One twin went vegan, the other didn’t: this is the difference
When the vegan hype was just starting to take off, I was honestly pretty sceptical. Is it really that much healthier to eat only plant-based food? Won’t your body miss fish, meat and dairy terribly? These twins investigated.
A vegan lifestyle definitely isn’t for me, but I’ve learned to eat more consciously and not always opt for a meat option.
Now the question is: is vegan really healthier?
There are many contradictory studies—and above all, so many opinions. Recently, I came across a study on IFLS (I F*cking Love Science, definitely a fun site to follow) in which a pair of twins took part in a study. One of the twins followed a vegan lifestyle for twelve weeks, while the other didn’t. After twelve weeks, they looked at the differences. Sounds simple, right?
Hugo vs. Ross
The results were as follows: the twin who had lived as a vegan said that his body had to adjust enormously, and that he missed cheese, dairy and meat, but that—once his body had got used to eating purely plant-based food—he felt more energetic than before his vegan lifestyle. In addition, his cholesterol had plummeted, his blood sugar levels were much more stable and his resistance to type 2 diabetes had increased significantly. Sounds good, right?
All these conclusions were drawn after comparisons with his brother, who had not followed a vegan lifestyle.
Fewer bacteria
So are there no disadvantages to a vegan lifestyle at all? There are. Far fewer types of bacteria were found in vegan Hugo’s intestines than in Ross’s (the omnivore’s). This would mean that he is much more susceptible to various types of disease.
One quick side note: this study was conducted with the brothers Hugo and Ross because they are identical twins. But studies have also shown that, even when someone is genetically identical, the same response does not always occur when eating the same nutrients. So it’s not a watertight study, but it is interesting.
Image: Instagram @Theturnertwins
