Plant-Forward Diet Documentary to Be Shown in Hellertown Sept. 25

Note: Some of the following information is from a news release about the film screening, which is free, open to the public and being sponsored by a local lifestyle medicine provider.

A local provider of lifestyle medicine is hoping to raise awareness of the reported benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables.

Lehigh Valley Osteopathy for Everybody in Hellertown has announced that it will publicly screen the 2018 James Cameron executive-produced documentary “The Game Changers,” which was co-produced by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan, in the borough’s Dimmick Park, 570 Durham St., this Saturday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m.

The movie–which is available on Netflix–will be shown on the park’s performance stage.

According to an entry on IMDB.com, in “The Game Changers” a “UFC fighter’s world is turned upside down when he discovers an elite group of world-renowned athletes and scientists who prove that everything he had been taught about protein was a lie.”

The film has generally been positively received, although it has also received some criticism from some in the health and nutrition field, such as a reviewer for Men’s Health magazine who wrote about it in September 2019 and the director of the McGill University Office for Science and Society. In a review published by McGill in December 2019, Joe Schwarz, Ph.D, said the filmmakers used confirmation bias in order to make their dietary claims, writing that “the feats of the athletes in ‘The Game Changers’ cannot be considered to be proof of the benefits of a vegan diet for athletic performance.”

Bethlehem’s Dr. Scott Stoll–who is a board-certified specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, a bestselling author and a member of a Whole Foods advisory board, according to his website–appears in the movie, according to a news release about Saturday’s screening that was shared with Saucon Source.

Attendees should bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating on the grass in front of the stage, the news release advised. Viewer discretion is also advised, since the documentary contains some adult language and violence that may be disturbing to some viewers.

The news release noted that a recent study published by the British medical journal BMJ which “showed eating predominantly ‘plant-based’ was associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 infection” will be shared with attendees at the screening.