Bumping this because I found a review of the documentary which lays out good information. I'm STILL hearing about this from the clueless around me: "But even body builders go vegan!"
Game Changers Movie Review: Fact vs. Fiction has an excellent point:
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If you’re reading a research study, you probably like to take a look at who funded it first. For some reason, however, when it comes to the entertainment industry, we don’t always pay as much attention to where the money is coming from.
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Especially when you consider what a documentary is telling you. Film is perhaps the most powerful at engaging our emotions, which routinely bypass the logical parts of our brain.
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The films executive producers include Jackie Chan, Louie Psihoyos, and James Cameron and his wife Suzy Amis Cameron. James Cameron is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker known for movies like The Titanic and Avatar.
What most people don’t know about this Oscar-winning producer and his wife, however, is that they’re also the founders of Verdiant Foods, an organic pea protein company[*].
But this isn’t just some dinky plant-based protein start-up. As a press release from 2017 states; “Cameron has the goal to become the largest organic pea protein fractionation facility in North America”[*]. He’s also partnered with Ingredion, one of the leading global ingredient suppliers, racking up an investment of $140 million[*]. So he definitely has no skin in the game, right?
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Which explains why pea protein is EVERYWHERE all of a sudden. And why Dr. Dean Ornish shows up!
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Of course, you want vegan “experts” to talk about veganism. But any balanced film on nutrition for athletic performance would interview an array of nutrition experts; not just the ones making money off a vegan agenda.
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One of the advantages of athletic performance is that it is not subjective. Someone is faster or stronger or more strategic. They win.
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And as for the parade of vegans winning the Olympics, it begs the question — how many meat-eaters have also won the Olympics? Just sayin’.
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In one insight into pre-vegan dieting, Bryant Jennings (a heavy-weight boxer) explains how he grew up on popeyes, KFC, and fried chicken. He goes on to mention that he didn’t even know about half of the vegetables out there until he gave up meat in 2012.
Well yes, it makes sense then that switching from a diet made up of mostly low-quality fast food to a diet full of whole foods would make you feel better — regardless of whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, paleo, or keto.
You can’t fairly assert that switching from a fast-food diet to a vegan diet is going to make you feel better solely because you’re eating more plants. What about all the preservatives, sugar, processed ingredients, and additives that this person is also no longer consuming?
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This is a great point because, sadly, this is one of the reasons behind the Vegan Honeymoon Syndrome. Moving from junk to less junk can feel really good... at first. It's a complicated explanation involving cell permeability. But the downsides appear only months in, and get worse over time. This is when people get trapped, like quicksand. The more they struggle to "do it right" the worse things get. But that seductive honeymoon keeps beckoning.
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The filmmakers finish this segment by mentioning that glucose is our primary fuel source, and we are clearly meant to eat only plants since they are the best source of fuel. It sounds like these guys haven’t heard about ketones.
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Key to my situation, and why I eat so few plants of late, is this:
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This may not sound like that big of a deal, but when it comes down to your actual diet, the question becomes; how much rice and beans do you need to eat to make the same amount of complete protein in a 4oz piece of chicken?
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For this, researchers have come up with something called the PDCAAS (protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score) score. The PDCAAS measures the quality of a protein for human consumption. It takes into account the amino acid composition, the digestibility of amino acids, and the bioavailability of the amino acids[*].
A PDCAAS rating of 1.0 is a perfect score, with eggs, milk, and whey protein scoring a perfect 1.0, and beef coming in right behind with .92. If you look at vegetarian sources of protein, you get kidney beans coming in at .54, red lentils at .53, and peanuts .52[*][*].
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Those last three items? Full of lectins. As I discovered over a two day period of nausea from ONE cashew, my body reacts to these plant poisons like they are poisons. Now I know! It took abstaining from all legumes to discover what my metabolism really thinks of them. Much like I used to painlessly consume gluten, and now it's like someone turned on a blowtorch in my stomach.
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What’s more, some anti-nutrient compounds found only in plants can disrupt the absorption of amino acids. Even though the PDCAAS score accounts for digestibility, it doesn’t account for amino acids lost in the ilium (a section of your colon), where most anti-nutrient absorption takes place.
In an animal study, researchers found that anti-nutrients in peas, fava beans, chickpeas. and lupin inhibited the absorption of some of the amino acids present in these plant foods[*].
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Bio-availability is my new word for nutrition. I'm probably out on the extreme end when it comes to getting anything good out of plants. But I can't be the only one.
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The heart disease debate is always a fan favorite among vegans when talking about meat consumption. Typically, they rely heavily on the cholesterol-lowering aspects of a plant-based diet.
While you can indeed find plenty of research to support the cholesterol-lowering effects of eating plants, the link to heart disease is still heavily up for debate. And in fact, more recent research is uncovering that it’s the size of the LDL particle, not its mere presence that should be of concern[*].
Interestingly, the ketogenic diet has a positive influence on the size of LDL particles, producing fluffier, less atherogenic (dangerous) particles[*].
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I wish more doctors knew that. 
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A study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism found that when diabetic volunteers ate a low-carb diet (20% of calories) vs. a low glycemic diet (55% of calories from carbs) they saw better glycemic control and more participants in this group were able to come off their medications[*].
The vegan diet may be many things, but it certainly is not low-carb.
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Which was another problem for me when I tried to be vegetarian. I was eating eggs and cheese, too! And now, trying to heal my body from years of ill health, I think I need MORE protein, not less.
There's lots more science at the link. But in conclusion:
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With a backdrop of visionary scientists, the producers make their case for an explosive rise of plant-based eating.
If only the research supported their claims.
But hey — with a team of box office film executives backing the movie it’s no surprise the Game Changers movie won at the Sundance Film Festival.
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That's what we're up against. The New Puritans. |