How could we be less meat-reliant?

Richil Cheng
Nov 2 · 5 min read

I just watched “The Game Changers” — a Netflix documentary shows scientific proof of how much extra strength we can all gain by simply switching to a plant-based diet (and even serve as the secret weapon for some top athletics to continue to stay on top of their game).

What caught me, is the hour-long research evidence that how much negative effect a meat-based diet is causing us — despite the common belief that certain animal meat providing us with essential ingredients our body needs, a meat-based diet is actually dragging down our energy level, increasing chance of getting a heart attack, chronic cardiovascular diseases, and increase the risk of bowel cancer if you eat lots of processed and red meat. At the same time, to feed the increasing amount of these poor living (meat)animals, the meat industry is destroying more natural habitat, polluting our ecological system and accelerating global warming all in one go.

I was completely mind-blown.

After seeing evidence after evidence demonstrated in the film that disapproves the misconceptions around eating meat in supporting our balance diet and physical prowess in sport and body strength, I felt like a total idiot.

As it turns out, Cows, pigs and chickens, are just the middlemen”.

For how long have we be told by the diet and the media industry that the only way to get enough protein and get balanced nutrition is to eat high-quality meat?

I inherited anaemia from my mom, so although I have never been a big meat eater and much prefer a lighter, fragrant dish than a creamy, heavy one, I’ve always thought that I still have to include red meat in my diet “so I have enough B12 and iron.”

As it turns out, animals are just the middlemen to deliver many nutritions we thought we need to rely them on. In fact, cows produce B12 through the bacteria in their rumen. So, yes, that’s how many animals get their B12, not by themselves generating it, but from the bacteria in the dirt* that they happen to eat while grazing. And since most cattle are not grass-fed, but grain-fed today, their cobalt-supplemented feed does not provide them with a significant amount of B12. In fact — 90% of B12 supplements produced in the world are fed to livestock today!

*Which means, we can get the same B12 from the bacteria on the roots of plants ourselves, (as this very thoroughly written 2013 article shows, as long as they are not grown in a sterile condition.)

To conclude: We have to rely on animal meat, liver or other organ meats to get enough B12 supplement is total bullshit too!

We might as well just take our B12 directly from the supplement, equally effective if not better!

Meanwhile, by doing so, we can save all the wasted water, polluted soil, C02 gas commission and burnt land (which were full of trees and wild animals) — caused by animal agriculture industry maintaining the way it works and the meat/fast food industry keep marketing to us how amazing it is to put that burger in your mouth.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the exhaust from all transportation combined.

Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, an equivalent of 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

After watching the documentary I really felt, how f*ck up our world is and how everything is connected, to the core.

Big lie in this billion dollars industry encouraging everyone to eat meat, accumulating more fat in our blood and shrink your blood vessels, so you need to pay every day for your hard earn money and more in the future when you have chronic diseases.

What a worthy industry to spend my everyday money with.

Especially when human bodies are not born to digest lots of meat (please see documentary as it details numerous biological research and proofs that our ancestors in fact relying on a high plant-based diet, evident in our teeth structure, long length of our intestines, and being able to see much more colours than carnivorous animals to recognise different kinds of fruits and plants etc) and using the most ‘energy + life-inefficient way’ to feed, produce protein from those poor living creatures while destroying our planet.

My second conclusion after another long rant:

No one, no one will change the world for us. This world is as not just imperfect, it’s chaotic, injustice and acceleraing its own destruction because lots of selfish people build their fortune on top of the expense of billions of people and creatures lives. The truth is — they don’t care. And we’ve been fooled to believe in their lies.

If we really want to change the world and improve it for the better. We have to do it ourselves. Startede today, Starting from changing our own behaviours.


Highly recommended to watch the documentary for those who haven’t — it is a truly impactful experience: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81157840

For those who have watched it, here are some next steps :

If you are like me, after watching the film feeling like a complete fool being cheated by the media, diet, and meat industry, here is how we can all get started to gain our physical strength, mental clarity back, and to save our long-term health and rescue millions of animal lives altogether:

For those who have watched it but still remain sceptics, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6RGhu4hlt8

For those who are already on this journey, here is a truly sorry body builder’s apology to all of you awesome vegan ✌🌎 https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/dn71at/im_sorry_vegans/


Lastly, I want to say thank you to James Wilks, for producing this documentary and letting all of us know how a simple, delicious, yet more nutritious and powerful plant-based diet can and has changed so many people’s lives.

Not to mention that this has a direct impact on all the issues and challenges that our environment is now facing on a global scale.

You have certainly changed mine and hopefully for my family and people around me too. Thank you.

p.s I think this also explains a lot about upset bowel syndromes and low energy level that I have been struggling with for a long time. I am going to start a plant-based diet from now on and report back how my body feel before & after.

Richil Cheng

Written by

A firm believer in business doing well by doing good to the world and the people they serve. Always with a curious heart and practical mind.

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