For me there are multiple reasons as to why I’m vegan. Animal rights, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, climate change, inefficiency, personal health and even more. So when someone asks why I’m vegan this is always difficult, there are so many reasons! I try to explain it briefly but when I say something as: ‘for my health’, people look at me as if I’m crazy. So, you’re saying animal foods are bad for our health? I tell them yes and from today on I can refer to a documentary: The Gamechangers.
Why I share documentaries and books
Whenever someone asks me about veganism and they don’t believe or have never heard of the consequences, I share books or documentaries about the subject. I don’t know all the numbers by heart and so maybe I am not that convincible. Also, people believe something when they read it in a book or see in in a documentary and sometimes when I tell something they don’t. And of course I get that. I am not a doctor or a scientists.
Imagine someone asking me why I’m vegan and I name climate change as a reason. They don’t believe me or they don’t understand. That’s okay, then I just refer to a book or documentary of which I know is very convincing and states all the facts. For climate change that would be Cowspiracy, or for animal rights that would be Earthlings. Now for health this has always been a difficult one. I have not read How Not To Die just yet (which I’ve heard is good as well). I have seen Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and Vegucated but I think those are more about personal experiences and not so much about the general health effects of veganism. Not that that is not important, but a more general story can be useful.
Why health reasons to go vegan are so important
There’s one simple explanation why veganism for health reasons is so important: because it’s about yourself. I just know that for some people reasons other than for themselves is not enough. For some people, the fact that animals suffer is just not enough to go vegan. They care more about the flavor of food. Same goes with climate change, deforestation or anything else. Also, among these people I always hear the same argument: if I go vegan nothing changes. Climate change won’t stop, deforestation won’t stop, the suffering of animals won’t stop.
Although I don’t agree with their argument, this is a problem. That’s why health reasons to go vegan are so important. It’s for yourself! Your own health will get better. You do it for yourself. That’s the big change. Then it’s in your own interest and so a lot more people will go vegan. Same goes for the argument that nothing changes when someone will go vegan. In a health aspect, everything changes. You can change the world, your world.
Documentary The GameChangers
Now we know why it’s important to be able to explain the health reasons to go vegan. And when I explain it, it’s useful to have a good source. And that’s where this documentary comes in today! The Game Changers is a documentary about the health aspects of a plant-based diet. I think it was released in October 2019 in The Netherlands on Netflix and so it’s very recent. The documentary tells, as I said, more about the health aspects on veganism. But it does that in the perspective of professional top athletes.
The documentary the Gamechangers tells the story of James Wilks. He is a combative instructor for the US military and former MMA fighter, but got injured. While he was recovering he started to look more into food, to make sure he could recover as fast as he could. On this journey, he came across veganism. He found out about top athletes being vegan and started a journey of finding the truth about nutrition.
I won’t spoil too much here but the documentary touches on a lot of subjects, from recovery, to energy, to sexual performance (yes, even that is affected by veganism). James interviews interesting athletes, but also talks about why meat is promoted as healthy. Why are we all made to believe that eating meat and animal products is healthy? The whole protein myth is discussed.
‘When I transitioned over to an entirely plant-based diet, I became like a machine’ – Dotsie Bausch
My personal opinion
Well, I love this documentary! From now one I have a very strong source to refer to added to the list of must sees. I know there will be a lot of debate about this documentary, the meat, dairy and egg industry is powerful and has gigantic influence and will always try to make people doubt. But I think evidence is piling up. This is a step forward. And even if you’re sceptic: try it yourself. You are the best to judge about how a diet makes you feel. I know I feel amazing!
Have you seen the documentary The Gamechangers yet?
Yours sincerely,
Romee
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