Featured Image Credit: Turner Twins
Topics: Health, Fitness, Food and Drink
Emily Brown
It's a question that people have fought over for years: what's the best diet for your health?
The most basic answer is probably a mix of everything within moderation, but two identical twins had a rare opportunity to try and find the superior diet once and for all.
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Since explorers Hugo and Ross Turner share the same genetic material, they decided to try two different diets to see what kind of differences it made to their bodies.
In a 12-week study conducted with Kings College London, Hugo took on a vegan diet while Ross stuck to a diet that included meat, dairy and fish.
The pair both ate the same amount of calories each day and took part in the same workout routine to make sure it was only their diets that were having an impact.
Speaking to the BBC, which also documented the twins' journey, Hugo admitted the vegan diet took a 'hit' on his body.
“I think the first couple of weeks it was really craving and wanting meat and dairy and cheese. I love cheese," he said.
However, Hugo did see a lot of benefits by giving up animal products.
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He said: “I was now having to eat fruit and nuts and alternatives that didn’t 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 satiated during the day.
"I felt like I had more energy."
Meanwhile, Hugo's meat-eating twin said his gym performance was ‘up and down a little bit more’.
While he felt 'very energetic' on some days, there were others where he'd experience 'huge lulls'.
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However, Hugo did see some downsides to veganism as he found that the diversity of his gut bacteria dropped ‘severely’ while his brother’s stayed the same, meaning Ross was less likely to pick up illnesses.
All in all, the men found that there wasn’t ‘a huge difference, if any’ between the two diets, though Hugo did see his cholesterol levels drop ‘off the scale’, while also losing weight and boosting his resistance to type two diabetes.
The diets also prompted Ross to realize how much processed food he was eating after checking out his brother's healthy vegan meals.
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Veganism also proved to be more effective for losing body fat as Hugo dropped four pounds and lost one percent of his body fat.
By comparison, Ross put on 10 pounds of muscle but also gained fat, bringing his end body fat percentage up from 13 to 15 percent.