French powerhouse Angeline Berva has made history by capturing both the European Strongman Games and the Static Monsters World Championships in 2025—all while following a completely plant-based diet that has fueled her career for over a decade.
The 29-year-old’s dual championship victories has surprised everyone since the sport traditionally dominated by athletes who prioritize animal protein as the foundation of their nutrition. Berva shared her commanding performances in a recent social media post. She performed world record-breaking 301kg axle deadlift at Static Monsters, where she finished more than 50kg ahead of her nearest competitor in the U82kg division.
Her journey to veganism began at 17, sparked by a profound ethical awakening. “I actually wanted to defend the animal cause because I watched a lot of videos on the conditions of slaughter breeding and I didn’t want to contribute to this suffering so I decided to stop eating meat and doing all the things that can make animals suffer,” Berva explains.
This decision came from recognizing an uncomfortable contradiction: “I always loved animals because I always had pets and after a while it’s a bit of a reflection on myself that I say to myself I love animals but in the end I eat them.”
What makes her achievements particularly remarkable is their timing. “I can’t say that I had a change because as I stopped at 17. In fact all my performances, I did them after. So all my titles I did them already while being vegan,” she notes. Every record, every championship, every moment of athletic glory has been powered entirely by plants.
Her approach to nutrition defies stereotypes about complicated vegan meal planning. “For breakfast I usually make pancakes with peanut butter… often for lunch and dinner I will have rice tofu. In reality I don’t eat that many vegetables despite what people may believe I eat more carbohydrates,” she reveals.
Berva’s victories come at a time when scientific research is challenging long-held assumptions about protein sources. Recent controlled studies comparing vegan and omnivore diets have revealed that plant-based proteins may be just as effective as animal sources for muscle building and maintenance, provided adequate amounts are consumed alongside consistent resistance training.
According to nutrition expert Alan Aragon, groundbreaking research showed participants following completely vegan regimens demonstrated no significant differences in muscle size and strength gains compared to omnivores over a 12-week period. This occurred despite vegans consuming significantly fewer essential amino acids and branched-chain amino acids overall.
“The vegan diet overall had significantly less essential amino acid content and significantly less branch chain amino acid content,” Aragon explains. “But apparently the resistance training stimulus is robust enough to make protein effects almost secondary.”
The key lies in hitting specific protein targets. Both groups in the study consumed 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, with the vegan group supplementing with soy protein to reach these levels. Follow-up research using mycoprotein yielded similar results, with the fungus-based protein even outperforming milk protein for muscle protein synthesis in some trials.
While Aragon acknowledges that “gram for gram, as a group, animal proteins are higher quality” due to their higher proportion of essential amino acids, he emphasizes that these advantages become negligible when total daily protein intake is optimized and combined with proper resistance training.
Operating in France, where veganism faces cultural resistance, Berva has had to navigate unique challenges. “Unfortunately in France there are not many vegan people and I have never known anyone who was vegan… the French often have the image that vegans are weird whereas for me I am completely normal I am just someone who does not want to make animals suffer,” she observes.
The transformation brought profound personal changes beyond athletic performance. “I feel better because suddenly I really feel in my convictions and I know why I did it. And now it’s not even, in fact it’s not even a constraint to do it. It’s natural,” she reflects.
Berva’s success extends beyond individual achievement. She competes as part of the Vegan Strong PlantBuilt team, a collective of elite plant-based athletes who are systematically dismantling stereotypes about nutrition and performance. The group’s impact has been substantial, with fellow PlantBuilt athlete Tom Butts recently claiming his third consecutive Natural World’s Strongest Man title.
Despite obstacles, Berva remains committed to advocacy through example. Her message to those considering plant-based nutrition is direct and practical: “People always say to themselves it is too hard… you just have to start and when you start you get there.”
