Vegan food or not? The 8 biggest insights from Netflix’s eating document ‘You are what you eat’

The infamous Standard American Diet, better known as SAD, became mainstream in society after World War II. Many aspiring soldiers didn’t qualify for the military because they were too thin and malnourished, explains Christopher Gardner, a nutrition scientist at Stanford University.

“And there was a huge push to get enough calories and be as efficient as possible,” Gardner continued. “We saw a growing availability of convenience foods, a lot of cheap foods, which then started to turn into more and more processed and packaged foods. And we saw the same thing with animal foods. Beef, pork, chicken, eggs, dairy products, cheese.”

The livestock industry rapidly industrialized and factory farms soon took over to improve efficiency, said physician and author Michael Greger. Animal products decreased in cost, but increased in availability and overall consumption.

Cheap, ultra-processed foods are still a core part of our food system. High consumption of such foods has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

After eight weeks of following their respective diets, Pam and Wendy both lost muscle mass but increased their fat levels. Pam, who followed the plant-based diet, lost one pound of fat and almost seven pounds of muscle mass. Her sister Wendy, who followed the omnivore diet, lost almost four pounds of muscle mass and gained 0.3 pounds of fat.

It was later revealed that both sisters did not eat all the food provided to them simply because they felt that their individual diets contained high amounts of carbohydrates and beans. Because their bodies didn’t get enough energy from food, they looked for energy from their muscles instead. Most of the muscle they built in the gym was also used to fuel their workouts, which explained the loss of muscle mass and gain in fat.

To assess the impact of the diet on women’s sexual health, a thermographer was used to measure genital arousal in Pam, Wendy, Carolyn and Rosalyn. Temperature changes in each participant’s genitals were recorded as they watched their choice of porn. The final results showed that Pam and Carolyn, who both followed a plant-based diet, had increased genital arousal.

Pam experienced a 371% increase in her arousal compared to her sister, who experienced a 288% increase. Carolyn experienced an astonishing 383% increase, while her sister Rosalyn experienced a 212% increase.

A plant-based diet can contribute to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also called “bad” cholesterol. Over the course of eight weeks, researchers found that LDL cholesterol dropped significantly among those who followed a vegan diet.

Carolyn’s LDL levels decreased by 12.9%, while her sister Rosalyn’s increased slightly by 1.7%. High levels of LDL cholesterol can clog arteries and cause heart disease and stroke.

While the omnivores in the study saw their LDL cholesterol remain the same on average, the vegans saw their LDL cholesterol levels drop by an average of 10%.

Researchers studied the presence of trimethylamine N-oxide, known simply as TMAO, a substance produced by the body after meat consumption. TMAO is said to increase unhealthy levels of inflammation and is linked to a higher risk of heart disease.

Predictably, omnivores had higher levels of TMAO compared to their vegan counterparts. Pam and Wendy’s results showed that Pam’s TMAO plummeted 350% and remained low, while Wendy’s TMAO rose 160%.

A healthy microbiome – the collection of all bacteria, fungi and viruses that naturally occur in our bodies – leads to better metabolism, a stronger immune system and better overall health.

Researchers looked at different groups of bacteria, such as bifidobacterium, that help prevent infections and produce vitamins and other essential chemicals. Bifidobacterium increased in twins on a vegan diet and remained the same in twins on an omnivore diet.

In their study, researchers made a distinction between biological age and chronological age. Biological age refers to how old your cells and tissues are, while chronological age is the number of years you have been alive. Biological age was determined based on the length of each twin’s telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of DNA strands. Telomere length decreases as we age, so longer telomeres indicate better health and a younger biological age.

At the start of the study, each twin had telomeres that were the same length. However, after eight weeks, the vegan twins had longer telomeres compared to their omnivorous twins, whose telomeres remained unchanged. That means the vegan twins were considered biologically younger than their omnivore twins.

While neither twin has gone completely vegan, many said they are committed to eating more plant-based meals in their regular diets.

“For me, plant-based eating is the right choice,” says Carolyn. “I feel healthier. . . If I put crap in my body, I’ll feel bad too. But if I do the opposite, it will be even better.”

As for Pam and Wendy, the sisters have reduced their intake of animal products. When it comes to eating meat, “less is more,” Wendy said.

“Change starts with one person,” Pam added. “By making food for other people, we realize that we don’t need so much meat.”

Michael expressed similar sentiments, saying he has “left out meat for the most part.”

“I think there’s just too many benefits to leaving it out, and not enough benefits to keeping it in,” he said.