridzwan healthier and stronger, he was unable to shed weight. He felt imprisoned by the daily cocktail of heart medications and started wondering whether there was a natural way that he could be free of the drugs.

He stumbled upon a friend’s social media post about a week-long vegan challenge. Every day, his friend would post the vegan meals he had, such as vegan nasi lemak (fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf), vegan mee curry (spicy noodle soup garnished with various toppings) and vegan satay skewers.
“I was thinking, ‘What? You mean I don’t have to eat leaves to be vegan?’” he says.
He immediately signed up for a week, savouring the rich variety of daily vegan lunches and dinners. The one-week challenge turned into a two-week challenge – and after three weeks, it became a permanent habit.
Going vegan made easy: five tips from someone who made the switch
Fast-forward to 2022. Ridzwan stands next to swimming friend Davina Goh on a beach in the Perhentian Islands off Malaysia’s east coast. They are both taking part in the Perhentian Island Challenge, in which they will be swimming 4km along the shore of one of the islands, Pulau Besar.
Before the start, the pair – who met at a relay swim event in January in which they happened to be on the same team – proudly wave the vegan flag, then plant it sturdily in the white sand, alongside the flags of the countries represented.
Goh, also known as Davina Da Vegan, is an advocate for the plant-based lifestyle. She runs vegan workshops, develops recipes and manages plant-based campaigns for clients. Her motto is: “The road to self-love starts with a mindful meal.”

But becoming a vegan was not straightforward for Goh. While she showed compassion towards animals from a young age and wanted to align her diet with her beliefs and become a vegetarian, social and cultural norms got in her way.
“Having grown up in a Chinese-Malaysian family in a communal society like Malaysia, my parents said it was important to eat meat and to not be fussy about what was served, so they simply didn’t let me become a vegetarian,” she says.
Goh finally turned vegetarian in her early 30s. She quickly started reaping the health benefits: better sleep, clearer skin, more energy and a more regular period.

After four years as a vegetarian, information about veganism became more accessible in Malaysia, and Goh decided to go vegan.
“I learned that it was possible to be an athlete and be vegan at the same time, and as I was already lactose-intolerant, I only had to drop eggs from my diet,” she says.
Today, Goh shows Malaysians how to make vegan living as accessible, convenient, affordable and nourishing as possible – without compromising on the taste and the fun.

Goh and Ridzwan are most often asked how they get enough protein and iron on a vegan diet. The best sources, they say, are beans, seeds, nuts and nut butters, lentils, whole grains, and soy-based products.
The two frequently consume a Malaysian favourite, tempeh, made from partially cooked, whole, fermented soybeans.
For athletes, an iron deficiency can lead to chronic fatigue, irritability, frequent injuries and loss of endurance.
Her health problems vanished after adopting a whole food plant-based diet
Heme iron, found in the muscle meat of animal foods like beef, lamb, liver, seafood, pork and poultry, is more easily absorbed in the body than non-heme iron found in plant-based foods like nuts, some green vegetables and legumes.
Ridzwan, however, believes that heme iron hinders muscle recovery because it causes inflammation of the muscle and arteries, slowing their recovery – a theory that is discussed in the 2018 Netflix documentary The Game Changers.
Although some critics say the movie, which follows the journey of elite vegan athletes, cherry-picks data to suit its agenda, Goh says it reinforced her vegan journey and inspired her to continue exploring how to stay active on a plant-based diet.

She, too, has noticed a significant difference in muscle recovery since going vegan.
“It feels like my fitness levels are well maintained during rest periods and in between trainings, my body stays lean,” she says.
She adds that at 40, she now has the energy and stamina to do the things she wanted to do in her 20s.
Stella Chan Marinaro, a New York City-based sports nutritionist and founder of lifestyle health consultancy Achieving Balance, suggests the key to peak athletic performance, quick muscle recovery and optimal health is to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet rich in whole foods including vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lean proteins and plant-based proteins.
“Most of this can be achieved via a vegan diet – but it’s important to stress that veganism isn’t for everyone,” she says.

People with allergies to nuts and soy, or people who have issues digesting beans and legumes, should include lean meats (predominantly fish and chicken) and plant-based proteins whenever possible.
She recommends vegans take a vitamin B12 supplement to support and maintain healthy red blood cells and prevent anaemia.
Ridzwan’s regular follow-ups show consistently good blood-work readings for LDL/HDL cholesterol and glucose. Overall, he has more energy during training sessions and his performance has dramatically improved.
‘I’ve never felt fitter or healthier’: trail runner on her vegan diet
He used to suffer from sleep apnoea, which caused him to feel sleepy at midday. But the change in his diet and subsequent elevated energy levels mean that he is now wide-awake the whole day and naturally becomes sleepy at the end of it.
The Oceanman is now swimming twice a week and has taken up paddle boarding – “a fun, low-impact but full-body exercise with lots of local competitions”.
Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.


Why Gen Z and millennial Christian influencers are increasingly appealing to young people

What are the secrets to a long and healthy life? A longevity expert reveals

Inside Alo, the ‘secret gym’ frequented by Justin Bieber and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

What is the horse pose in yoga? Only ‘3 out of 10 students’ can do it, instructor says

Wellness

After 2 heart attacks at 40, a vegan diet switch and exercise overhaul turned things around for Malaysian ‘Oceanman’

Auzani Ridzwan in training for an open-water swim meet. The Malaysian suffered two heart attacks training for a half Ironman, leading to a diet and exercise overhaul that has him feeling better than ever. Photo: Facebook / Auzani Ridzwan

Ridzwan and swim partner Davina Goh plant the vegan flag in the sand before taking part in the Perhentian Island Challenge in Malaysia. Photo: Auzani Ridzwan and Davina Goh

Ridzwan on his paddle board. Photo: Auzani Ridzwan

Goh shows Malaysians how to make vegan living as accessible, convenient, affordable and nourishing as possible. Photo: Davina Goh 

Goh’s salad with tempeh fingers, coated in coconut batter, with miso tahini dressing. 

One of Goh’s vegan recipes. Photo: Davina Goh 

Ridzwan and Goh at the Perhentian Island Challenge in September 2022. Photo: Auzani Ridzwan and Davina Goh

Stella Chan Marinaro.

Fenugreek is a weight loss aid, helps with diabetes, and is good for heart health and breastfeeding mums – why you need this superfood in your diet

Whether taken in seed or powder form or consumed fresh as a herb, fenugreek’s many benefits according to traditional Chinese and Indian medicine include helping diabetics, aiding weight loss, and promoting heart health. Used powdered as a spice, It also makes food more tasty. Photo: Shutterstock

A healthy, flavourful flat bread made of whole wheat, spices, yogurt, sesame seeds and fenugreek leaves. Photo: Shutterstock

Vivek Rana, executive chef at The Claridges hotel in New Delhi, uses fenugreek to amplify the taste of his dishes and make them more healthy. Photo: Vivek Rana

Nutritionist Reema Hingorani Madhian holding fresh fenugreek. Photo: Reema Hingorani Madhian

Dry fenugreek seeds are said to be good for health, and make a good natural scrub, too.

Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets can save you money as food prices rise, and also improve your health – here’s how to make the switch

Asher Chan with her family, for whom the Hong Kong mother-of-three cooks vegan and vegetarian food. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Asher Chan’s homemade vegetable pies. At a time when food prices are rising, adopting a plant-based diet is good for your wallet as well as your health. Photo: Asher Chan

Asher Chan’s sandwich cake, made without dairy produce or eggs. Photo: Asher Chan

Restaurateur Geet Sushil Jadhwani, co-founder of Indian vegetarian restaurant Kailash Parbat in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood. Photo: Geet Sushil Jadhwani

Asher Chan’s vegan cookies, which she enjoys making for family and friends. Photo: Asher Chan

Dr Vanita Rahman, an internal medicine doctor and nutritionist at the Barnard Medical Centre in Washington. Photo: Barnard Medical Centre

Asher Chan (3rd from left) and her family eat lychees, currently in season, at their home in Hong Kong’s Sha Tin neighbourhood. Photo: Jonathan Wong

How intermittent fasting helped Hong Kong banker shed 17kg, then another 15kg after he put on weight working from home in the pandemic

Hong Kong banker Sumanta Panigrahi now, at 85kg, and in 2017 before he started losing weight. Photo: Handout

After losing 17kg before he turned 50, Sumanta Panigrahi regained 6kg while working from home. He talks about how fasting, diet and exercise helped him drop that weight, too . Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong banker Sumanta Panigrahi now and in 2017. Photo: Jonathan Wong/Handout

Panigrahi prepares cauliflower “rice” with a quinoa, lentil and tofu stir-fry, with his wife, Sudhasri, at their home in Mid-Levels. Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong banker Sumanta Panigrahi and his wife, Sudhasri, walking their dogs near their home. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Ayon Mallick, a strength and conditioning coach and a national-level boxer, trained online with Panigrahi.

Sonali Bansal, a functional nutritionist, recommended Panigrahi give up lactose and gluten. 

Panigrahi with Sudhasri and their son, Arnav. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health


When Malaysian Ironman-in-training Auzani Ridzwan’s 40th birthday plans were quashed by heart attacks, he overhauled his diet and turned to open-water swimming
Swim partner and vegan advocate Davina Goh went plant-based in her 30s and now enjoys better sleep, clearer skin and more energy



As Veganuary begins, Auzani Ridzwan explains how he had two heart attacks training for Ironman, switched to open-water swimming, went vegan, and is reaping the health benefits.
