You're listening to Well Now, It's Late's podcast on Health and Wellness.

I'm Maya Fowler.

And I'm Kavita Patel. Today we are talking about diets, more specifically vegan diets. A vegan

diet is a type of plant-based diet that excludes all animal-derived foods and products. Most people know there are two basic rules

to a vegan diet, no eating meat of any kind and no eating any products made by

animals. So beyond the standard vegetarian diet, which excludes beef, pork, chicken, fish, etc.

You can't eat any dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt, or eggs and honey.

Vegan diets consist entirely of plant-based foods,

such as fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Just a few decades ago, it would have been hard to find many vegan-friendly food

options at most grocery stores or even at a restaurant, let alone any studies that

illustrate the link between a vegan diet and its health benefits. But today we have an overwhelming amount of evidence

that there can be tangible benefits including protective antioxidants and phytone nutrients

which could lower the risk of certain types of cancers.

Aid and weight loss are helping maintaining healthy weight,

as well as maybe lowering blood sugar levels which could be beneficial for both type 2 diabetics, type 1 diabetics, and even pre-diabetics.

Most recently the case for the benefits of a vegan diet were at the heart of the Netflix documentary series, you are what you eat.

I've tested many diets over the years looking for the healthiest ones.

A major challenge in nutrition studies is everyone is unique and responds differently to the same food.

So what if we got people who are genetically the same?

Just like us. Twins share the same DNA so we get to see if it's about your greens not your

genes. The limited series features a study of identical twins comparing vegan and omnivore diets along with incorporating regular exercise.

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