Hugo and Ross Turner, 32-year-old identical twins from the British city of Exeter, are known for their adventures. They regularly travel to the most remote places on the planet and collaborate with scientists to find out how physical activity affects them.
Naturally, in the conditions of self-isolation, there could be no question of new travels, but even here the brothers found a way to surprise fans, writes Insider.
The Turners’ new study was their own bodies. Being absolute copies of each other physically, they were the same in habits – they did the same workouts and ate the same food.
Every day they had toast or porridge for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and chicken, vegetables, or pasta for dinner. Full compliance with the lifestyle itself prompted them to experiment with eating habits.
The Turners, having seen enough stories about vegans forbidding neighbors to fry meat, and netizens who hate them, decided to compare the effects of a vegan and omnivorous diet for two genetically identical people, but they did it in their own style – the number of calories in their food was the same, but in parallel with a change in the type of food, they performed the same physical exercises.
Biologists from King’s College London monitored the condition of the brothers.
The experiment began in January and ended in March. After there was a long period of medical examinations and a return to the usual way of life, which allowed the brothers to draw final conclusions.
We wanted to eliminate bias and go to the genetic level. We brought science to this because we are genetically identical twins and can objectively compare ourselves in experiments,” the Turners said.
Both twins trained for endurance in the gym five to six times a week, without going beyond the chosen type of nutrition. The vegan diet went to Hugo. Prior to the experiment, he weighed 83 kilograms, 13 percent of which was fat.
After a month of dieting, he dropped four kilos, but by the end of the experiment, he almost completely regained the lost weight and approached 82 kilograms with 12 percent body fat. At the same time, according to doctors, the level of cholesterol in his blood dropped significantly.
Hugo’s sense of self has also changed – he began to feel more alert during training and lunch breaks than before.
On a vegan diet, my concentration has become much better, my energy dips have disappeared during the day, and in general I have become more alert, ”the man said.
At the same time, there was also a negative effect – Hugo felt a sharp drop in libido, almost completely losing interest in the opposite sex.
Ross, who emphasized meat-eating, also started with 83 kilograms and 13 percent body fat, but his mass changed much more noticeably – by the end of the experiment, the guy weighed 85 kilograms, and his body fat level had risen to 15 percent.
At the same time, the cholesterol level remained unchanged, and the bulk of the gained mass was muscle tissue, and, as a result, strength increased. Otherwise, Ross did not notice any changes in himself.
