Novak Djokovic health: How Djokovic fought collapses, vomiting and shock allergy - and won
NOVAK Djokovic has returned to Wimbledon and tennis fans everywhere are excited to watch the world number one play. The star’s career took a dramatic upturn after he made this change which hugely improved his health on and off the court.
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Novak Djokovic is currently ranked as the number one male tennis player in the world. The Serbian kicked off Wimbledon today by defending his title and beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. The 32-year-old has shared how changing his diet massively affected his career in his 2013 autobiography Serve to Win.
At the age of 32, Novak is one of the most successful male tennis players the world has ever seen.
He has accumulated more than $100million in prize money and has 74 tiles to his name.
But it wasn’t always plain sailing for the champion.
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For years he struggled with his health and was often so exhausted he struggled to complete tournaments.
He was once plagued by aches, breathing difficulties and injuries on court.
He would collapse on court in the middle of a game and even in the Australian Open once vomited during a toilet break from physical exhaustion.
But in just two years he managed to transform his health to have the what many consider the greatest single season ever by a professional tennis player in 2011.
The secret to his career revolution was cutting out wheat, he revealed in his autobiography Serve to Win.
Djokovic met Dr Igor Cetojevic, a fellow Serbian and nutritionist, in 2010.
Cetojevic believed Novak was allergic to gluten and proved this to him with a crude test.
Cetojevic told the tennis player to stretch out his right arm while placing his left hand on his stomach.
The doctor then pushed down on Djokovic’s right arm and told him to resist the pressure.
The strength Djokovic would feel in holding firm, the doctor said, was exactly what he should experience.
Next Cetojevic gave Djokovic a slice of bread.
He told the bemused player not to eat it but to hold it against his stomach with his left hand while he again pushed down on his outstretched right arm.
To Djokovic’s astonishment, the arm felt appreciably weaker.
This was what Cetojevic had expected and confirmed his belief Novak was allergic to gluten.
Bread and pasta are staple foods in Serbia, but Cetojevic asked Djokovic to try a new gluten-free diet for two weeks.
The effect was immediate. Djokovic felt lighter and more energetic and slept better than he had ever done.
When Cetojevic suggested after a week that he should eat a bagel, the negative impact was startling. Djokovic felt sluggish and dizzy as if he had a hangover.
Novak cut out gluten from his diet from that moment on and his career has skyrocketed since.
Now Djokovic eats mainly vegetables, beans, white meat, fish, fruit, nuts, seeds, chickpeas, lentils and healthy oils and the diet so far has done him well.
The 32-year-old is aiming for a fifth Wimbledon title and a 16th Grand Slam this year.