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One Twin Goes Vegan, One Does Not: 8 Weeks, Big Results | Dr. Christopher Gardner
The premise: 22 sets of healthy twins are put to the test. One identical twin begins to eat an entirely plant-based diet while their sibling eats a meaty omnivorous diet.
While 70% of the diets were identical, 30% of the omnivorous diet was comprised of meat and other animal foods. It would be that 30% that proved the difference maker in terms of the cardiometabolic health of the twins during this study.
In just eight weeks the changes were nothing short of astounding.
On average, the twin eating the plant-based diet lost an additional four pounds, lowered their LDL ("bad") cholesterol by 15 points, and experienced a 20 percent improvement in fasting insulin compared to their meat eating sibling.
Go inside the remarkable study that was the basis for the hit Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat.
Nutrition scientist and Stanford professor Christopher Gardner, PhD, is one of the lead researchers of the study. He outlines the findings and takes you behind the scenes of the documentary when he joins "The Weight Loss Champion" Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room Podcast.
Topics Discussed
- Telomeres lengthening with plant-base diet
- Genetics, biological clocks, and aging
- Cholesterol effects on twins
- Challenges of the study
- Responding to criticism
- And more
This episode was recorded at the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine in Washington, D.C.
