Joe Rogan Experience #1389 - Chris Kresser Debunks "The Gamechangers" Documentary
Joe Rogan (host), Chris Kresser (guest), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Chris Kresser, Joe Rogan Experience #1389 - Chris Kresser Debunks "The Gamechangers" Documentary explores joe Rogan, Chris Kresser Dismantle Vegan Film ‘Game Changers’ Claims Joe Rogan and Chris Kresser conduct a point‑by‑point critique of the documentary *The Game Changers*, arguing it misrepresents nutrition science, exaggerates risks of meat, and overstates benefits of vegan diets for performance and health.
Joe Rogan, Chris Kresser Dismantle Vegan Film ‘Game Changers’ Claims
Joe Rogan and Chris Kresser conduct a point‑by‑point critique of the documentary *The Game Changers*, arguing it misrepresents nutrition science, exaggerates risks of meat, and overstates benefits of vegan diets for performance and health.
Kresser accepts that some individuals can thrive on well‑planned vegan diets and agrees factory farming is problematic, but rejects the film’s central claim that a vegan diet is optimal for all people and athletes.
They highlight issues of cherry‑picked studies, misleading comparisons (e.g., protein content, greenhouse gases, historical diets), and lack of proper scientific controls in the film’s “experiments.”
The conversation also explores broader topics including regenerative livestock agriculture, ethical trade‑offs in plant vs. animal farming, protein requirements, B12 and micronutrient deficiencies, and ideological bias in nutrition debates.
Key Takeaways
A well‑planned vegan diet can work, but it is not universally optimal.
Kresser repeatedly acknowledges that some athletes and individuals thrive on carefully managed plant‑based diets with supplementation, but argues the film overreaches by claiming vegan is the best diet for everyone and for peak performance.
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Protein quality and bioavailability matter as much as total grams.
They show that while plant foods can match animal foods in raw protein grams, you often need far larger volumes and calories, and many plant proteins have weaker amino acid profiles and lower digestibility, affecting muscle protein synthesis and recovery.
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Short‑term benefits of going vegan often reflect escaping junk diets, not magic.
The so‑called “vegan honeymoon” typically occurs when someone switches from fast food and ultra‑processed diets to whole plant foods; benefits may fade over months as inadequate protein and micronutrients (e. ...
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Most headline claims about meat and disease rely on weak epidemiology.
They criticize studies that lump McDonald’s‑style meat eaters with whole‑food omnivores, fail to control for smoking, alcohol, and overall diet quality, and then blame meat; newer large reviews show little or low‑certainty evidence that red meat causes disease.
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Environmental arguments against all meat ignore regenerative livestock potential.
Kresser cites lifecycle analyses showing holistically managed, grass‑fed cattle can be carbon‑neutral or even carbon sinks and crucial for soil restoration, while mono‑crop plant agriculture also drives erosion, habitat loss, and large‑scale wildlife deaths.
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Plant‑only ethics overlook the animal deaths embedded in crop production.
Studies estimate billions of small animals (rodents, birds, insects, fish) die annually from plowing, pesticides, and runoff for plant agriculture, raising hard questions about whether replacing a few large animals with many small deaths is ethically “cleaner.”
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B12 and other micronutrients are real vulnerabilities in vegan diets.
They highlight high rates of B12 depletion and elevated homocysteine in vegetarians and especially vegans, with risks for neurological damage and cognitive issues, stressing that strict plant‑based eaters must supplement and monitor status carefully.
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Notable Quotes
“If this film had just said, ‘You can thrive on a plant‑based diet and here are some athletes who do,’ I wouldn’t have any problem with it.”
— Chris Kresser
“We’re not choosing between one really good alternative and one terrible alternative. We’re choosing between complex trade‑offs in how we feed the world.”
— Chris Kresser
“It’s like Reefer Madness for meat.”
— Joe Rogan
“The B12 issue is serious. In some studies over 90 percent of vegans show biochemical signs of depletion.”
— Chris Kresser
“To make poorly informed decisions—or, to be more blunt, decisions based on deceptive information—and then have health consequences because of that, that pisses me off.”
— Joe Rogan
Questions Answered in This Episode
How should the average person, without a science background, evaluate nutrition documentaries that present confident but conflicting claims?
Joe Rogan and Chris Kresser conduct a point‑by‑point critique of the documentary *The Game Changers*, arguing it misrepresents nutrition science, exaggerates risks of meat, and overstates benefits of vegan diets for performance and health.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
If regenerative grazing can truly sequester carbon, what specific policies or incentives would be needed to scale it up meaningfully?
Kresser accepts that some individuals can thrive on well‑planned vegan diets and agrees factory farming is problematic, but rejects the film’s central claim that a vegan diet is optimal for all people and athletes.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Where is the line ethically between deaths caused directly by slaughtering animals and deaths caused indirectly by crop agriculture?
They highlight issues of cherry‑picked studies, misleading comparisons (e. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Given the evidence on protein quality, how can a vegan athlete practically structure their diet and supplementation to minimize performance drawbacks?
The conversation also explores broader topics including regenerative livestock agriculture, ethical trade‑offs in plant vs. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How much weight should we give to mechanistic markers like TMAO or neu5GC when large outcome studies often fail to show clear harm from meat?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Kresser.
Joe, good to be back.
How are you, buddy? Good to see you.
Great. Yeah.
Uh, we are here because of the film The Game Changers. Um, I watched it. I watched it today. Uh, I watched the whole thing from start to finish. Um, and I have to say before we even start, I like the guy who's in it very much. James Wilks, very nice guy.
Yeah.
He's, uh, an excellent fighter. He won The Ultimate Fighter. Um, and, uh, I don't think he's a bad person.
I, I, I've only had a little bit of interacts with him just over the past couple of days via email. He seems like a, a really great guy.
Yeah, very good guy.
Genuine.
I, I would... Well, we're gonna talk. We're just gonna get into it. So, let's-
Let's do it.
... what, what did, what was your thoughts on the film, and, uh, what did, what stood out immediately?
Okay. So, little bit of context, um, you know, I think this film was the best of all the vegan documentaries that have been made. I'll just say that upfront. I think it's pretty well done as a film.
Yes.
You, you know, it's got a big budget, pretty good storyline.
James Cameron, Jackie Chan-
Lots of celebrities.
... Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnold, um, you know, it's good graphics. Like, it's just-
Mm-hmm.
... a well-made film.
Yeah.
And I think it's, especially for someone who doesn't have the background to, you know, or, uh, science awareness to critique some of the claims, it's gonna be really persuasive and compelling. And I've definitely... You know, whenever a film like this comes out, my email inbox just blows up. Like, "Have you seen this film?"
Right.
"What? Oh my God." You know, like-
Right.
... "I'm eating meat. I'm gonna kill myself." (laughs) And-
Right.
... it's just like, uh, and-
It's the same as cigarettes.
R- right. And, y- you know, I was talking to Jamie about it before we started recording. Like, I could set my watch to it. Every year, there's, something like this happens and I've got to do a response. I consider it part of my, it's part of my public service.
Do you think that they're making these films 'cause they believe what they're saying, or do you think they're making these films because they are trying to convert people to being vegan and they think that distorting reality and just bending things and cherry-picking data is acceptable because the long run, the benefits of getting the world to shift over to a vegan diet is worth not being completely objective or honest about the actual facts?
No, I think they believe it. I think people like, I mean, James for example, I think he's genuinely trying to help people. I think he's looked at the data and he just came to a different conclusion than somebody (Joe scoffs) like me has. And, you know, I mean, (sighs) this is, there's something called confirmation bias-
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