Great Lent is just around the corner, and while health benefits are not the purpose* of fasting, sometimes we might need other reminders to help remember that fasting is beneficial to us.

*the purpose of limiting food intake is so we can focus more on prayer (by using those extra minutes, and because it’s easier to pray on an emptier stomach) and even donate some extra funds leftover from not buying animal products.

You Are What You Eat

Launched in January 2024 on Netflix, the mini documentary-type series You Are What You Eat: A Twin Study, explains the 2022 nutritional study at Standford University in California (of over 80 sets of identical twins). The show follows 4 sets of twins and tracks them over 8 weeks with one twin on an omnivore diet (meat, dairy etc.) and the other twin on a plant-based diet (essentially vegan).

Not Just An Environmental Concern

What makes this series interesting is that it is exploring other reasons to follow a plant-based diet other than just for the environmental benefits.

Not only are they exploring the effect of the plant-based diet on nutritional levels in the body, but also the effect on the fat stored around organs, cognitive health, intestinal flora health, and even genetic health (the difference between the chronological age vs. biological age as seen on the genes. I.e. an unhealthy 24 yr-old can have the biological age of a 38 yr-old and vice versa, a healthy 52 yr-old can have the biological age of a 38 yr-old).

Some Potential Causes for Concern

While it is great that a study like this being done, it does seem like the show (and potentially even the study itself) was funded by plant-based product companies (like non-meat burgers, non-dairy cheese brands etc.) and so you can see a bias in the way information is presented. They seem to actively ignore the risks and challenges associated with plant-based diets (namely E-coli contamination of sprouts/lettuces etc. and pesticide contamination of MANY types of produce (Google the “Dirty Dozen”) as well as the high costs (and high water-use) associated with the production of common plant-based products like almond milk and avocados in certain regions, as well as problems with estrogen dominance in women.

Watch the Show & Let Us Know!

So give the show a watch and let us know what you think! We will follow-up next week with a short reflection about how this relates to Orthodoxy.