By Marcus Paul Cootsona
You may remember the Novak Djokovic of a few years ago—Grand Slam talent, but grandly uneven endurance, health, and focus. Well, that was before he’d heard of Dr. Igor Cetojevic. Watching on TV as Novak crumbled to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinal, Dr. Cetojevic diagnosed Novak’s problem. He was gluten sensitive.
Some months later, Djokovic met Dr. Cetojevic, shed gluten and dairy, reduced his sugar intake, learned to eat slower, and slept more. He dropped nine pounds and improved his health and mental clarity. His new book, Serve to Win (Ballantine/Zinc Ink, 161 pages, $25), lets us in on much of what he did. Before going gluten-free, Novak was knocking at the door of greatness and tennis immortality. After the change, Novak 2.0 came in, got comfortable and remodeled a couple of rooms.
In this short, spry book, Djokovic challenges the reader to give up gluten for 14 days and then add it back in to their diet and gauge how they feel. Mr. Djokovic is convinced and convincing when he says that you’ll feel better, focus better, and have more energy. He even offers an easy-to-understand program for retooling your body and mind that includes weekly menus, easy recipes, and a few koans along the way.
Much of the diet will apply to many players, since you don’t have to be gluten-sensitive to benefit. Gluten, the protein in wheat, barley and rye, wants to transform to sugar. If you don’t have a pressing need for it, it gets stored as fat and over time desensitizes your insulin receptors. In the extreme, this causes diabetes. At the least, this extra sugar is stored as fat around vital organs. Still want that bagel?
But the challenge is not without its wrinkles. First of all, the list of foods with gluten is like, well, the list of foods. And second, how much do you want to be like Novak Djokovic? The life of any professional athlete, especially one in a demanding individual sport like tennis, is demanding. Djokovic has a team watching everything he eats and every move he makes, and his daily program is rigorous and relentless. Many players are happy just to have time for breakfast.
Still, the book isn’t all about diet. Though Serbian, Djokovic could often pass for a card-carrying Californian, alternately sounding like Michael Pollan, Jack Kornfield, or William Dement. There are informative chapters on meditation, stretching, sleeping, and mental game approach. Besides offering useful and usable diet and training advice, the book is ultimately a timely and timeless call to action. Are you ready to really change your workouts, your diet, and your life for your sport? Novak Djokovic thinks you should. Though it is, after all, up to you. But as Novak might say, do it now. Don’t wheat.
