Is plant based a game changer?
Many of you have emailed me over the past week to ask what I think of a big budget movie just released on Netflix called The Game Changers. The movie promotes the idea that a plant-based diet will be beneficial for health and sport performance. It also suggests that eating meat will have the opposite effect. In this episode (Vlog #31), I watch the movie and offer some quick thoughts on its content and a look at some of the evidence presented in the film. Below is a list of references I discuss in the episode. I encourage you to read all of them, not just take either the Game Changers, or my own views at face value.
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31569235 Johnston, B. C., Zeraatkar, D., Han, M. A., Vernooij, R. W. M., Valli, C., El Dib, R., Marshall, C., Stover, P. J., Fairweather-Taitt, S., Wójcik, G., Bhatia, F., de Souza, R., Brotons, C., Meerpohl, J. J., Patel, C. J., Djulbegovic, B., Alonso-Coello, P., Bala, M. M. & Guyatt, G. H. 2019. Unprocessed Red Meat and Processed Meat Consumption: Dietary Guideline Recommendations From the Nutritional Recommendations (NutriRECS) Consortium. Annals of Internal Medicine.
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31622423 Händel, M. N., Cardoso, I., Rasmussen, K. M., Rohde, J. F., Jacobsen, R., Nielsen, S. M., Christensen, R. & Heitmann, B. L. 2019. Processed meat intake and chronic disease morbidity and mortality: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PLOS ONE, 14, e0223883.
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1973470 Ornish, D., Brown, S. E., Scherwitz, L. W., Billings, J. H., Armstrong, W. T., Ports, T. A., McLanahan, S. M., Kirkeeide, R. L., Brand, R. J. & Gould, K. L. 1990. Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? The Lifestyle Heart Trial. Lancet, 336, 129-33.
4. https://archive.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/gladiator.html
5. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110489 Lösch, S., Moghaddam, N., Grossschmidt, K., Risser, D. U. & Kanz, F. 2014. Stable Isotope and Trace Element Studies on Gladiators and Contemporary Romans from Ephesus (Turkey, 2nd and 3rd Ct. AD) - Implications for Differences in Diet. PLOS ONE, 9, e110489.
6. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141020090006.htm
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23988511 Rizzo, N. S., Jaceldo-Siegl, K., Sabate, J. & Fraser, G. E. 2013. Nutrient profiles of vegetarian and nonvegetarian dietary patterns. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113, 1610-1619.
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28534027 Phillips, S. M. 2017. Current Concepts and Unresolved Questions in Dietary Protein Requirements and Supplements in Adults. Front Nutr, 4, 13.
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10584048 Campbell, W. W., Barton, M. L., Jr., Cyr-Campbell, D., Davey, S. L., Beard, J. L., Parise, G. & Evans, W. J. 1999. Effects of an omnivorous diet compared with a lactoovovegetarian diet on resistance-training-induced changes in body composition and skeletal muscle in older men. Am J Clin Nutr, 70, 1032-9.
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17684208 Hartman, J. W., Tang, J. E., Wilkinson, S. B., Tarnopolsky, M. A., Lawrence, R. L., Fullerton, A. V. & Phillips, S. M. 2007. Consumption of fat-free fluid milk after resistance exercise promotes greater lean mass accretion than does consumption of soy or carbohydrate in young, novice, male weightlifters. Am J Clin Nutr, 86, 373-81.
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1323303/ Volek, J. S. & Feinman, R. D. 2005. Carbohydrate restriction improves the features of Metabolic Syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome may be defined by the response to carbohydrate restriction. Nutrition & Metabolism, 2, 31.
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18396172 Volek, J. S., Fernandez, M. L., Feinman, R. D. & Phinney, S. D. 2008. Dietary carbohydrate restriction induces a unique metabolic state positively affecting atherogenic dyslipidemia, fatty acid partitioning, and metabolic syndrome. Progress in Lipid Research, 47, 307-318.
13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16443784 Nieuwdorp 2006 Glycocalyx Nieuwdorp, M., van Haeften, T. W., Gouverneur, M. C. L. G., Mooij, H. L., van Lieshout, M. H. P., Levi, M., Meijers, J. C. M., Holleman, F., Hoekstra, J. B. L., Vink, H., Kastelein, J. J. P. & Stroes, E. S. G. 2006. Loss of Endothelial Glycocalyx During Acute Hyperglycemia Coincides With Endothelial Dysfunction and Coagulation Activation In Vivo. Diabetes, 55, 480.
14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2352199/ Key, T. J., Thorogood, M., Appleby, P. N. & Burr, M. L. 1996. Dietary habits and mortality in 11,000 vegetarians and health conscious people: results of a 17 year follow up. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 313, 775-779.
15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29674591 Smith, F. A., Elliott Smith, R. E., Lyons, S. K. & Payne, J. L. 2018. Body size downgrading of mammals over the late Quaternary. Science, 360, 310.
16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-latin-america-50330717
17. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618215011829 Wißing, C., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Germonpré, M., Naito, Y. I., Semal, P. & Bocherens, H. 2016. Isotopic evidence for dietary ecology of late Neandertals in North-Western Europe. Quaternary International, 411, 327-345.
18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24694282 Helander, H. F. & Fändriks, L. 2014. Surface area of the digestive tract – revisited. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 49, 681-689.
19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4844163/ Sobiecki, J. G., Appleby, P. N., Bradbury, K. E. & Key, T. J. 2016. High compliance with dietary recommendations in a cohort of meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians, and vegans: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Oxford study. Nutr Res, 36, 464-77.
20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23183299 Carpenter, K. J. 2012. The discovery of vitamin C. Ann Nutr Metab, 61, 259-64.
21. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16848698 Cahill, G. F., Jr. 2006. Fuel metabolism in starvation. Annu Rev Nutr, 26, 1-22.
22. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5056667 Drenick, E. J., Alvarez, L. C., Tamasi, G. C. & Brickman, A. S. 1972. Resistance to symptomatic insulin reactions after fasting. The Journal of clinical investigation, 51, 2757-2762.
23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9311957 Popovich, D. G., Jenkins, D. J., Kendall, C. W., Dierenfeld, E. S., Carroll, R. W., Tariq, N. & Vidgen, E. 1997. The western lowland gorilla diet has implications for the health of humans and other hominoids. J Nutr, 127, 2000-5.
24. https://journals.lww.com/nutritiontodayonline/Fulltext/2018/07000/ Assessing_the_Role_of_Cattle_in_Sustainable_Food.5.aspx#pdf-link Layman, D. K. 2018. Assessing the Role of Cattle in Sustainable Food Systems. 53, 160-165.
25. https://www.biogeosciences.net/16/3033/2019/ Howarth, R. W. 2019. Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane? Biogeosciences, 16, 3033-3046.