James Wilks — a retired English mixed martial artist and star of the 2018 vegan documentary “The Game Changers” — recently sat down with comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan to discuss criticisms of the film. For nearly four hours.
Executively produced by Academy Award-winning director James Cameron, “The Game Changers” sees Wilks embark on a quest to find out the truth behind the myth that meat is necessary for protein. It includes a number of plant-powered athletes, including Lewis Hamilton and Novak Djokovic, as well as former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Since the film arrived on Netflix, a number of people have raved about it and chosen to change their diets. Swedish actor and martial artist Dolph Lundgren revealed he had gone vegan because of the documentary on “Good Morning Britain.”
Roger Whiteside — the CEO of UK bakery giant Greggs — also changed his eating habits after watching the film. And former footballer Jamie Redknapp said it was one of the best documentaries he’d seen for a while.
However, not everyone was convinced. Last month, health coach and author Chris Kresser spoke to Rogan about “The Game Changers” in a “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast episode titled: “Chris Kresser Debunks ‘The Game Changers’ Documentary.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0zgNY_kqlI&t=8343s
A Heated Discussion
Kresser believes the documentary is “agenda-driven” and plays “fast and loose” with science.
He discussed his view at length with Rogan and wrote an entire post on his website criticizing the film. He said, “it’s full of misleading statements, half-truths, flat-out falsehoods, flawed logic, and absurdities.”
Kresser — a specialist in ancestral health — is an advocate for the paleo “template,” which is based on the heavily criticized paleo diet. Sometimes called the caveman diet, it involves reducing carbs and eating predominantly lean meats, fish, and fruits and vegetables.
Acknowledging that the discussion was fairly one-sided between them, Rogan extended an invitation to Wilks to come on the show himself. Wilks obliged, and, together with Rogan and Kresser, he engaged in a nearly four-hour-long heated discussion about the vegan diet and “The Game Changers.”
During the discussion, Wilks passionately defended the documentary against Kresser’s criticisms, including his claim that there was “zero evidence” that B12 was fed to cattle through supplements.
After showing evidence that B12 is indeed fed to cattle, Wilks said to Kresser more than an hour into the debate, “you said there was no evidence that cattle are given B12,” said Wilks. “You said that all my statements are absolutely false, do you at least admit that you were wrong there?”
Kresser agreed that he was wrong on this point. The heated discussion then continued for more than two hours between the trio.
In a recent post on Instagram, Rogan explained that Wilks defended his points so well, he was considering taking the original discussion down.
He wrote, “James knocked it out of the park and defended himself and the film quite spectacularly. So much so that I’m actually considering taking the original breakdown of the film offline.”
