You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment review. Is the new docuseries worth your time?

Dive into the fascinating world of nutrition and genetics with You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, an intriguing docuseries available for streaming on Netflix. The show takes place at Stanford University and follows an experiment with twins with different diets.

It is all about the age-old question of whether nature or nurture has a bigger impact on who we are. You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment is a four-part Netflix docuseries premiered on January 1, 2024.

Even though it sometimes sounds like a lecture, this series gives a perspective on how diet, genetics, and society relate. One should stream this show if one wants to see identical twins dealing with different diets.

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What do you eat in the twin experiment?

In You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, Christopher Gardner, a famous nutrition scientist, explores the complex links between diet, genetics, and health. The research is conducted by performing a fascinating study with four pairs of identical twins over eight weeks.

For the first four weeks, they had meals delivered to them. Then, each twin has to stick to their diet for the next four weeks. Interestingly, one twin will go vegan while the other will keep eating meat like usual. It is a total change from what they're used to.

The documentary follows four pairs of twins over eight weeks (Image via Netflix)

So, there's an interesting case in the experiment where Carolyn and Rosalyn, both meat-eaters at first, go in different directions. Carolyn starts eating only plants, while Rosalyn continues to eat both plants and meat.

After the experiment, both twins found themselves going back to a mixed diet. However, they started including more plant-based foods and making more thoughtful decisions about what they ate.

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Who funded the You Are What You Eat documentary?

The Vogt Foundation funded the You Are What You Eat documentary (Image via Netflix)

The Vogt Foundation, a private foundation supporting various causes like the Oceanic Preservation Society, funds the Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment.

This financial support shows how important it is to have donations that help fund scientific research, like the Stanford Medicine study that forms the basis of the docuseries.

Although Joel Keller's review raises concerns about undisclosed funding, it's important to note that the Vogt Foundation played a key role in supporting the Stanford Medicine study.

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Audience reception of the You Are What You Eat documentary

The response from the audience for the 2024 documentary You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment has been all over the place, with different people having different opinions. Some viewers have been worried about bias in the documentary and think it's trying to promote veganism.

A Rotten Tomatoes review reads:

"Maybe a bit too pro-vegan overall but it shocks me every time seeing the effects of the meat industry, on so many levels. (...) Would have liked it if they did the study over a longer time frame than just 8 weeks. Great to see people being dedicated to making tasty alternatives for vegan or diary products."

Fans are torn over the fact that eight weeks are enough to deduce changes (Image via Netflix)

Some people think that more than the experiment's timeframe of eight weeks might be needed to fully understand the long-term effects of changing diets. On the bright side, others believe the You Are What You Eat documentary makes one rethink how health and food choices are connected.

Many think the You Are What You Eat documentary is a bit too preachy about veganism (Image via IMDb)

A user on IMDb points out:

"I hope that this series encourages millions to reflect on the way in which we source our food, and what we eat, for the benefit of all of us."

Even though the reviews are mixed, the documentary follows twins who tried a plant-based diet for eight weeks and found some interesting results. They lived longer, had less fat around their organs, had a lower risk of heart disease, and even had a higher s*x drive.

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The You Are What You Eat documentary is available on Netflix. Viewers can go and immerse themselves in the experiment!