A Vegan Health Article from All-Creatures.org

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From Rachel Bordoli, T. Colin Campbell Nutrition Studies
February 2024

“In this randomized clinical trial, we observed cardiometabolic advantages for the healthy vegan vs. the healthy omnivorous diet among healthy, adult identical twins. Clinicians may consider recommending plant-based diets to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors, as well as aligning with environmental benefits.”

Just two of the 22 pairs of twins who took part in this groundbreaking comparative diet study

“Evidence that disputes the status quo will always be controversial, whether it is true or not, because that’s the very definition of controversy: disagreement over conventional understanding… To downplay scientific evidence because it is controversial is to downplay scientific evidence for the very same, fundamental reason that science is celebrated.”

At the end of November 2023, Stanford nutrition researchers including Christopher Gardner, PhD, published the findings of a new twin study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Six weeks later, a four-part documentary series about the study, You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, debuted on Netflix. Given the attention garnered by the study and miniseries, I decided to dig into the research, digesting not only the JAMA paper but also the paper’s lengthy supplements, which offer much greater detail on the study design and include all the data published to date.

The eight-week clinical study is, in many respects, a perfect natural experiment. Researchers randomly assigned half of each identical twin pair to a “healthy vegan diet” and the other half to a “healthy omnivorous diet,” thus automatically eliminating the confounding influences of age, sex, and genetic factors on clinical outcomes and allowing the differential impact of the two diets to be measured. Differences in clinical outcomes were found as early as four weeks into the study. By the end of the eight-week study, researchers found that the twins consuming a “healthy vegan diet showed significantly improved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration, fasting insulin level, and weight loss compared with twins consuming a healthy omnivorous diet.”

The authors conclude their paper by summarizing their observations and offering a somewhat timid recommendation for clinicians: “In this randomized clinical trial, we observed cardiometabolic advantages for the healthy vegan vs. the healthy omnivorous diet among healthy, adult identical twins. Clinicians may consider recommending plant-based diets to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors, as well as aligning with environmental benefits.” Those who haven’t read the study could be forgiven for concluding that the main message is that people just need to eat more plants, as opposed to also eliminating animal products. In an interview to publicize the study’s findings for Stanford Medicine News, Gardner stated, “What’s more important than going strictly vegan is including more plant-based foods into your diet.”

I can only speculate as to why Gardner framed the study’s conclusion in this watered-down fashion. Perhaps he wanted to appeal to the large majority of the public that would reflexively dismiss the idea of switching to a 100 percent plant-based diet. Perhaps he was also cognizant that his increasing visibility, as a result of the Netflix documentary, could make him a target for the ire of authorities in the food industry, especially if he were to draw attention to the negative impact of overconsumption of animal protein on cardiometabolic health, let alone recommend the elimination of meat and dairy products from the nation’s diet.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

 

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We began this archive as a means of assisting our visitors in answering many of their health and diet questions, and in encouraging them to take a pro-active part in their own health. We believe the articles and information contained herein are true, but are not presenting them as advice. We, personally, have found that a whole food vegan diet has helped our own health, and simply wish to share with others the things we have found. Each of us must make our own decisions, for it's our own body. If you have a health problem, see your own physician.