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Thread: "Game Changers" - plant-based protein vs meat and athletics

  1. #1
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    Default "Game Changers" - plant-based protein vs meat and athletics

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    I recently watched a (Netflix?) special called "The Game Changers" in which it is asserted that athletes using plant-based proteins have demonstrated significant advantages over those using meat-based protein diets. For the most part, I was open to the idea that there may be some situations where a reasonable discussion about meat- versus plant-based diets for athletes might be an interesting field for research and experimentation.

    The video loses me when they start with the "meats are bad for Gaia (planet Earth)" political agenda; but early on, when they stuck with testing the NFL players from Tennessee and the lady Olympic cyclist and other top-notch athletes, it seemed to present a possible area for exploration, to introduce plant-based proteins into my usual weekly eating regime, and see what happens.

    I guess I am just opening up the idea of discussing it here on this forum, and looking for more expert opinion. I'm a meat guy - and my research up until now has led me to believe that plant-based proteins are incomplete and require augmentation or special combinations to provide complete proteins. One of the most frequent lines from the video, spoken by narrator James Wilks, is "the animal is just the middle-man anyway; it gets its protein from plants, so why not get your own directly from plants, too?"

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
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    I have not seen this but have two thoughts on reading your post:

    1) Elite level athletes can get away with doing lots of things wrong

    2) Animals have a completely different digestive system than humans and how they conveniently ignore that is beyond me.

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    "the animal is just the middle-man anyway; it gets its protein from plants, so why not get your own directly from plants, too?"
    We get steel from iron ore and carbon anyway, why don't we just build buildings out of iron ore and carbon?

    Structure matters.

    The biggest thing that pissed me off about this film was all of the guys they interviewed who were meat eaters prior are like "I used to eat Popeyes and skittles before the big game every time. Now that I'm on a plant based diet, I have so much more energy than when I ate meat."
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    Can you fill us in on what some of the "significant advantages" these top athletes have demonstrated? What are they claiming are the advantages? Who are the athletes? Are they better now or were they the best before they switched too?

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    Quote Originally Posted by bracemaker View Post
    Can you fill us in on what some of the "significant advantages" these top athletes have demonstrated? What are they claiming are the advantages? Who are the athletes? Are they better now or were they the best before they switched too?
    The film follows several top athletes who apparently follow a vegan diet. There's the narrator, James Wilks himself, who used to be a UFC/MMA fighter until he was injured, and during his re-hab switched over to plant-based eating. He is proud to have convinced his ailing aging sick phenotype dad to switch to plant-based eating and extending his life.

    There's the guy whose name I can't recall who beat UFC/MMA Conor McGregor (actually whupped him pretty good, too), who made fun of the guy for being a plant-eater in the pre-match trash-talk; the implied connection was that Conor having two steaks before the match did him in.

    Another athlete is a super-strongman Patrik Baboumian, who set a world record for carrying a yoke at 560 kilos for 10 meters; web information claims he is the face of PETA's campaign for going meat-less.

    Olympic cyclist Dorothy Bausch is featured. She was a silver-medalist in 2012 at age 39; 3 years previously, she had switched to plant-based eating and now runs a non-profit helping athletes recognize their full potential using a plant-based eating regime (according to her web-site).

    Some guys from the NFL Tennessee Titans are highlighted as plant-eaters, and claim they have improved so much that plant-based helped them get to the playoffs.

    I read the Men's Health review of the film, and a couple of rebuttals to the Men's Health review. I think the MH article was pretty good and their conclusions much more reasonable - eat more veggies to go with a well-balanced eating plan that includes solid protein sources like meat, eggs, and dairy.

    But, hell, the film even has The Arnold advocating to try meat-less for a day or two per week! If The Arnold says it, it must be good, right? LOL.

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    If Arnold said it then it's settled.

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    I'm as big an Arnold fan as anyone, but at the end of the day, despite his genealogy and accent, at heart he is Californian....and we all know what flies for nutrition information there

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    Heard stan efferding on a podcast and James Cameron made this documentary. Low and behold..

    James Cameron Bets on Pea Protein to Get People to Eat Less Meat! - One Green PlanetOne Green Planet

    Someone is highly invested in pea protein.

    I say let these nuts keep converting people to vegan. It will keep meat and protein powders costs down for the rest of us sane people.

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    Other people are highly invested in pea proteins - commercial dog food manufacturers catering to the "grain free" market.

    Interestingly, the FDA issued an alert in 2018 on dogs developing dilated cardiomyopathy in breeds where this is an usual disease and that the common factor associated has been feeding diets containing legumes, lentils, and potatoes as the main ingredients.

    That's Man's Best Friend and fellow omnivore, folks. Eating a bunch of peas is pretty weird for you too, even if you avoid the more clearly toxic wild ones.

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    Not to derail the thread, Stef, do you have a dog food that you recommend or use?

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