experiment
Vegan or with meat: Twins do a three-month self-test – this is how the diet affected them
An experiment should clarify the effect of nutrition on fitness. (icon picture)
© AndreyPopov / Getty Images
How does diet affect the body? The Turner twins did the self-test. One ate a purely plant-based diet for three months, the other continued to eat meat, and at the end came the reckoning. The differences were not only measurable in fat.
Sitting in front of gray office walls with gray faces, the same monotony every day? The Turner brothers can only laugh tiredly about that. The identical twins from Great Britain are bravado incarnate. They have dedicated their lives to adventure – and to science. The brothers set out to cross the Greenland ice cap in ancient gear, rowed more than 4000 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean and broke world records on their expeditions to the most remote corners of the earth. Now Hugo and Ross Turner ventured into new territory. In the self-test, they wanted to find out what effects nutrition has on the body and, above all, on fitness. One of them went vegan for three months, while the other continued to eat meat properly.
Vegan is trendy. More and more athletes swear by the meatless diet. Others demonize this as humbug. The Turner brothers also got excited about the debate. Since they are genetically identical as identical twins, they are ideal for such comparisons. They brought scientists from King’s College on board and started the experiment in January 2020. For three months, they stuck to the diet and consumed the same number of calories. They used a delivery service for this. At the same time, they completed a fitness program developed by Ross Turner, who is a personal trainer himself. The evaluation followed at the end of the twelve-week trial. She came with some surprises.
More energy but no libido
Before the twins changed their diet, they had a fairly monotonous diet. Breakfast was toast or oatmeal, lunch was a sandwich, and dinner was pasta or chicken and vegetables. The new menu brought variety. Ross, who continued to eat meat, had more fish and red meat on his plate than usual during this time. Hugo switched completely to plant-based foods, swapping animal products for tofu, jackfruit and tempeh. “On a vegan diet, you almost have to overcompensate with variety, so I ate foods I wasn’t really used to,” he told Insider. After three months, Ross had gained 6 pounds more fat on his ribs and 10 pounds of lean muscle. Hugo, who was eating only plant-based foods during this time, lost a kilogram of fat and gained 1.2 kilograms of muscle mass.
The vegan weeks ensured that Hugo’s cholesterol level fell, but at the same time his energy level increased. His concentration during the fitness exercises was better. The brothers trained five or six times a week. Not once did he feel weak. The afternoon lows have also disappeared. And something else said goodbye during this time: his libido. “I just lost her – I really don’t know what happened,” he told the paper, adding that it’s not something that necessarily happens to anyone who goes vegan. And something has also happened in his intestines. The brothers submitted stool samples before and after the experiment, which were analyzed by a research foundation. Accordingly, his intestinal flora has improved and may have become more resistant to some chronic diseases.
Short test duration
Ross, who continued to eat meat, experienced less drastic changes. His cholesterol level stayed the same. “I was the opposite. I was very hungry by 10 or 11 a.m. I had these big bursts of energy and then I crashed,” he told Men’s Health. And: While his brother lost weight, he gained weight. He also missed carbohydrates a lot. But as soon as he took some, his body reacted. “I felt bloated – immediately,” he told the paper.
Is three months enough for such an experiment? Rather not. The duration of the experiment was too short for meaningful results. If they dare a similar self-test again, they would schedule it for a longer period of time, up to a year, they said. In addition, no blood tests were taken during the test, which they would also change next time. Then, for example, the testosterone level could also be kept in mind and this could provide information as to why Hugo’s libido was no longer working as it did before.
The conclusion after the experiment is Solomonic. “I don’t think that one diet eclipsed the other during the experiment,” Ross Turner told Insider. Nevertheless, the experiment has led to a rethink from the brothers. In the future, they want to combine both diets, more vegan ones Incorporating produce into their diet and eating less, higher-quality meat “We want the best of both worlds.”
Sources: insider, Men’s Health, The Turner Twins