The visually stunning film, narrated by Rich Roll, tells Oakes’ remarkable story—from losing her right kneecap in high school to setting three Guinness World Records in 2013—and follows her as she competes in one of the most extreme races in the world, the Marathon des Sables. The six-day race requires runners to trek 156 miles through the Sahara in 120-degree heat, carrying all their food and supplies on their backs.

We reached out to Kuhn to learn more about the physically grueling production process and the genesis of the film.

How did you first hear about Fiona Oakes, and how did you decide you wanted to make this film?

When Kip Andersen and I were doing our crowdfunding campaign years ago for our film Cowspiracy, Fiona and Martin (her partner) reached and asked how they could support the film. I was peripherally aware of Fiona … but when I looked her up I was blown away by her achievements. … I wrote back and said, “How can I support you?!” I felt immediately that her story would make for a great film, because she is one of the most under-reported ultra-athletes in the world. She has done so much on so little and embodies what a life of service looks like. My motivation as a filmmaker is to tell untold stories, and I wanted to elevate Fiona’s story to a place I think it deserves.

How did you film the Marathon des Sables scenes?

Filming the Marathon des Sables was a big challenge. About half of the course is accessible by 4×4 vehicle, and I was lucky enough to team up with an amazing 4×4 driver, Mohan Ouhassou, but the other half of the course is only accessible on foot. Mohan would drive me out to the middle of the desert and point out a mountain and say, “If you hike over that mountain and go across the valley, you will see them running.” So I was climbing mountains and running 7 to 15 miles a day with about 30 pounds of gear on me, sleeping in similar tents as the runners. … Since I filmed the entire (marathon) solo, it was hard, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Did you do physical training to prepare?

I started running every day for about six months before I started filming. I also started eating only one meal a day.

What surprised you about Fiona?

Her genuine humbleness. Fiona could easily and understandably have a giant ego, as an athlete with four world records, elite marathon wins, and a 2:38 marathon time, but Fiona seems to have no ego. She seems to not think much of her racing achievements, but more focuses on the successes she has had in inspiring people to change their diets and view of non-human animals.

Why should non-runners see this film?

It’s an inspiring film not just for athletes but for all of us, (pushing us) to dig a little deeper and try a little harder to make the world a better place. Fiona Oakes’ dedication and passion are infectious, and she shows that a plant-based lifestyle doesn’t hold you back from achieving anything; in fact, it might be the reason she can do what she does.

The post Vegan Ultrarunner Fiona Oakes Stars in Keegan Kuhn’s “Running for Good” appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Besides being world-class Olympic athletes, what do silver-medal-winning cyclist Dotsie Bausch, six-time medalist and swimmer Rebecca Soni, weightlifter Kendrick Farris, soccer player Kara Lang, sprinter Malachi David, and alpine ski racer Seba Johnson have in common? They are all living decidedly dairy-free.

Plus, all six elite athletes have now joined forces to spread the word that dairy does not do a body good—despite America’s long history of influential pro-milk ad campaigns.

This inspirational line-up of plant-based Olympians, lead by Bausch, are speaking out in a new public service announcement about the life-changing benefits of ditching dairy. The PSA aired during the closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, reaching audiences in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Dallas.

Directed by Oscar winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove and the upcoming The Game Changers), the spot is part of a bigger “Switch4Good” campaign that has surfaced as an antidote to the Milk Life ads that aired heavily throughout the 2018 Winter Games—a campaign that suggests drinking milk as children helped Olympians achieve athletic greatness later in life.

On the benefits of going plant-based, Bausch told AdWeek, “I switched to a whole foods, plant-based diet about two and a half years before the 2012 Olympic games. I stood on the podium at 39 years old, the oldest competitor ever in my specific discipline. My diet change was the key factor in me being able to recover quicker, decrease inflammation, and have all the stamina and energy I needed to compete against competitors 20 years my junior.”

The post PSA Alert: Olympians Champion the Dairy-Free Lifestyle appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

When the cab drivers at Sundance are talking about a film you made, you know the five years you put into a project were worth every second. This was the “incredible and surreal” experience for producer James Wilks at Sundance in January 2018, when his new documentary The Game Changers made its debut.

Wilks is not only a producer of the film, he’s also the star. A mixed martial artist, winner of The Ultimate Fighter, and combatives trainer for government agencies, Wilks developed an interest in plant-based eating after he experienced a physical setback. In the documentary, he sets forth on a globe-trotting mission to debunk what he calls “the world’s most dangerous myth: that animal foods are necessary for protein, strength, and optimal health.”

The Game Changers—executive produced by three-time Oscar-winner James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) and directed by Oscar-winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove)—is now screening at festivals in the U.S. and worldwide, and is slated for public release this fall. In the meantime, we caught up with Wilks to get the inside story.

FOK: What sparked your own journey into the plant-based way of eating?
James Wilks: Shortly after winning The Ultimate Fighter, I was sparring with a future heavyweight champion and tore ligaments in both of my knees. Unable to train for six months, I started researching peer-reviewed science on nutrition, looking for any advantage I could find to get back on track as quickly as possible. That’s when I stumbled across a study about the Roman Gladiators, which concluded, based on strontium and stable isotope analysis, that they ate a plant-based diet.

As a die-hard meat-eater who believed you needed animal protein to be strong, this discovery challenged everything I thought I knew about nutrition, launching me on a five-year quest for the truth in nutrition, modeled after Bruce Lee’s Truth in Combat philosophy: “Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful. Reject what is useless. Add what is specifically your own.”

FOK: What was your transition to plant-based eating like?
JW: The transition was a little awkward at first, since I didn’t really know much about plant-based food. In fact I’d never even been in a vegetarian restaurant. But once I got the hang of it and latched onto some comfort foods—like oatmeal, peanut butter, pasta, and bean burritos—everything fell into place and I started seeing dramatic improvements in my energy, strength, endurance, and recovery.

FOK: When did your quest become a film, and how did your award-winning crew get assembled?
JW: I realized early on that I should start documenting my experiences, so I bought a video camera and some lighting equipment off of Craigslist and recorded my initial interviews with athletes and nutrition experts. Around that time I met Joseph Pace, a seasoned nutrition researcher from Canada with a keen interest in performance nutrition. He convinced me to make a feature-length documentary about my journey, and with some timely guidance from [creator and executive producer of the Forks Over Knives film] Brian Wendel, we started filming in the fall of 2013.

In early 2014 we built a short trailer with hopes of attracting an established director capable of creating a truly cinematic film. We shared the trailer with Louie Psihoyos, the Oscar-winning director of The Cove, with hopes he might be able to recommend someone. His response was: “How about me?”

Shortly after bringing Louie on board, we got a phone call inviting us to meet with James Cameron, who had been following the film’s development. We all flew to Malibu and nearly fell out of our chairs when Mr. Cameron offered to not only join the film as an executive producer, but to also kickstart our fundraising with a large donation.

The rest of our crew—including our writer, Mark Monroe (Icarus, Before the Flood, The Cove), and our editor, Dan Swietlik (Fed Up, An Inconvenient Truth, Sicko)— joined the project shortly after.

FOK: Can you tell us about your journey and some of the people you met along the way?
JAMES WILKS: In the five years since production of the film got underway, I’ve had the opportunity to meet more than 50 athletes from around the globe. These include Olympians, world champions, and world record holders—each of whom have incredible stories and insights to share. Four of the athletes we spent the most time with in the film are strongman Patrik Baboumian, ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, cyclist Dotsie Bausch, and former NFL cornerback Lou Smith, each of whom embody one or more elements of world-class performance, ranging from strength and power to endurance, recovery, and longevity.

We also interviewed more than 30 experts in the fields of nutrition, public health, and anthropology, who also had their own powerful stories and knowledge to share. Among the most interesting to me were Dr. Fabian Kanz, a forensic anthropologist from Vienna who analyzed the gladiator bones; Dr. James Loomis, former team physician for the St. Louis Rams/Cardinals; and Dr. Kim Williams, then president of the American College of Cardiology. Each of them brought an entirely unique perspective to the science supporting plant-based nutrition.

FOK: What are a few surprising things you learned that are revealed in the film?
JW: The film features two live scientific experiments that use elite athletes as test subjects. The first experiment, conducted on three NFL players, looks at the effect a single meal (animal-based vs. plant-based) can have on overall blood flow. The second experiment, conducted on three varsity athletes, looks at the effect these same two meals can have on blood flow to a specific part of the male anatomy, i.e. erectile function. You’ll have to watch the film to see what happened.

FOK: The film recently premiered at Sundance. What was that like?
JW: Every screening sold out and we received multiple standing ovations, which was both incredible and surreal. I think when you spend five years on a project like this you have no idea what it’s going to be like for a first-time viewer. And to be honest, Joseph and I weren’t sure how the audience would respond. To be approached by people on the street saying they’ve been plant-based ever since the screening, or to hear from cab drivers that their previous customers couldn’t stop talking about the film, those were the most rewarding experiences we could imagine.

FOK: What’s your typical training schedule like these days, and what do you eat in a typical day right now?
JW: My training schedule is pretty light these days, at least compared to when I was competing in the UFC. That said, I still lift weights or run every day, and I also do combat training on a regular basis. To be honest it’s my kids who eat up most of my physical energy.

I start most days with a big bowl of oatmeal, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, berries, and banana. For lunch I might eat something like a lentil stew with collards and sweet potatoes. Midway through the afternoon I have a shake with plant milk, banana, dates, berries, kale, and a plant-based protein powder depending on my training goals. For dinner I’ll have a tofu stir fry with loads of veggies including red pepper, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, etc. And then for a late-night snack I’ll have something like a whole grain cereal with apples, figs, and walnuts.

While I eat whole foods the majority of the time, our family also hits up Veggie Grill or Chipotle when we feel like a treat.

FOK: What is the single most important “truth” you hope people get out of watching the film?
JW: That an animal-based diet isn’t natural or necessary, and that a whole-food, plant-based diet is the single most powerful tool we have to improve how we look, feel, and perform.

For screening information and updates, visit gamechangersmovie.com. You can also follow The Game Changers on Facebook and Instagram.

This article was originally published on Feb. 22, 2018, and has been updated.

The post Global Release Dates Announced for “The Game Changers” Documentary appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, Whalen dreamed of becoming a professional football player. He didn’t get scholarship offers to any Division 1 schools, so he adjusted and applied to rigorous academic schools with strong football programs. He got into Stanford (no small feat in itself) and joined the football team as a walk-on. After two years, he earned that coveted football scholarship. He had a great college career and ended as starting wide receiver.

Despite proving himself on the field, the 5’11”, 190-pound Whalen was small by NFL standards and went undrafted out of Stanford. Again, he adjusted and signed on with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. After four years with the Colts and some time with both the Miami Dolphins and the San Diego Chargers, Whalen has just signed on to play for the New England Patriots.

While with the Colts, living his dream of playing professional football, Whalen injured his foot. Determined to come back as soon as possible, he started to research nutrition and health. His ex-girlfriend showed him Forks Over Knives and Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue, and he decided to try Engine 2’s 28-day challenge. After the 28 days, he felt so great so he continued with a plant-based diet. He eventually came back from the foot injury, better than ever, to make the Colts starting lineup.

We recently talked to Whalen about his diet, his life, and his football career.

Forks Over Knives: How was your diet before you went plant-based?

Griff Whalen: “Growing up, my diet was not good. I was so active and played so many sports that it didn’t make a difference with my weight. But I was a big meat and dairy eater, ate a lot of fast food, and also had a pantry full of candy, cookies, chips, and sugary cereals.

At Stanford, I did start learning more about nutrition and eating better. Our coaches and strength coach tried to educate the players—they tried to steer us away from deep fried foods, junk food, and fast foods and towards eating more real food. This usually meant grilled chicken and fish.”

FOK: How was your first month doing the 28-day challenge?

GW: “During the 28-day challenge, I felt surprisingly good! I just went cold turkey. After a few days, I really felt a difference in my body. I felt lighter and more energetic and just less sluggish overall. That first week motivated me to finish the whole 28 days and to also start thinking about a plant-based diet as a long-term thing. I decided to research if it was a viable option for an athlete.

I found some books to read. I initially added fish back into my diet for one month but after doing more research, I cut it out again. I felt confident that I could perform well on a plant-based diet.”

FOK: What foods helped you during the transition to a plant-based diet?

GW: “It was a huge change so there was definitely a learning curve. Everything you eat and cook is different! It was the off-season for me though, so I did have time to learn how to do it. One of the things that helped was cooking and eating different ethnic foods because they are easy to make vegan. Mexican food like beans and rice and Indian dishes helped a lot during the transition.

I also made many of the Engine 2 recipes. One of the easiest things I learned to do (and still make) is sauteed vegetables with pasta, grains, or lentils and some marinara sauce. It’s filling, tasty, and easy to make.”

FOK: How was training on a plant-based diet?

GW: “I noticed an immediate difference and so did my friends and teammates. My body composition changed—my body fat went down, my lean muscle went up, and I got stronger. I could also run faster and my recovery time improved.”

FOK: How did your team react?

GW: “I didn’t go out of my way to tell anyone. It came up often enough when people saw my plate. There was actually a lot of curiosity and interest in it because most of us don’t have much nutrition education even though it impacts what we do everyday. So many guys were interested in learning what I had to say and trying the meals.

Closer friends would poke fun at me in good spirits. And of course some guys thought it was totally bizarre and made no sense.”

FOK: What are your favorite foods?

GW: “Indian food. I also love tacos and Mediterranean dishes like hummus, falafel, and grape leaves.”

Learn more about Griff Whalen.

The post NFL Player Griff Whalen on the Perks of Being a Plant-Powered Athlete appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Conventional wisdom is that “vegan” and “athlete” simply don’t get along — let’s call it irreconcilable differences. I’m here to say that is utter nonsense.

“But where do you get your protein?”

Not a day goes by that I am not asked this question. If I had a dollar for every time this came up, everyone in my family would be driving a Tesla.

Most vegans bristle at the question. Armed for battle, they assume a defensive position and hunker down for the inevitable, age-old omnivore versus herbivore fight that always ensues. Because belief systems around food are entrenched — they’re right up there with religion and politics — emotions run high. Before you can blink, arrows are flying in both directions. Conversation becomes debate. And debate all too often devolves into mudslinging … an endless, hopelessly unproductive merry-go-round that leaves each side further entrenched in their preferred dogma and never leads anywhere constructive.

I hate that — it’s why a large portion of the general public finds vegans so unpalatable. Instead, I welcome the question. If someone is asking, I presume a genuine interest — simply an opportunity for a productive dialog. So let’s try to have that dialog. The productive kind. My perspective on the elephant in the room … nothing more, nothing less.

We live in a society in which we have been willfully misled to believe that meat and dairy products are the sole source of dietary protein worthy of merit. Without copious amounts of animal protein, it’s impossible to be healthy, let alone perform as an athlete. The message is everywhere, from a recent (and wildly successful I might add) high-profile dairy lobby ad campaign pushing chocolate milk as the ultimate athletic recovery beverage (diabolically genius), to compelling food labels, to a dizzying array of fitness expert testimonials. Protein, protein, protein — generally reinforced with the adage that more is better.

Whether you are a professional athlete or a couch potato, this hardened notion is so deeply ingrained into our collective belief system that to challenge its propriety is nothing short of heresy. But through direct experience, I have come to believe that this pervasive notion is at best misleading, if not altogether utterly false … fueled by a well-funded campaign of disinformation perpetuated by powerful and well-funded Big Food, Big Ag, and industrial animal agriculture interests that have spent countless marketing dollars to convince society that we absolutely need these products in order to continue breathing air in and out of our lungs.

The animal protein push is not only based on lies, it’s killing us, luring us to feast on a rotunda of factory-farmed, hormone- and pesticide-laden, low-fiber foods extremely high in saturated fat. Eating this way, I remain convinced (despite the current populist fervor over high-fat, low-carb diets), is indeed a contributing factor to our epidemic of heart disease (the world’s #1 killer) and many other lifestyle-induced infirmities that have rendered our prosperous nation one of the sickest societies on Earth.

Indeed, protein is an essential nutrient, absolutely critical not just in building and repairing muscle tissue, but in the maintenance of a wide array of important bodily functions. But does it matter if our protein comes from plants rather than animals? And how much do we actually need?

Proteins consist of twenty different amino acids, eleven of which can be synthesized naturally by our bodies. The remaining nine — what we call essential amino acids  —  must be ingested from the foods we eat. So technically, our bodies require certain amino acids, not protein per se. But these nine essential amino acids are hardly the exclusive domain of the animal kingdom. In fact, they’re originally synthesized by plants and are found in meat and dairy products only because these animals have eaten plants.

Despite the “butter is back” hysteria that recently graced the cover of TIME magazine, the best medical science establishes beyond reproach that both casein and whey contribute materially to degenerative disease. A family of proteins found in milk, casein has been linked to the onset of a variety of diseases, including cancer. And whey is nothing more than a highly processed, low-grade discard of cheese production — another diabolical stroke of genius courtesy of the dairy industry that created a zillion-dollar business out of stuff previously tossed in the garbage.

On a personal anecdotal level, adopting a plant-based lifestyle eight years ago repaired my health wholesale and revitalized my middle-aged self to reengage fitness in a new way. As hard as it may be for some to believe, the truth is that my athletic accomplishments were achieved not in spite of my dietary shift but rather as direct result of adopting this new way of eating and living.

I’m not alone in this belief:

• Just ask Oakland Raiders defensive tackle David Carter.
• Watch this video of strongman Patrik Baboumian breaking a world record for most weight carried by a human being when he hauled over 1200 pounds — roughly the weight of a Smart Car — 10 meters across a stage in Toronto last year.
• Witness two-time World Champion Freerunner and parkour artist Timothy Shieff hopscotching off rooftops like a video game character.
• And be amazed by this video of plant-based strength athlete freak-of-nature Frank Medrano doing things with his body you didn’t think possible.
• Then there are MMA/UFC fighters like Mac Danzig, Jake Shields, and James Wilks.
• And multisport athletes like Brendan Brazier, Rip Esselstyn, and Ben Bostrom — a world-renowned motorcycle, mountain bike, and road bike athlete & victorious member of this year’s Race Across America 4-man relay team.
• Also professional triathlete & Ultraman World Champion Hillary Biscay who just raced her 66th Ironman.
• Check out ultramarathoners extraordinaire like Scott Jurek, his fruitarian compadre Michael Arnstein, and my old friend Jason Lester, with whom I completed 5 Ironman distance triathlons on 5 Hawaiian islands in under a week. Jason has since criss-crossed the USA on two feet and is currently prepping for a 100-day run across China.
• Then of course there is Timothy Bradley, Jr., who took down Manny Pacquiao last year (well kind of, but you get my drift).

The point is this: each of these athletes, and countless others, will all tell you the same thing: rather than steak, milk, eggs, and whey supplements, opt instead to eat lower on the food chain and source your protein needs from healthy plant-based sources like black, kidney, pinto, and other beans, almonds, lentils, hemp seeds, spirulina, and quinoa. Even eating less-concentrated sources of protein like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and bananas will get you exactly where you need to be.

If you ate nothing but a variety of fresh fruit, you still would never suffer a deficiency of protein (or even any particular amino acid). Short of starving yourself, it’s almost impossible. Despite the incredibly heavy tax I impose on my body, training at times upwards of 25 hours per week for ultra-endurance events, this type of regimen has fueled me for years, without any issues with respect to building lean muscle mass. In reality, I believe that eating plant-based has significantly enhanced my ability to expedite physiological recovery between workouts — the holy grail of athletic performance enhancement. In fact, I can honestly say that at age 47 I am fitter than I have ever been, even when I was a world-class-level competition swimmer at Stanford in the late 1980s.

And despite what you might have been told, I submit that more protein isn’t better. Satisfy your requirement and leave it at that. With respect to athletes, to my knowledge, no scientific study has ever shown that consumption of protein beyond the RDA-advised minimum (10 percent of daily calories) stimulates additional muscle growth or expedites physiological repair induced by exercise stress. And yet most people — the overwhelming majority of whom are predominantly sedentary — generally consume upwards of three times the amount of daily protein required to thrive.

The protein craze isn’t just an unwarranted, over-hyped red herring, it’s harmful. Not only is there evidence that excess protein intake is often stored in fat cells, it contributes to the onset of a variety of diseases, such as osteoporosis, cancer, impaired kidney function, and heart disease.

Still not convinced? Consider this: some of the fiercest animals in the world — the elephant, rhino, hippo and gorilla — are plant-powered herbivores. And nobody asks them where they get their protein. So ditch that steak and join me for a bowl of quinoa and lentils.

NOW READ:

Do Vegetarians And Vegans Eat Enough Protein?

The Protein Juggernaut Has Deep Roots

An Athlete’s Journey From Vegan Protein Addict to Plant-Based Whole Foods

The post Slaying the Protein Myth appeared first on Forks Over Knives.