Hướng dẫn làm bài:
• Anh/Chị dành đúng 15’ để đọc bài bên dưới, khi đọc nhớ ghi chú ý chính
• Sau đó, trả lời các câu hỏi bên dưới mà KHÔNG XEM LẠI thông tin trong bài
đọc
IS EATING A PLANT-BASED DIET BETTER FOR YOU?
It’s no secret that fruits and veggies are good for you. But a new Netflix show, You
Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, shows just how powerful—and fast-
acting—they can be. The show features pairs of adult identical twins who
participated in a study published in November 2023. For eight weeks, everyone in
the study ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes and low in
sugars and refined starches. But one twin from each pair was assigned to eat only
these plant-based foods, while the other also ate animal products such as chicken,
fish, eggs, and dairy.
Both groups saw improvements in their cholesterol levels and modest reductions in
weight over the eight weeks, but those trends were more dramatic among twins
who followed the vegan diet. Average fasting insulin levels—another marker of
cardiometabolic health—also dropped among the vegan, but not omnivorous,
twins.
“This suggests that anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term
health in two months,” Christopher Gardner, a Stanford University professor and
senior author of the study, said in a statement. And, Gardner added, following a
vegan diet may not be as difficult as many people imagine: 21 of the 22 twins
assigned to that eating plan stuck with it for all eight weeks.
Another point for plants
The Stanford study is not the only recent evidence pointing to the promise of plant-
rich diets. A study published December 2023 in JAMA Network Open found that
people who eat low-carbohydrate diets rich in plant-based proteins and fats, as well
as whole grains, tend to gain less weight over time than people who eat low-carb
diets with a lot of animal products and refined starches.
Two recent analyses of previously published studies also found benefits associated
with plant-based diets. The first linked vegetarian diets to a lower risk of heart
disease than omnivorous diets, while the second, like the twin study, found that
vegan and vegetarian diets are associated with lower levels of cholesterol and other
markers of potential heart problems.
Which is more important: more plants or less meat?
In addition to validating plant-based diets, studies have long shown that eating too
much meat—particularly red and processed meat, such as sausage and bacon—is
linked to health problems including heart disease and cancer. But is all meat
consumption bad?
It's debatable. Some studies and experts refute the idea that vegan diets are
automatically healthier than those that include meat. Becoming a vegan or
vegetarian can make it difficult to get certain nutrients found in animal products,
such as vitamins B12 and D, and people who eliminate meat often replace it with
foods that may limit the nutritional benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. Plus,
numerous studies suggest that people who eat a Mediterranean diet—which
includes fish—tend to live longer and report better health than people who follow
other eating styles.
In the statement, Gardner said that cutting out all meat shouldn’t necessarily be
everyone’s goal. “What’s more important than going strictly vegan,” Gardner said,
“is including more plant-based foods into your diet.” Even the omnivores in his
study, after all, saw some drops in cholesterol and body weight after eight weeks,
likely in part because they ate plenty of fresh foods high in fibre and low in
saturated fat.
A study from 2017 backs up that idea. Researchers tracked a group of people for
more than a decade to see how dietary changes affected longevity. They estimated
that even one small daily change—swapping a serving of red or processed meat for
nuts or legumes—translated to an 8% to 17% drop in early death risk.
But if there’s any universal truth in nutrition science, it seems to be that loading up
your plate with plants is always a good decision.
Question 1: Who is the article most likely targeting?
A. Individuals interested in animal products
B. People looking to gain weight
C. Those considering a plant-based diet for health
D. Individuals advocating for low-carbohydrate diets
2. Question: What does the article suggest about meat consumption?
A. All meat consumption is bad for health
B. Vegan diets are not healthier than those that include meat
C. Red and processed meat consumption is linked to health problems
D. Becoming a vegan is the only way to achieve better health
Question 3: What did the study published in JAMA Network Open find about
low-carbohydrate diets?
A. They lead to significant weight gain
B. Plant-based proteins and fats in low-carb diets are ineffective
C. They are associated with less weight gain over time
D. They are only effective when combined with high animal product consumption
Question 4: According to the article, what does Christopher Gardner
emphasize as more important than going strictly vegan?
A. Including more plant-based foods into the diet
B. Eliminating all meat from the diet
C. Consuming more red and processed meats
D. Following a Mediterranean diet with fish consumption
