An identical twin decided to go vegan for 12 weeks, and the other ate meat to see how it affected their bodies.
Now, experts have long preached the importance of a balanced, healthy diet.
From colorful fruits and veggies to legumes and grains and of course, the world’s current health obsession protein, we’ve been told that a balanced diet is key to living a long and fulfilling life.
While most people generally take this advice on board, a set of identical twins decided to put it to the test by embarking on two different types of diets.
Hugo and Ross Turner wanted to see if eating different foods would alter their bodies physically as well as impact their mental state.
They tested a vegan diet versus a meat diet over a period of 12 weeks in the hopes that they would be able to see which one had the better outcome.
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So they controlled what they could – their DNA, the amount of calories they consumed, and the amount of exercise that they did – and Hugo vowed to strictly eat vegan for the duration of the experiment while Ross stuck to a diet that included meat, dairy, and fish.
In an interview with theΒ BBC, the pair opened up about the results of the test as well as any difficulties they may have faced.
“I think the first couple of weeks it was really craving and wanting meat and dairy and cheese. I love cheese,” Hugo said, noting that his body definitely took a “hit” when he first embarked on the diet.
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However, he later added he saw the benefits of giving up animal products.
“I was now having to eat fruit and nuts and alternatives that didnβt have any dairy in them – and so that meant I was eating a lot more wholesome food, which meant that my sugar levels were a lot more satiated during the day,” he explained. “I felt like I had more energy.”
While also losing weight and boosting his resistance to type 2 diabetes, Hugo also saw his cholesterol levels drop “off the scale.”
However, there were some downsides to the diet too, as it affected his gut bacteria.
The gut microbiome should be filled with a diverse range of healthy bacteria to keep everything running smoothly in the area, but Hugo discovered that the levels dropped “severely” due to the limited foods he was eating.
Ross, on the other hand, stated that his days were a little bit more unpredictable.
He said that on some days he felt “energetic”, while on others he experienced “huge lulls.”
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Ross also put on 10 pounds of muscle but gained fat, bringing his end body fat percentage up from 13 to 15 percent whereas Hugo lost one percent of his overall body fat.
In a 12-week period, both men found that there wasnβt “a huge difference if any” between the two diets.
