So, let’s talk about the new documentary stirring up controversy: The Game Changers.
The film serves to showcase athletes performing well on a plant based diet. Not vegan. Plant based. There is a difference and it is quite relevant to athletic performance. Will giving up burgers and eating vegan Oreos up your game? Probably not.
There are plenty of videos and articles for and against the film. The best negative review I have seen is from Layne Norton. The best positive is from Garth Davis. My suggestion is after you watch it, read from BOTH experts.
Say you watched the movie and read responses from both sides. What now?
If you are an athlete and want to look at your diet more closely, write down what you eat for a couple weeks! In the context of interest in this film, calculate what percent of your calories are from animal products and maybe also processed food / junk food.
What is left over is the percent of calories from unprocessed plant foods. Fruits, veggies, beans, spices, nuts. All that. Where you at? 40%? 50%? 70%? In most cases you can up this number and improve your overall health and your sports performance. But what about vegan vs carnivore diet?! Forget that. The world isn’t black and white and neither are your choices about what you eat! Embrace the gray and make some easy steps towards eating better.
Also, diet is individual...how do you know what to do? Eat, keep track of it, and train. Go to the doctor every year and get blood tests. Are your numbers getting better or worse? If your numbers are awesome and so is your performance, it is tough to say you are doing it wrong. In the case of many, they feel decent and eat decent but have high blood pressure and high cholesterol despite a normal weight and consistent exercise. In this situation and others, is it really that desperate a reach to tell you to eat more plants? Probably not.