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Is the Game changing?

I’ve recently decided to attempt to become as strict as possible in trying to follow a vegan diet. It seems the word “Vegan” has become a “buzz ‘word in recent years. I can’t remember any of my friends at school being vegan.

I’ve had friends in my adult life who have switched to a plant-based (PB) diet and I have done nothing but wish them luck. They have never hurt me by going vegan. I never questioned their choice. The way I saw it, it was their bodies and life so it was up to them what they wanted to do. I loved my chocolate, cheese and Nandos peri-peri chicken too much. Extra hot. Wings.

I just didn’t understand it enough at the time to engage in meaningful conversation about PB diets. The truth is, I don’t think you ever have to engage in conversation with people who are on ANY diet unless they initiate it. The way I have always seen it, whatever people eat, is their own personal choice.

Certainly for me attempting a PB diet is a personal thing. Not a deeply personal thing. But a personal one. I’m not doing it to persuade others about the unethical side to the treatment of animals or because of the impact of farming on the earth. Those are both compelling arguments in and of themselves, but they are not the reasons I am attempting a PB diet. My reason is because of a quote I know is attributed to Bruce Lee that I had known of BEFORE I had watched the Game Changers on Netflix (I will come onto that later on).

As most people know, I am nursing a serious Achilles injury that has stopped me from running. I’m not sure how long I will be unable to run, but it has already been a month and I have tried everything from physiotheraphy, medication, acupuncture to praying to the running gods to heal me! None of these attempts has so far worked.

Being unable to run has freed up about 10 hours a week for me. That’s close to an entire waking day. I have used this time to read books by Scott Jurek (Eat Run Eat) and Rich Rolls (Running Ultra). Both swear by plant-based diets and argue that by switching to this diet, it has enabled them to accomplish incredible feats of endurance. They also argue (importantly for me), that their diet had allowed for quicker recovery times from injury.

It became clear to me that it couldn’t harm me, or anyone if I tried a plant based diet out especially if it aids in my recovery. I have always been someone to take what people say with a pinch of salt, unless I had heard the “other side” of the vegan argument. So even after reading these books, I was hesitant. I decided that the proof in the pudding was in the (vegan) eating.

What I didn’t expect was just how many people felt the need to comment on my choice of going vegan.

“We have incisor teeth for meat. We were meant to eat meat”,

“Good luck but don’t be THAT guy who posts photos of all his food”

“You won’t get enough protein” (This one I expected to get as it is the classic argument vegans get, that even when I was a non-vegan I would see my vegan friends get asked it all the time).

“Animal products are tasty”

I did find it interesting that I had as much commentary on my attempt to go full metal vegan as I did when I grew my beard!

For the most part, people were very supportive. They recommended I watch “The Game Changers” on Netflix, which seems to have taken the world by storm at this moment in time so I decided to watch it. I had already seen a great documentary called “Cowspiracy” on Netflix a few years ago and although that blew me away with it’s arguments on how damaging farming (and cow farts) are to the environment, I found that those arguments were mainly based on global, ethical issues. As someone who led an active life and was a regular gym goer and was leading a bodybuilding style lifestyle, the ethical argument for a PB diet could never trump the convenience of finding and eating protein from animals. I decided to give the Game Changers a go.

Here is my view on it.

From the outset I should say, it is a brilliantly produced documentary, as you would expect when you have James Cameron on board as well as a raft of A-list celebrities.

The structure of the movie was very creative, because it was following James Wilks, a former MMA fighter and his path to recovery from injury after a serious knee injury and the research he did during his time out from the ring into. I immediately felt a connection to this being in a similar position now and doing my own research on the matter. It felt VERY META watching this movie!

There were a number of parts to the movie that did make me raise an eyebrow.

They focused on the UFC fight between Nate Diaz and Connor McGregor. Plant based v Meat Eaters. And it showed that (PB)-based won!

Well…that’s not entirely true. Because I remember there being a rematch and Connor McGregor beat Diaz! Diaz has also lost other fights against meat-eaters. It was a shame they didn’t mention these points to give there more balance, because the way it was pitched made it look like eating a PB diet gives you an edge in the brutal world of MMA. I’m not sure how much I believe that.

In fact I thought deeply about this “cherry picking” part of the movie and I thought about athletes that are famous for eating fast food. Usain Bolt did it. Michael Phelps did it. Anthony Joshua has gone on record stating that he often eats burgers just because it is the fastest way to get calories in him because he loses calories so quickly due to the intensity of his training. All these athletes are or were also at the pinnacle of their sport and did NOT have PB diets. In fact I’m assuming the majority of athletes at the very top are meat eaters.

A documentary could easily be made by meat-eaters also called the Game Changers that shows eating meat is the only way to get to the pinnacle of any sport if they cherry picked sporting events too where meat-eaters are the victors.

But then it got me thinking even more…

What if Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Antony Joshua tried a PB diet? Would they have been EVEN quicker or stronger than they were?

There were other parts of the documentary that I found troubling. There was an argument that Gladiators had a PB diet. But weren’t Gladiators slaves that were trained to fight for the entertainment of others? (Are you not entertained?!). Surely once captured, they would have been fed a higher volume of vegetables over the more expensive meat.

Finally, the teeth argument (made for tearing apart PB foods) had me thinking too. My understanding of how humans evolved (I am by no means claiming to be an anthropologist) is that we evolved as omnivores. We were hunter gatherers and whilst true that we evolved without eating much meat, the opposite is also true and still holds true today in places like arctic Canada which is inhabited by the Inuit.

Overall, the story and presentation of the movie was fantastic. I can definitely see why people go on a PB diet and why it works for some people. Some of the humour in the movie was brilliant (including a scene involving a penis doctor and 3 college American Football players) and the participants in the movie were thoroughly engaging.

What I would have liked to have seen is more science about how a PB effects recovery from injury. It’s obvious that getting your veggies and fruit in your diet is a positive thing. It was also interesting to note where B12 comes from and that supplementation may be a good thing for both PB and meat eaters, however more examples and tests showing this would have been beneficial. My conclusion is that the only way I can really know whether a PB diet will help me recover quicker from injury is by attempting the PB diet myself. I certainly cannot let Hollywood, Scot Jurek and Rich Roll, compelling as they all are persuade me into a PB diet, The only way of knowing is to research my own experience, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and to add specifically what is my own.