You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment follows sets of identical twins for eight weeks as they adopt different diets and lifestyle changes to study the impact of a healthy vegan diet versus a healthy omnivore diet in a Stanford study. The docuseries also showcases the work of many companies, restaurants, activists, and farmers around the plant-based debate.
While the series can sound a bit like a lecture at times, it has many surprising and enlightening moments that personally changed the way I think about the US food industry.
One example is how the documentary worked to bridge the gap between livestock farmers and plant-based activists throughout the film, demonstrating innovative ways to shift these farms from a livestock model to a more plant-based one. There was one particular story about a chicken farmer who collaborated with an animal rights activist to transition his industrial chicken sheds to grow mushrooms. This moment was very humanizing for both sides of the issue and demonstrated how shifting our eating habits does not mean we need to exclude or work against traditional livestock farmers.
From a nutrition standpoint, I appreciated how the show featured a vegan fitness coach who helped the participants in the experiment throughout their eight weeks. A lack of protein is a concern I have most often heard expressed by others when it comes to adopting a plant-based diet. I myself have also struggled with removing, in particular, dairy-based protein from my diet. I thought the inclusion of this perspective was quite helpful when it came to shifting my mindset around plant-based eating.
Finally, the most surprising moment was the results of the experiment. If you are planning to watch the docuseries I advise you to stop reading now. The Stanford study found that a healthy vegan diet increased life expectancy, reduced visceral fat, reduced risk of heart disease, and increased sex drive in only eight weeks. All of which motivated even my meat and cheese-loving family to reconsider their animal product intake.
Overall, while You Are What You Eat is far from a perfect docuseries, it still has a lot to offer to the average US consumer. The twins in the series are key examples of this as some maintained a more plant-based diet while others found more of a balance with an omnivore diet. I appreciated how the docuseries did not shame the participants for any of their personal choices. Ultimately, that is what a plant-based diet is: a personal choice. And You Are What You Eat is another way to better inform yourself as a consumer when deciding the right dietary choice for you.