Two identical twins went on separate vegan and meat diets for 12 weeks to see how it would impact their bodies differently.
It’s an age-old debate over which diet is healthier but a set of twins decided to finally put it to the test.
In the four-month-long experiment, Brits Hugo and Ross Turner switched up their diets, with Hugo going fully vegan and Ross sticking with meat, dairy and fish.
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The pair both consumed the same amount of calories each day and went through the same workout routine.
After getting used to his new vegan diet, Hugo began noticing some of the benefits it had.
He explained: “I was eating a lot more wholesome food, which meant that my sugar levels were a lot more satiated during the day. I felt like I had more energy.”
However, his twin Ross had a different experience, commenting on how his performance at the gym was ‘up and down a little bit more’.
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It wasn’t all sunshine and plant-based rainbows for Hugo though. Because his diet changed so drastically, cutting out several foods suddenly, the researchers saw his gut bacteria diversity drop ‘severely’, making him more susceptible to picking up illnesses.
Ross’s gut bacteria however, stayed the same as he maintained his usual diet, helping to maintain a good level of immunity.
After 12 weeks, the researchers agreed that there were a few minor differences in the diets’ impacts, but they were limited.
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Cholesterol levels were one of the main points of difference, where Hugo’s dropped ‘off the scale’ during his vegan stint, Ross’s stayed the same. Hugo’s obesity levels also dropped, while his resistance to type 2 diabetes increased.
Dr Tim Spector from the Department of Twin Research at Kings College London explained: “On average vegans are healthier than meat eaters, but within that there’s a huge range and there are some very unhealthy vegans”. There are plenty of people whose plant-based diets are made up of a lot of ultra-processed meat and cheese substitutes rather than whole foods.
He continued to explain that health isn’t about ‘whether you have meat on your plate or not’, but rather it’s about having a varied diet full of fruits and veggies and less ultra-processed foods.
Let’s talk numbers. At the end of the experiment, Ross had put on 10 pounds of muscle, but also had a 2% increase in body fat.
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Alternatively, Hugo ended the experiment losing a little over 2 pounds of fat, and gaining about the same in muscle.