Being an identical twin naturally sets itself up for some pretty cool experiments. Aside from the obvious (punching one to see if the other feels, swapping identities in class), there are some twin tests that can actually prove quite valuable.

Meet Hugo and Ross Turner. This pair of identical male twins decided to document their results of eating entirely different diets for 12 weeks. Hugo, on the left, ate a purely vegan diet, while Ross, on the right, ate an omnivorous, meat-heavy diet.

Being genetically identical, it was considered by the twins’ researchers at King’s College that the pair would see more legitimate results than in other cases of diet comparison.

Here’s how the experiment worked:

For 12 weeks, Hugo and Ross did endurance training for 5 to 6 times a week and ate their respective diets. During this time, their researchers tracked their weight, cholesterol, body fat levels, and other important signs.

As the meat-eater, Ross’ meal prep looked something like this:

While Hugo’s meals looked more like this (the meat-looking stuff is actually tofu):

The pair ate the same amount of calories per meal.

The results

At the start of the experiment, Hugo, the twin with the vegan diet, weighed 185 lbs with 13% body fat. By the end of the experiment, he weighed 4 lbs less and had a body fat of 12%.

His blood cholesterol levels had also dipped. He noticed that his energy levels were higher, probably because his blood sugar wasn’t peaking and dropping as much as it had before. His mental focus was also clearer – though not all changes were good. Hugo noted that he had lost his libido, though he added that this might not be the case for everyone.

Ross, the twin with the meat-heavy diet, started off weighing 175 lbs and had 13% body fat. By the end of the experiment, he weighed 14 lbs more – he’d gained 10 lbs of muscle and 4 lbs of fat. His body fat levels were now at 15%, and he weighed 189 lbs.

Ross’ blood cholesterol had stayed the same by the time the final results were collected.

Additional findings

Scientists tested Hugo’s and Ross’ gut microbiome at the end of the experiment and found that Hugo’s was now more resilient to diseases like type 2 diabetes and obesity. This offers proof that vegan diets can help prevent the onset of such conditions.

On the other hand, the gut microbial diversity in both Hugo and Ross had been impacted by their diets. It was found that Ross’ was slightly more consistent than Hugo’s.

Final notes

The twins said that they would want to try this trial for longer, maybe 6 months, to get more conclusive results. Because Hugo saw such a benefit from his vegan diet, the pair plan to include more vegan snacks into their standard diets going forward. None of them are prepared to fully switch to veganism just yet, but watch this space.

It seems that neither diet was perfect for the brothers, with each diet having its own positives and negatives. This suggests that having a diverse and flexible diet is actually the key to peak health. However, as Hugo and Ross pointed out, we can’t know for certain if any diet is worth switching to, and the only way to learn would be to conduct a longer study.

Would you take on a meat-heavy or vegan diet if you knew it was good for you? Let us know in the comments below!

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Source: Bored Panda, The Turner Twins