“You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” HONEST REVIEW
I watched the You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment on Netflix.
You might be surprised by this, but I thought it was very well done.
Visually compelling, artfully constructed, and the narrative? Super engaging.
But alas, many parts were… not well done.
Today, I’m walking you through a few key parts that the series got right vs. what it got wrong.
Let’s dive in.
What the Series Got Right
The negative effects of the Standard American Diet (SAD). I’ve got to give props where props are due, and I loved that the docuseries began by raising awareness regarding the true nature of the SAD and how it directly causes obesity, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other chronic diseases.
Epigenetics. They also introduce epigenetics, the idea that our genes are not our fate and that we have the power to turn on or off disease-causing genes by making healthy changes to our diet and lifestyle.
The importance of body composition. I loved that they addressed the importance of body composition over weight loss, highlighting the significance of optimization, i.e., building muscle while losing body fat.
Regenerative agriculture. Astonished, the docuseries recognizes regenerative agriculture as a solution to climate change. This is a revolution that many health experts stand behind, like my boss, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Max Lugavere (linked podcasts to learn more). However, as you’ll see below, the docuseries quickly dismiss it… Why?
Food is an act of self-love and connection. Say it again for the people in the back! Food is not just to fill our bellies or to keep us energized. Food is an act of self-love, culture, and connection.
Yet, amongst the enticing vegan menu at Eleven Madison Park and the artistry behind Miyos plant-based cheese, nutrition quality was not mentioned…..once (🚩).
Food labeling is confusing. Amen to that! You need a master's degree to make sense of food labels these days. Food companies’ greenwash labels with buzzwords like “free range,” “all-natural,” even “vegan,” and “plant-based” are guilty of greenwashing, but this does not mean the food product is necessarily healthy.
[Note: Free range means chickens have some access to the outdoors but spend most of their time in close quarters. Pasture-raised is what you want. This means the chickens are raised in their natural environment, with access to the outdoors to roam freely and to eat a species-appropriate diet of worms, insects, and grubs.
Factory farming is a major problem. No doubt, factory farming is horrible for everyone involved. It’s awful for the animals, with inhumane living conditions, slaughtering practices, and the use of antibiotics and hormones. It is awful for the environment and the health of farmers and marginalized communities that live near feedlots.
However, it amazes me that every time overhead footage of feedlots is shown, there are miles of unoccupied land surrounding them. Why not allow the cow to roam freely until the very end?
Why not have them graze on grass and shrubs? This would not only yield leaner, more nutrient-dense meat, but it would also provide appropriate living conditions. Instead, we confine them in feed lots and feed them soy, grains, and even candy until they’re gorged. It just doesn’t make sense. (more on this below).
What the Series Got Wrong
They lumped processed meat and dairy together under the SAD. Fascinatingly, the docuseries discussed the SAD but completely left out processed carbs and sugar. Instead, they focused on processed meat and dairy.
Sure, ultra-processed meat (i.e., hot dogs, frankfurters, deli meat) and dairy (i.e., Kraft singles, conventional milk) are bad…. but we surely can’t talk about the SAD without flagging sugar and high fructose corn syrup. You know, the stuff in soda, bread, and buns that often accompanies processed meat and dairy? *crickets*
Believe it or not, there are good sources of processed meat and dairy. Processed meats cured with salt (not nitrates/nitrites), ground beef, raw cheese, milk, and yogurt are also processed but these are superfoods!
Don’t need to get protein from meat. True, you don’t. But it’s a lot easier. Meat contains all of the essential amino acids. It also contains micronutrients like zinc, selenium, copper, and manganese, which are difficult to get from plants.
Here’s the kicker: these nutrients are easier to absorb in meat than in plants. Plants contain antinutrients like phytates and lectins that bind to minerals and inhibit their absorption. But that wasn’t mentioned either.Relating visceral fat to animal food. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds our organs. It’s the dangerous fat. So, what contributes to it? Excess calories, lack of sleep, exercise, and alcohol. However, the docuseries chose to focus on animal products as the primary cause of visceral fat accumulation.
But what is the main source of excess calories in the SAD? Sugar AND saturated fat. This is a theme in the docuseries. Saturated fat is demonized as the crux of weight gain, but sugar is… not mentioned…once. Why?Regenerative agriculture isn’t scalable. This is just flat-out wrong. Based on the way the agricultural system works now, it’s not. Scalability hinges on educating farmers to adopt sustainable practices, a shift in consumer demand towards regenerative meat, and (most importantly) policy support. We have the land, it’s how we use it that would change.
Foodborne illness and pathogens (salmonella in chicken). The film instilled fear about the spread of pathogens in meat, specifically raw poultry. But what they didn’t mention is that 99.9% of bacteria is destroyed when cooking. Nobody eats raw chicken.
People eat raw kale and lettuce, though, which is more likely to cause foodborne illness. Remember the Chipotle and Panera Bread E. coli outbreaks? That was romaine lettuce.
The amount of time devoted to fear-mongering pathogens in the film was concerning. We are literally surrounded by pathogens. Every inch of our bodies, inside and out. The human body contains trillions of microorganisms, outnumbering our cells 10:1, our DNA is made up of 8% viruses. We are arguably more bacteria than we are human.
Doesn’t mention industrialized agriculture. The docuseries focuses on factory farming but fails to mention industrialized agriculture. Indusrially-grown plants are bad for the environment, too.
Tilling strips the soil of its nutrients.
1.2 billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the U.S.
280 million pounds of glyphosate (the active ingredient in Monsanto’s RoundUp) are sprayed on crops every year, primarily wheat, corn, and soy (the backbone of ultra-processed foods), and its residue sticks, making its way onto our grocery store shelves.
Glyphosate IS literally an antibiotic. (Not kidding, Monsanto was awarded a patent for glyphosate as an antibiotic in 2010).
Glyphosate DESTROYS the soil and human microbiome, much like the antibiotics used in meat. It is linked to cancer, Parkinson’s, autoimmune disease, and autism.
Doesn’t mention sugar at ALL. It’s impressive (and sad) how the filmmakers danced around sugar in the ENTIRE docuseries. They pegged saturated fat as the fugitive behind our health issues.
But what about sugar?! Sugar drives insulin resistance. Insulin resistance drives inflammation. Inflammation drives disease. We know this!!! Why not mention carbs and sugar?? Is it because carbs are the base macronutrient of a vegan diet?Plant meat is more nutritious. I'm not sure if this was purposeful, but the docuseries has some comedic undertones, like the claim that plant meat is more nutritious than animal meat. This is hilarious because there is no comparison when you put plant-based meat ingredients side by side next to beef.
Fortified vitamins/minerals don’t compare to the real deal. Cyanocobalamin must be converted to the active form of B12, which we’re not very good at. Methylcellulose is literally wood shavings that are used to hold the product together.
This is the problem with antagonizing meat because of saturated fat. We’ve been eating red meat and saturated fat for as long as we’ve been human. Heart disease just became an issue 75 years ago. So, does it make logical sense to blame meat?
The Results: A Short Summary
The final episode revealed the results of the 8-week experiment, and the outcomes were honestly… underwhelming.
Weight loss was achieved in both groups, but vegans lost MORE lean mass than omnivores… (lean mass = muscle)
The research team blames it on the failure of the vegan group to keep up with the strength training/exercise regime as omnivores. This just goes to show how important it is to strength train on a vegan diet to maintain lean muscle mass. Vegan twins also struggle to eat enough calories, which could explain their lower propensity to work out.
When all else failed, the researchers played the LDL cholesterol card.
Vegans had a more notable reduction in LDL cholesterol. Woohoo!! But this doesn’t really say much, especially over such a short timeframe (8 weeks). In the context of a SAD and sedentary lifestyle, lower LDL is better. But LDL isn’t everything. If you lead a healthy lifestyle, exercise often, and don’t eat a on of ultra-processed foods, LDL is seen as less of an issue.
Research shows that vegans and vegetarians can be at an equal risk of heart disease when consuming an ultra-processed diet. Guess what? Plant meat is ultra-processed.
What I Would Have Liked to See
Citations! Citations! Citations!
There were SO many claims in the series that were not based on any scientific evidence.
Like, none.
“Meat wasn’t a part of our diets before 150 years ago.”
“Every time you eat a steak, a little puff of smoke goes up in the Amazon.”
LOL, what
I also would have loved to see them talk (even just a little bit) about nutrition and eating for HEALTH in addition to saving the planet. What’s the point of saving the earth if we’re not living long enough (or well enough) to enjoy it?
