7 Jaw-Dropping Facts The Game Changers Taught Us About Wellness
Right now, there's one Netflix documentary on everyone's lips. The Game Changers was released only a couple of months ago but has been catapulted into the spotlight due to its divisive viewpoint on plant-based living and its benefits, specifically when we're talking about fitness and athletic performance. Regardless of whether going vegan is on your radar or not, we highly recommend giving it a watch even just to learn about the awesome things people like Australian Olympian Morgan Mitchell are achieving, fuelled entirely by a plant-based diet. The following is a list of seven of the jaw-dropping facts we learnt from the wellness documentary.
1. All protein originates in plants
One of the most fascinating things we learnt while watching The Game Changers is that all protein comes from plants and that when you eat meat you are receiving protein by way of the plants that the animal had eaten previously. It's a simple explanation, however it might just be enough to challenge the thought that animals are the best way to receive adequate amounts of protein.
2. The average plant-eater exceeds their protein goal by 70%
One massive misconception about plant-based eating and a question that a lot of vegans hear on the regular is "how do you get enough protein?". It's true that protein is an essential nutrient to help us grow and repair tissue as well as support our vital systems, and The Game Changers' own study reveals that the average plant-eater exceeds their daily protein goal by 70% compared to meat-eaters.
3. Our teeth are made for grinding plants
Our teeth are powerful tools that have evolved over time to help us break up food into easily digestible bites. The documentary actually refers to our style of teeth as "mortar and pestle" and explains that they are great for chewing leaves and plant matter but are not so adequate at breaking up meat as previously thought.
4. Plant-based diets can reverse heart disease
During the film, the President of the American College for Cardiology talks us through the fact that regular meat consumption has been linked to the formation of plaque in the coronary arteries. In fact, a plant-based diet is shown to be the only type of eating style that can actually reverse the effects of heart disease. Host James Wilks even documents his own father's journey to recovery from heart complications with the help of a plant-based diet.
5. Animal farming use 83 per cent of the world's farmland
Over 70 billion animals are consumed globally which is a shocking number when you think about it. Growing animals takes a huge amount of resources and puts a strain on the vast amounts of land it requires. We learn that farming for meat, dairy, eggs and fish uses a staggering 83 per cent of the world's farmland but only 18% of the total calories.
6. Some of the best athletes adopt plant-based diets
From bodybuilder/celebrity/politician Arnold Schwarzenegger to world tennis champion Novak Djokovic, The Game Changers profiles a list of incredible athletes who are at the peak of their specific sport and who credit a vegan diet as a pivotal factor in their success. One of the most eye-opening examples that we see in the doco is strongman competitor Patrik Baboumian whose sheer size and muscle mass is enough to prove that consuming meat is not the only way to gain strength.
7. Plants reduce inflammation
Your body's natural immune response to injury is inflammation, for example, a sprained ankle. Without proper healing and recovery, inflammation can prolong healing time and cause further injury. Your diet has the power to either hinder or assist in this process, with plant-based diets showing the ability to reduce inflammation in the body by 29 per cent in around three weeks. That's because plants are naturally packed with anti-inflammatory compounds, including thousands of powerful antioxidants.
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