People

Is Chris Paul Vegan? He Went Plant-Based in 2019 and It Extended His Career

Chris Paul switched to plants at 34 for performance, watched the inflammation vanish, and played into his forties. Now retired, he's building a vegan snack empire. The full story.

Yannick Haldenwanger

By Yannick Haldenwanger

4 min read

Chris Paul at NBA All-Star Weekend
Chris Paul, plant-based since 2019. Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At 34, coming off injury and a rough stretch, most NBA point guards start planning their exit. Chris Paul changed his diet instead. He went plant-based in 2019, watched his inflammation and joint pain fade, and then did something the sport rarely allows a guard his age: he got better, and kept going into his forties.

So, is Chris Paul vegan? He’d say “plant-based,” and we’ll respect his wording. Either way, no animal products, a snack brand built on it, and one of the great late-career runs in NBA history to point to.

QUICK ANSWER

Yes, Chris Paul eats a fully plant-based diet, since 2019. One honest note on wording: he says “plant-based,” not “vegan,” and started it for performance rather than ethics. He retired from the NBA in February 2026 and reaffirmed the diet is “for life” that April.

Last fact-checked: July 7, 2026

Contents6 chapters
  1. 01Performance first, then permanent
  2. 02The vegan timeline, tap to expand
  3. 03The vegan who builds the aisle
  4. 04Fact or fiction?
  5. 05Quiz: how well do you know plant-based Chris?
  6. 06Is Chris Paul still plant-based in 2026?

Performance first, then permanent

Chris Paul is refreshingly straight about why he switched: it wasn’t ethics at first, it was his body. As he told VegNews: “When I first went plant-based, it was for performance purposes but once I saw how my body changed and how I felt, it was for life.” On a 2026 podcast he was still marveling at it: “2019 is when I went plant based. To see the way inflammation disappeared for me. It was crazy.”

The proof was on the floor. In his 20th NBA season he started all 82 games, a longevity feat basically unheard of for a guard that deep into a career. Correlation isn’t a clinical trial, but Paul is convinced, and he built the rest of his life around it.

The vegan timeline, tap to expand

June 2019: plant-based at 34
With the Oklahoma City Thunder, coming off a dip, he switches for performance. Inflammation and joint pain fade; he returns to All-Star form.
2022: Good Eat’n
He launches his own plant-based snack brand, born from craving a vegan version of a Cool-Ranch-style chip from childhood.
2023: Wicked Kitchen
He invests in the vegan food company alongside Woody Harrelson, one of several plant-based investments.
2024/25: the 82-game season
In his 20th season he starts all 82 games, a record for a player that far into a career, and credits the diet.
February 2026: retirement, and Kroger
He retires after 21 seasons. Days later, Good Eat’n reaches around 1,650 Kroger stores. The diet outlasts the playing career.
Advertisement
Plantbased PodcastTalks with people who stand up for animals, also on YouTube.Listen now →

The vegan who builds the aisle

Plenty of athletes go plant-based. Chris Paul went into the business of it. Good Eat’n, his snack brand, expanded from a personal craving into Walmart and roughly 1,650 Kroger stores. He’s invested in Wicked Kitchen, Koia and others, and made a point of bringing plant-based food to historically Black colleges, tackling the access gap that keeps healthy eating out of reach in a lot of communities.

That’s the throughline of his second act: he’s not just eating plants, he’s trying to put them within everyone’s reach.

Fact or fiction?

He started all 82 games in his 20th NBA season. Fact or fiction?
Fact. A longevity record for a player that deep into a career, which he credits to the diet.
His snack brand started from a chip craving. Fact or fiction?
Fact. Good Eat’n grew out of him wanting a vegan version of a Cool-Ranch-style chip.
He calls himself strictly “vegan.” Fact or fiction?
Fiction. He prefers “plant-based,” and started it for performance, not ethics. The diet is the same; the label is his choice.

Quiz: how well do you know plant-based Chris?

Five questions, no cheating

1. What year did he go plant-based?

2. Why did he switch, at first?

3. What’s his plant-based snack brand called?

4. Which vegan brand did he back alongside Woody Harrelson?

5. What longevity feat did he pull off in his 20th season?

Advertisement
Support This Is VeganIndependent animal-rights journalism, carried by readers.Chip in →

Is Chris Paul still plant-based in 2026?

Yes. He confirmed it “for life” on a podcast in April 2026, weeks after retiring, and his snack brand keeps expanding. The playing career ended; the diet didn’t. If anything, plant-based is now his main job.

More vegan celebrity checks:

Photo: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons