This documentary has been sending waves through the Health and Fitness world. If you haven’t watched it yet, here is a breakdown of the documentary.
Following former UFC fighter James Wilks, the Game Changers originally explores ideas on the optimal nutrition for recovery after Wilks needed surgeries on both of his knees. During this journey, Wilks not only learns what world stage athletes are doing to better their performance, but also explores why a plant-based diet is even more important when it comes to general health. The Game Changers also challenges topics like gender stereotypes, environmental impacts of food choices, and morals of our food choices.
Those reading this may already be skeptical, but this documentary isn’t your typical ‘vegan preaching’ documentary. There are also some pretty big names involved with this documentary as well. Using science and informative scenarios, the documentary explains how male and female athletes, of very different events and sports, as well as people who are just trying to be healthier and how a plant-based diet helped everyone reach their goals. We, at Fitness & Lifestyles, have two staff that watched the documentary. Here are their thoughts:
Art McDonald – Manager, Fitness, Lifestyles, and Customer Service
I had been waiting for almost 2 years for The Game Changers to be released. I was fortunate enough to go to a pre-screening and was not disappointed. I’ve eaten whole, plant based foods for years. I had done my research and felt confident in the decision but was pleasantly surprised to see an increase in energy level and a decrease in recovery time beyond what I thought would take place.
I feel that The Game Changers did a great job of highlighting the massive amount of evidence that exists supporting whole, plant based eating for athletes and the general population. More so, I believe it did a great job of appealing to men who feel they need to eat meat to be ‘manly’. We all need to be aware of the health risks of our food choices and The Game Changers was able to do this using science, humour and ‘wow factors’ thus appealing to several demographics.
More and more athletes are trying plant based eating in order to get a competitive edge. Tom Brady, Kyrie Irving, Novak Djokovic, Lewis Hamilton, Nate Diaz, the Williams Sisters and many more are leading their professions while consuming plants. There are many more athletes doing the same but they have not gone public yet for fear of losing their competitive advantage.
The Game Changes takes you into the kitchen and minds of many of these athletes in order to understand their motivation and learn from their successes.
I definitely recommend you spend 90 minutes on this documentary. If it doesn’t resonate with you, no harm done. But if it does…..it may change your life forever!
Alicia Koebel – Research Assistant, Fitness & Lifestyles; Exercise Physiologist; Pn1 Coach
I had heard about The Game Changers in February when a friend of mine came back from a Fitness Certification course that was held in LA. He had stopped eating vegan a year prior because he found he wasn’t able to reach his goals. I had always believed up until that point that if you wanted size and the most strength that eating animal-based protein was the option. However, this documentary has made me question that. I have been vegetarian since May as I was realizing I was feeling tired after eating, especially if I had a meal with a big portion of meat. Just from pushing away meat, including fish, I have noticed that I have a lot more energy and don’t feel as tired as I used to around 3:30 pm. The Game Changers showed the different benefits on why a full plant-based diet is so important and that no matter what your goals are you are able to reach them. I also found the way they approached different topics to be great; whether it was with humour, science, or simply stating ideas, everyone should be able to find something that they find appealing.
For me, I am definitely going to take a serious look into taking out the rest of the animal by-products in my nutrition plan, which currently is only cheese and milk (which is really only for baking certain things).
I agree with Art…If you spend the 90 or so minutes to watch this, it can be life changing or just something that you ponder over while watching. No matter which, there is no harm in watching this documentary.
Fitness and Health is full of critics
Like at ‘disruption’ style documentaries and there are always criticisms. There is nothing wrong with questioning someones ideas, research, or opinions; however criticizing without looking into things first can create un-found responses. Let's take a look at some questions and concerns regarding this film:
1) “The middle man concept doesn’t introduce enough protein into one’s diet”: for those who haven’t watched the film, the middle man concept is explained as animals that are traditionally eaten (like beef, chicken, deer, etc) eat plants to survive and get enough protein perfectly fine. Generally, the average person only needs 56-60 grams of protein per day. In one serving, the body can only process 30 grams maximum to boost muscle building. After 30 grams, there is no added benefit. Now, 30 grams is easily obtainable with a plant-based diet; foods like edamame, beans, and lentils range between 15-22 grams per cup and products like tempeh can have 33 grams for 1 cup.
2) “Studies introduced in the film are not evidence based”: the study getting this criticism the most is one regarding the nutrition of the Roman gladiators.
This criticism is false. The MedUni in Vienna and Department of Anthropology at the University of Bern worked together to analyze bone from gladiators with the control group being the normal local population. The study found that the gladiators were bean and barely eaters compared to the local population who ate higher quality grains and also meat free. However, the main difference was the gladiators consumed plant ashes to increase bone health, since it provided calcium.
3) “The film is anti-fat”: The group who is saying this may have missed some things during the film. When providing athletes and others meals during the film fats were introduced through cooking oils and, mainly, avocado. An athlete even asked in the film to confirm that “the fat in the avocado doesn’t have this effect, right?” Watch the film to find out what effect they were talking about. So, no, this film is not anti-fat.
4) “You can’t compare the amount of protein in a steak to the protein in a peanut butter sandwich”: Yes, that is very true in terms of serving size. Peanut butter, natural or not, has around 8 grams of protein for 32 grams. A general serving of steak can have around 25 grams per 100 grams. However, what the film was trying to say was, per gram steak and peanut butter have the same protein content, which is 0.25 grams. The film was also trying to point out with this is that you don’t have the inflammatory components that could hinder recovery in peanut butter as you would with steak.
5) The general criticism about the film: like any other documentary promoting health and fitness that could turn an industry upside-down, if groups are worried about money loss they will aggressively speak out against it. When you see or hear any criticism, it is important to see if there are other motives driving them. Even with this documentary, it is important to look at the people featured in it and see if there is any funding that could be pushing agendas.
If you end up watching the film, we would love to hear your thoughts on it!