Netflix’s new food show “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” has everyone buzzing and thinking about their S.A.D (Standard American Diet) diets.
The four-part docuseries follows four pairs of identical twins as they stick to completely opposite diets and monitors their progress over a course of eight weeks. The participants were picked from a larger experiment held at Stanford Universitywhich had 22 pairs of identical twins in participation.
Over the course of the experiment, nutrition scientist Christopher Gardner lays out the parameters, putting one twin in each pair on a vegan diet and the other on an omnivore diet. During the first four weeks of the study, participants received meals to eat but for the remaining four weeks, the subjects had to follow their respective diets on their own. Researchers chose twins for this experiment because they were able to control for genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles, according to the study overview.
Meet the four pairs of twins from the study that featured in Netflix’s “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment”.
Pam and Wendy Dew
Based in South Africa, Pam and Wendy are twins, business partners and everything in between. The two have a catering businessa cocktail brand and a YouTube channel among other initiatives as per Netflix Tudum.
Pam was put on the “plant-based diet” while Wendy followed the “omnivore diet”.
Both sisters were described as omnivores before their participation and while they continue to eat both plants and meat following the study, the two said that they were consuming around half the amount of meat that they did prior to the experiment. They have also reduced their cheese intake, taking it from being a daily staple to a special treat.
Besides the changes to their own diet, the sisters have also widened the menu of their catering business, offering more plant-based dishes, said Tudum.
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Charlie and Michael Kalish
“Cheese Twins” Charlie and Michael Kalish are European-trained cheesemakers, who are avid surfers, food safety experts and regulars on cooking and food shows.
The two loved their cheese, describing it as their “ticket to the world,” through which they visited cheese farms across the world. They duo even met their respective wives through their cheese-related expeditions, according to Tudum. However, the two have always been mindful about their food choices and the health and environmental implications of meat consumption, even before participating in the series.
An omnivore before the study, Charlie followed the plant-based diet while Michael, a pescatarian – someone who eats fish and seafood, but not red meat or poultry – followed the omnivore diet. After the study, Michael became a vegetarian, eating cheese only from farms where he’s familiar with their environmental and ethical practices, while his twin Charlie is “almost” vegetarian, except for a few Chinese favorites and the occasional chicken soup.
Some of the reasons behind a change in their habits include concerns about climate change, animals, worker safety, food safety and health.
John and Jevon Whittington
Hailing from New York, identical twins John and Jevon Whittington are recent nursing graduates who loved their steaks and chicken.
Both omnivores and meat-eaters before the study, John followed the plant-based diet while his twin Jevon followed the omnivore diet. After the study, both remained omnivores but cut down on their red meat consumption bringing it down to almost zero, opting for other sources of protein, fruit, vegetables, beans and fish.
Their decision came after they learned more about the environmental footprint of red meat and are even encouraging their father to introduce more vegetables into his diet.
Carolyn Sideco and Rosalyn Moorhouse
Active participants in twin studies, Filipinos Carolyn Sideco and Rosalyn Moorhouse were both omnivores before the study. A high school teacher, Rosalyn said she ate “omnivorous” and “healthy,” mostly from her school’s cafeteria. On the other hand, Carolyn, a sports relationship coach, described herself as a “simple eater,” who did not pay much attention to her food choices.
During the study, Carolyn followed the plant-based diet while Rosalyn followed the omnivore diet. After the study, both twins remained omnivores but were eating more plant-based foods and making more conscious choices about their food.
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‘You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment’ trailer
Netflix dropped the trailer for “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment” on Dec. 20.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.
