“I just watched The Game Changers Movie on Netflix, what do you think?” That is a question I have been asked a lot lately. It’s so common that it now makes me laugh when I open my messages and see this. My response is always the same So, here it is.

The Game Changes movie is great. It really gets you to think. It’s opened a conversation, which is a really good thing. If you haven’t seen the movie, The Games Changes movie is about going vegan. And there are a lot of compelling arguments.

If you ... eat more vegetables, you’re going to have an improvement in your health markers and performance.

My issue with the movie is that there are a lot of gaps in the research that are put forth. When you think critically about research, which you’re taught to do at university, especially in psychology, you see a lot of problems with the research referred to in the movie.

First of all, some of the athletes (and we’re talking elite NFL players at the pinnacle) claim to see a huge improvement in performance from going vegan; however, there are certain examples where these athletes are referring to eating fried chicken. Fried chicken from take-away venues isn’t good for you because of the way in which it is cooked (deep fried in trans fat oil).

One athlete even goes on to say how much he loves those sweets and pastries so readily available, and popular, in the U.S. Of course, if you stop eating fried food, sweets and pastries, and eat more vegetables, you’re going to have an improvement in your health markers and performance.

We have evolved to eat meat. Yes, what we eat becomes us. So the cells of the plants and animals we eat becomes our cells. They are broken down and absorbed into our bloodstream to be used to build new cells and repair old ones.

Because the cells of animals become us, it is best to eat ethically sourced animals that have lived a good life Ie. wild-caught fish, grass-fed cows and free-range chickens — not cage-kept, seed-fed, antibiotic-injected animals. That crap becomes us.

Animals might be carriers of nutrients from the plants they eat, but there are other benefits to eating animals such as the protein we derive from them, and that protein is much more filling, so we don’t need to eat as much or as often. Most vegans need to eat all the time.

There’s not a huge problem with eating all the time if you are eating a vegan diet, especially if it is organic and not covered in pesticides (because that causes a host of other problems of its own), but while many vegans experience improved health benefits and see health markers improve, this often only lasts up to about 3 years.

A sustained vegan diet can ultimately lead to deficiencies in the body (as can any diet). Regardless of how you are eating, be sure to check your health markers with a dietitian to ensure you maintain a sufficient level of all nutrients. Through careful consideration, you can maintain all of your health markers following strictly a vegan diet forever.

There are huge benefits to going vegan. Probably the biggest in my opinion is for the planet. Our reliance on animals for food puts a huge strain on the planet and its resources. There are some benefits to our health and performance as well. But simply eating more vegetables is what it’s all about.

If you eat more veggies and less processed and packaged crap, of course you’re going to have an improvement in your health markers and performance. I don’t believe you need to give up meat. You just need to eat meat from an animal that has lived a good life.

For simplicity sake, my recommendation is to aim for vegetables in at least two meals a day and try to get two of protein, fat or fibre in each meal. I only eat two meals a day as I intermittently fast and don’t eat breakfast, so this means in each of my two main meals.

If you were to take your dinner plate as a visual, aim to fill half of the plate with lots of colourful vegetables, a palm-size piece of ethically-sourced meat, poultry, fish or plant-based alternative of protein, such as chickpeas or beans, and supported by healthy fats such as half an avocado, a quarter cup of nuts or drizzled with olive oil or coconut oil.

What did you think of the movie?

Leave your answer to that question in the comments section below.