Excellent write up. Cheers.
I agree. if only we could now have a documentary on how the reliance on the motor car needs to change. If a well made documentary encourages enough thought-provoking ‘behaviour changes’ like i am hearing here, and amongst my friends who have seen the movie, we would add another layer of benefit to our lives, and to our environment.
I say all this as a Transport Planner. Its amazing how the right person, delivering the right information (albeit information that can be questioned) can create a behaviour change so strong. I need this in my life!!!
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Despite the film’s many spurious health claims (which there are many) going vegan is a lifestyle move I applaud.
I’m not a vegan. I am addicted to dairy and going vegan would massively reduce my dietary choices.
That said, veganism clearly IS better for animals and clearly IS better for the planet. So I take my hat off to anyone who is.
Plus I love Arnie.
*edit - my wife is a dietician and she sent me this study which looks at the health claims
11 Likes
That was a test and you passed 
I’m flexitarian (i.e. have no self control) at the moment, and I’ve got about a years worth of fish oil to get through. Really good point about athletes needing to keep inflammation down - I’m sure if there was enough market demand this stuff could be synthesised but there are bigger fish to fry /pun
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The fake duck is decent!
I fell in to the same trap with the sugar documentary. It turns out just eating what we know is good for us …is good for us.
I haven’t watched it yet. I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, but I do follow the Instagram of a scientist who adheres to a plant-based diet (she did her PhD at Stanford and her supervisor was an Impossible Foods co-founder). Here’s the link to her IG post: Chana Davis, PhD on Instagram: "Can a plant-based diet transform you into a rockstar elite athlete? Gamechangers says yes. I admire the movie's intent and effective mythbusting, but have some scientific gripes. . This new documentary showcases the health benefits of a plant-based diet by following James Wilks, a UFC fighter and special forces combat trainer, on his journey. Viewers meet an inspiring lineup of elite plant-based athletes as well as several physicians and scientists. . Good parts first: . 1) It shatters one of the top nutritional myths: you need animal products to get enough high-quality protein. The remarkable athletes drive this home - as do cows, elephants, rhinos ... . The true difference between plant and animal proteins is the “package” - the other nutrients that are "bundled" along with the protein. . 2) It busts the meat industry for creating a false link between meat consumption and manliness. Even if we accept the premise that a manliness is all about muscle and testosterone, the link is invalid. Why? (A) You don’t need meat to get enough protein; and (B) Plant phytoestrogens (soy) do not decrease testosterone levels. . Now for some beefs: . 1) Women can be strong too! . Shout out to a few vegan bodybuilders (tagged). . 2) Too much focus on removing meat and dairy, and not enough on plants and diet quality. . The choices you make within your "umbrella" of foods (e.g. vegan vs omnivore) are just as important, perhaps more so, than the umbrella you inhabit. . 3) Unbecoming scientific practices. . I get it... it's a movie, so dramatic license is expected. Yet, it chaps my hide when science is used to assert “facts”, when reality is far more nuanced. Some of the dubious strategies include: . Use of anecdotes as facts. Exaggeration. Cherry picking. Twisted framing. Misuse of epidemiological studies. . BOTTOM LINE: . The typical Western diet can leave us overfed yet undernourished. A plant-based diet CAN offer a fabulous health upgrade - if you do it well. Load up on a diversity of whole plants; limit sugary drinks and nutrient-poor foods; don't overeat. . More details coming soon on my website: https://fueledbyscience.com . . #fueledbyscience #gamechangers"
Here is her take from the IG post in case you don’t want to click:
Can a plant-based diet transform you into a rockstar elite athlete? Gamechangers says yes. I admire the movie’s intent and effective mythbusting, but have some scientific gripes.
.
This new documentary showcases the health benefits of a plant-based diet by following James Wilks, a UFC fighter and special forces combat trainer, on his journey. Viewers meet an inspiring lineup of elite plant-based athletes as well as several physicians and scientists.
.
Good parts first:
.
- It shatters one of the top nutritional myths: you need animal products to get enough high-quality protein. The remarkable athletes drive this home - as do cows, elephants, rhinos …
.
The true difference between plant and animal proteins is the “package” - the other nutrients that are “bundled” along with the protein.
. - It busts the meat industry for creating a false link between meat consumption and manliness. Even if we accept the premise that a manliness is all about muscle and testosterone, the link is invalid. Why? (A) You don’t need meat to get enough protein; and (B) Plant phytoestrogens (soy) do not decrease testosterone levels.
.
Now for some beefs:
. - Women can be strong too!
.
Shout out to a few vegan bodybuilders (tagged).
. - Too much focus on removing meat and dairy, and not enough on plants and diet quality.
.
The choices you make within your “umbrella” of foods (e.g. vegan vs omnivore) are just as important, perhaps more so, than the umbrella you inhabit.
. - Unbecoming scientific practices.
.
I get it… it’s a movie, so dramatic license is expected. Yet, it chaps my hide when science is used to assert “facts”, when reality is far more nuanced. Some of the dubious strategies include:
.
Use of anecdotes as facts. Exaggeration. Cherry picking. Twisted framing. Misuse of epidemiological studies.
.
BOTTOM LINE:
.
The typical Western diet can leave us overfed yet undernourished. A plant-based diet CAN offer a fabulous health upgrade - if you do it well. Load up on a diversity of whole plants; limit sugary drinks and nutrient-poor foods; don’t overeat.
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I believe vegan supernaut durianrider did a recent vid on his blood values which showed his CRP inflammation markers to be <0.1 mg/L and apparently all that dude eats is white rice, fruit, and table sugar.
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5* on this statement. Overeating (eating in quantities way above our phisioligical needs) doesn’t mean we are eating all the nutrients we do need. Eating well is quite different of eating a lot.
Diversity of plant foods, avoiding processed foods and keeping animal protein consumption low (only 2 or 3 meals a week with a small piece of meat or fish or eggs) for me is enough for now but I still have to try a couple of months a fully plant based diet with whole foods only to see how my body reacts.
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I tried the fake chicken… it was very much not good!
I’d say that even today’s ‘real’ chicken is fake chicken.
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I get free range stuff locally. It’s pretty good.
Genopalate would be a good place to start if you are looking to eat basis your DNA.
His videos on diet are hard to watch because of his repetitiveness regarding simple carbs. Most westerners would end up with diabetes if they adhered to a diet of simple carbs and ate to satiety. If you’re chronically active, which may include amateur cyclists that are adequately active with training and competing, you may get away with it. I adhere to the author if “In Defense of Food”. "Eat food, mostly plants, not so much.
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Obviously no one at the company checked the front page of their website. Y’know, the one where the mockup report says ‘My genes recommend high carbohydrates’, shows a woman eating a low-carb salad with her ‘Top Foods’ listed as ‘bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes’ – all low-carb. 
Guess they are still trying to appeal to the wallets of the anti-carb crowd (the brain is going to ignore the semi-camouflaged wordings and attend to the bright, healthy salad woman). Why not show a colourful IM athlete eating a jumbo bowl of Frosted Flakes with 4 heaping tablespoons of sugar?
Also in their article, ‘3 Ways You Can Eat Healthier Today!’, it states: Whole foods…fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, meat, chicken, seafood, eggs and dairy…are better sources of fuel for your body. They typically have more fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients than their packaged counterparts.
Weird. Last time I looked fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients were definitely NOT a source of FUEL. And, oh look, not a single mention of carbs. Guess milk is more of a ‘whole food’ than rice or oats. More unspoken pandering to the low-carb fadists? Definitely not something a Game Changer would ascribe to.
I’ll pass.
His videos are hard to watch, period. There might be some gold in there somewhere, but I’m not willing to waste that much of my time digging for it. I did watch his blood test results one.
Like anything that promotes an “extreme” view, the truth is somewhere in the middle. They promote Veganism and the Paleo and Carnivore crowd dispute it. I’m finding some middle ground with it all. I eat plant based during the day and have meat with my night time meal. So far I feel really energised during the day and workout aren’t suffering. See how it all goes!
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Having been vegetarian for most my life, and being honest bordering on a vegan diet( I eat some dairy and occasionally eggs if I know the source) and thought that we will see if this helped me finally move across to a full “plant based diet”
Quick things that come to mind, loads of things I’m sure I will be missing but of the top of my head.
Nothing of substance on the studies, where is the science? The beetroot juice one made me giggle personally, I loved making my own smoothies with beetroot in, but no way it helped my endurance. The amount of beet juice needed per day to really help in studies is prohibitive for all but die hards.
The B12 vitamin issue was sidestepped completely.
Interesting that a few other people picked up it being a “ plant based diet” and not Vegan.
I do believe a change of diet is a good thing, and if this or any other documentary helps in making people think about diet then good but this particular documentary was poor.
Had they serialised it and carried out studies and be open and honest to what is presented then I’m sure it would have been better but it was clear from who put the money up for this that would not be the case.
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I liked it and I’m neither vegan or earned money with it. There seems to have some scientific lack of evidence but the general message that is in fact what really matters is that a plant based diet even for athletes is possible and that couldn’t be more correct for me.
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Are there any objective facts in this documentary that are presented to prove their point or is this just another opinion/shaming type of film?