Liverpool defender Nat Phillips banished an ongoing injury problem by cutting out meat from his diet, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has explained.
Phillips was suffering from regular inflammation of his ankle ahead of a loan move to German side Stuttgart last season.
However, a change of lifestyle to become vegan subsequently resulted in the centre-back no longer being troubled by the issue.
Oxlade-Chamberlain made the revelation while in discussion with Liverpool team-mates Jordan Henderson and Xherdan Shaqiri as part of an initiative calling for supporters to go meat-free on matchdays.
"The boys that I have spoken to that have reduced meat, they've said they feel better," said Oxlade-Chamberlain.
"Nat Phillips, do you remember when he had his ankle injury? He had the bad ankle injury, it was swollen all the time, inflammation, inflammation.
"Then he said when he went to Stuttgart on loan, he cut out meat completely and went vegan for the first time ever because he'd heard about it.
"Then his ankle was fine. The inflammation went. I remember Nat saying it took three to four weeks, and then he started feeling good for it."
Phillips returned to Liverpool in the summer and has since made his Premier League debut and along with a further two top-flight appearances.
The 23-year-old is vying with Rhys Williams for a starting role at centre-back for Sunday's visit of Manchester United should Joel Matip fail to recover from injury in time.
Liverpool have joined forces with Quorn Foods, the club's Official Sustainable Protein Partner, in asking fans to go meat-free on matchdays in a bid to lower their carbon footprint under the banner 'Helping The Planet, One Match at a Time'.
