FOREST GREEN chairman Dale Vince has backed  England star Jermain Defoe's switch to veganism.

Defoe has turned to veganism in a bid to stay on top of his game at 34 and Vince, who turned Forest Green fully vegan three years ago is not surprised by Defoe's decision.

Vince said: “It’s great to see this but not at all surprising. There’s plenty of science to back up the benefits of a plant based diet, along with our own experience at FGR. And globally an increasing number of elite athletes are doing the same. Meat and dairy aren’t just bad for athletes though, it’s the same for all of us - giving it up is a real health and fitness boost."

Defoe ended a three-and-a-half-year absence from the international stage on Sunday, opening the scoring in England's 2-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley.

Defoe has long been teetotal, is an enthusiastic advocate of cryotherapy treatment, practises yoga and is now cutting animal products from his diet.

"I have a better understanding of my body now," he said. "Everyone wants to feel fresh in the game, there's no better feeling, so I'm just making sure I'm doing the right things - cryotherapy, massage, eating the right things, trying to turn vegan.

"That's a funny one because when I go to my Mum's she's got every kind of meat you can imagine out on the table.

"It was my girlfriend's idea. She said to me, 'You've got to do it,' and she's always showing me these documentaries and that. It's always nice to have someone around you to who helps you and drives you on and wants you to do well."

He added: "I don't find anything hard because I know the feeling of scoring goals.

"So getting in an ice bath and all that isn't nice, but I just think, 'You know what? I'm going to do this and be rewarded.' It's hard, but in another way it's easy because all I want to do is play well and score goals.

"The key thing for me is recovery, giving yourself the best opportunity to perform in the next game, and I seem to have got that to a tee. There's a lot of things I do away from training and away from matchday that help me perform, so I'll just keep doing that."