It will not have escaped your attention that civilization is in crisis. It is no longer possible to feed the entire world population in a healthy way, while balancing resources. “Climate change is putting our planet on the path to ecological disaster, and our food system plays a major rolewarned Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition and co-author of a study published this year in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Changing our diet can help slow the process of climate change. And what is healthiest for the planet is also healthiest for humans.”
Sustainably feeding the population of 2050
In 2019, an expert commission formed by the British medical journal The Lancet so thought of a “global diet“which combines healthy and sustainable. Objective: to nourish sustainably the ten billion people who will be on Earth in 2050while limiting the environmental impact (reduction of food waste and improvement of agricultural practices).
Since then, numerous scientific studies have continued to praise the dual benefits of this diet. It is based on “an increase in the consumption of healthy foods [non transformés] and a reduction in the consumption of unhealthy foods, which would bring major health benefits and also increase the likelihood of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” according to the study by The Lancet.
Global diet: which foods are affected?
In detail, it is based in particular on a increased consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nutsand an reduced consumption of red meat, sugar and refined grains.
The large study published this year examined diets over a 34-year period. More than 200,000 individuals (men and women) enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study I and II and the US Health Professionals Follow-up Study were included in the analysis. Participants did not have major chronic illnesses at the start of the study and completed questionnaires about their diet every four years. Their diet was assessed based on the consumption of 15 food groups, including whole grains, vegetables, poultry and nuts, to quantify their adherence to the planetary diet.
Reduce the risk of death from all causes
Result : the risk of premature death was 30% lower among the top 10% of participants of the planetary diet, compared to the least adept 10%. All major causes of death – including cancer, heart disease and lung disease – were lower with greater adherence to this dietary pattern.
Just a year ago, researchers also found results in this direction. Eating healthy, environmentally friendly foods was associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of death from cancer or cardiovascular disease. The benefits were even higher for neurodegenerative and respiratory diseases (a reduction in deaths of 20% and 50% respectively).
“Eating healthily promotes environmental sustainability, which in turn is essential to health and well-being”
Additionally, the researchers found that people who adhered the most to the planetary diet had a significantly lower environmental impact to that of the people who adhered to it the least, in particular greenhouse gas emissions lower by 29%, fertilizer needs lower by 21% and a use of cultivated land lower by 51%.
“Eating healthily promotes environmental sustainability, which in turn is essential to the health and well-being of every person on Earth,” concludes Walter Willett in a press release.
Reducing land use is particularly important to facilitate reforestation, which is considered an effective way to further reduce greenhouse gas levels.
