Why the Vegan Twin Study Got it Wrong

Mark Hyman

Feb 23, 2024

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Today, we're zooming in on a groundbreaking study that comes from Stanford University and was recently published in JAMA Network Open. The researchers put a vegan diet head-to-head with an omnivorous diet in twenty-two pairs of identical twins. The buzz around this study has been immense, sparking conversations everywhere—from social media to professional circles. Adding to the excitement, this research forms the basis of a new Netflix documentary called "You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment."

In this episode of my Health Bites series, I discuss the many conflicts of interest, funding sources, and hidden agendas that were not fully disclosed but could have had a major hand in clouding the study's conclusions and real-world applications. We’ll also get into the Netflix docuseries itself—what they got right vs. what they got wrong, as well as the Functional Medicine approach to diet and how we can feed our bodies to create health while taking care of the planet in a healthy, sustainable, and ethical way.

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In this episode, I discuss (audio version / Apple Subscriber version):

Why nutrition research is so confusing (7:26 / 5:36)
Overview of the Stanford study design and findings (11:57 / 10:07)
Issues with the study design (27:10 / 24:10)
Conflicts of interest and ethical considerations with this study (38:19 / 35:19)
Other research on vegan diets (44:44 / 41:44)
What the Netflix documentary got right and wrong (1:00:23 / 57:23)
How to eat for your health and the environment (1:08:43 / 1:05:43)

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Focus on regenerative agriculture over industrial practices

The debate should not be about plants versus animals, but rather regenerative agriculture versus industrial agriculture.

#agriculture

#sustainability

Choose omnivore diet for muscle gain and fat loss

In the documentary, the omnivore twin lost more body fat and gained 3.6 pounds of muscle, while the vegan twin lost muscle mass.

#muscle

#nutrition

Rethink LDL as a cardiovascular risk marker

Most people who enter the hospital for a heart attack have normal cholesterol levels, indicating LDL alone is a poor predictor of cardiovascular risk.

#heart

#LDL

Request lipoprotein fractionation test for better cholesterol insights

Instead of a standard LDL test, you should get a lipoprotein fractionation test to see the quality, particle number, and size of your cholesterol.

#blood-test

#cholesterol

Address vegan B12 deficiency to fill critical nutrient gap

In one analysis, 52% of vegans were found to be B12 deficient compared to 0% of omnivores, highlighting a critical and common nutrient gap.

#deficiency

#vegan

Choose regenerative meat to reduce carbon footprint

One study found that regeneratively raised meat removes 3.5 kilos of carbon from the environment, while an Impossible Burger adds 3.5 kilos.

#environment

#sustainability

Avoid unhealthy vegan diets to reduce heart disease risk

An unhealthy plant-based diet consisting of juices, refined grains, and sugar is associated with a 30% increased risk of heart disease.

#heart

#vegan

Examine funding sources to uncover potential biases in vegan studies

The Stanford study and its documentary were funded by Beyond Meat and a vegan philanthropy group, suggesting a potential agenda to influence public opinion.

#research

#vegan

Ensure meals contain 2.5 grams of leucine to trigger muscle synthesis

To trigger muscle protein synthesis, a meal must contain at least 2.5 grams of the amino acid leucine, which is difficult to obtain from most plant proteins.