The new docuseries shows the impact of a plant-based diet on biological aging.
Netflix’s latest documentary series, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, has stirred up a buzz among nutrition and health enthusiasts. Delving into the intriguing findings of the Stanford-sponsored study, titled ‘Unveiling the Epigenetic Impacts of Vegan vs. Omnivorous Diets on Aging: Insights from the Twins Nutrition Study (TwiNS),’ researchers shed light on the intricate relationship between dietary choices and epigenetic aging.
Vegan Diet and Aging: Epigenetic Revelations
In a groundbreaking exploration, scientists from Stanford University and TruDiagnostic scrutinized the epigenetic profiles of participants featured in the docuseries. The study aimed to discern whether an eight-week stint on either a healthy omnivorous or vegan diet could yield superior health outcomes for sets of twins. Astonishingly, the vegan participants showcased a reduction in biological age, as measured by various age-calculating algorithms utilizing DNA methylation.
“These groundbreaking findings underscore the potential of epigenetic clocks as real-time biomarkers, offering valuable insights into physiological changes, exemplified by weight loss in this study,” explained Dr. Lucia Aronica of Stanford University. “However, it is crucial to stress that a vegan diet lacks essential nutrients for optimal epigenetic processes. Without proper supplementation, there’s a risk of long-term damage. As scientists, it is our duty to communicate this message clearly and emphatically, ensuring the public is well-informed about the nuances of dietary choices for their overall health.”
Short-Term Gains, Long-Term Questions
The study’s short duration, spanning only two months for twin participants, raises questions about the longevity of the observed pro-vegan results. “The reductions that we see could also be due to the fact that the vegans had a lower caloric intake, relative to the omnivores, and also had increased fiber in their allocated diets,” explained Varun Dwaraka, PhD of TruDiagnostic. “However, the fact that there was a significant decrease in multiple biological age clocks within eight weeks in the vegan diet is encouraging for short term diet application, and highlights the sensitivity of this test in nutrition.”
In essence, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment leaves us with insights into the dynamic interplay between diet, epigenetics, and aging. Understanding the nuances of dietary choices becomes paramount for our overall health and well-being.
We wish the docuseries would have followed the twins for more than eight weeks, as a vegan diet has been shown to reverse some chronic diseases (such as type 2 diabetes) and have other positive impacts on health. Other documentaries such as The Game Changers, Forks Over Knives, and What the Health back this.
