Those eating a healthy, environmentally friendly, and sustainable diet may be substantially lowering their risk of premature death while they are lowering their environmental impacts, according to a study recently published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that was led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
What is the Planetary Health Diet?
This large study is one of the first to directly evaluate the impacts of adherence to recommendations in the landmark 2019 EAT-Lancet report. The researchers have named the plant-forward dietary pattern outlined in the report the Planetary Health Diet (PHD), which emphasizes a variety of minimally processed plant-based foods but allows for modest consumption of meat and dairy foods.
“Climate change has our planet on track for ecological disaster, and our food system plays a major role,” said corresponding author Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition. “Shifting how we eat can help slow the process of climate change. And what’s healthiest for the planet is also healthiest for humans.”
The study
The researchers utilized data from over 200,000 overwise healthy participants in the Nurses’ Health Study I and II and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, who filled out questionnaires every 4 to 34 years. Participant diets were discord based on intake of 15 food groups which included the consumption of whole grains, vegetables, poultry, and nuts to quantify adherence to the Planetary Health Diet.
What they found
The analysis revealed that the risk of premature death was 30% lower among those in the top 10% of those who most closely adhered to the PHD compared to those in the lowest 10%. The greater the adherence to the PHD the lower the risk was for every major cause of death including cancer, heart disease, and lung disease.
Additionally, those with the highest adherence also had a substantially lower environmental impact than those with the lowest, including 29% lower greenhouse gas emissions, 21% lower fertilizer needs, and 51% lower cropland use, according to the researchers. It was noted that land use reduction is important to reforestation, which is seen as an effective way to further reduce levels of greenhouse gasses.
Everything is linked
“Our study is noteworthy given that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has refused to consider the environmental impacts of dietary choices, and any reference to the environmental effects of diet will not be allowed in the upcoming revision of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines,” said Willett. “The findings show just how linked human and planetary health are. Eating healthfully boosts environmental sustainability — which in turn is essential for the health and wellbeing of every person on earth.”
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References/Sources/Materials provided by:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.03.019
https://worldhealth.net/news/will-a-healthy-diet-help-reduce-the-risk-of-cancer/
