This past weekends I watched the four-part Netflix documentary series called “You Are What You Eat”, which is an 8 week study of 22 sets of identical twins run out of Stanford University that looked at the impact of multiple health factors based on vegan versus healthy meat-based diets.

Each set of twins were randomly assigned to one of the diets and both twins were given the same exercise routine over the 8 weeks. During the first 4 weeks, all food was provided to the participants and during the second 4 weeks, they had to maintain their diets by shopping and cooking on their own.

The series also showed how our consumption of animal products impacts the earth as well as the abundant abuse of cows, pigs, chickens and fish. I’ve heard vegan people talk about these issues for years but never fully “got it” until this show, which provided an impressive visual of some of problems that exist.

The results of the 8-week study:

• The vegan participants lost more weight and significantly lowered both their LDL cholesterol levels and their fasting glucose levels.

• Vegan participants increased their bifidobacteria (good gut bacteria) and increased the length of their telomeres (which is believed to increase longevity).

• Vegans lost more visceral fat (the fat that accumulates around the organs and increases risk of disease) while the omnivore twins maintained or gained visceral fat over the 8 weeks.

• The omnivores gained more muscle than the vegan twins over the course of the study.

Overall, there were many health benefits to the vegan participants, but the diet seemed to be lower in protein than the omnivore diet, which may have been why the vegans didn’t maintain or gain muscle mass as well as their omnivore counterparts.

It can also be much harder for those on a vegan diets can to maintain adequate levels of calcium, Vitamin D, Omega 3, B12, zinc and iron, which are all very important nutrients to maintain our health and well being long term.

After watching the series, I am not interested in becoming a vegan but I am committed to eating more plant-based meals and less meat, fish and dairy. I will also be much more cautious about where my meat-based protein sources are coming from.

It was an interesting show that I think is worth watching if you’re looking for some motivation to improve your health a bit. It definitely pushed the plant-based diet but also provided some interesting information about the health benefits of simply being more thoughtful about what and how you eat.

If you haven’t seen it already, the Game Changers is another Netflix documentary that argues that vegan diets very much do provide everything we need to maintain our health and to be competitive in various athletic arenas.

Still not willing to become vegan after watching that show either but also learned some interesting things.

Currently we’re experimenting with alternating plant-based eating days with meat/fish days and we’ve made some great recipes from the “Forks Over Knives” magazine.

Action Step:

• Let yourself be curious and watch an episode of the twin study.

• If you find it interesting, keep watching and then decide what changes in your diet are right for you.