Eating for Personal and Planetary Health
There is unequivocal evidence that our standard Western diet is making us fat and sick. While over 820 million people globally still lack sufficient food, there are now more than 2 billion people on the planet who are overweight or obese. For the first time in human history, over-feeding is a greater health concern than malnutrition. We are literally eating ourselves to death, with unhealthy Western dietary patterns playing a starring role in the creation of all major lifestyle diseases, including metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, fatty liver disease, and hormonally-driven cancers.
What many don't realize is that in addition to making us sick, the Western Diet is also contributing significantly to the destruction of our planet. Animal farming is the single biggest user of land worldwide, and deforestation to create land to grow crops to feed livestock is occurring at a horrifyingly rapid rate, causing loss of biodiversity and animal habitats.
”Agricultural land use dominates about 40% of the Earth’s land surface and has been the principle driver of tropical deforestation, habitat loss and degradation, and global biodiversity loss. Agriculture is also the biggest consumer, and polluter, of the world’s water resources. Lakes, aquifers, rivers, and even coastal oceans around the world have been disrupted by human activities, notably food production. And the food system contributes about 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, roughly comparable to the emissions resulting from the world’s production of electricity. In short, nothing else we do has come close to how food, agriculture, and land use are causing global environmental harm. Without major changes, our food system will continue to push Earth well beyond its planetary boundaries.”
As delineated in the ground-breaking report by the EAT-Lancet Commission (a joint venture between 37 of the top scientists, doctors, and food systems experts from around the world and The Lancet, one of the most rigorous and highly respected academic journals), to save ourselves and the planet, we will need nothing short of a Great Food Transformation.
Toward this aim, the EAT- Lancet Commission created the
PLANETARY HEALTH DIET.
It is believed that transitioning to this diet worldwide would give us our best shot at relieving global hunger, at eliminating obesity and its resultant lifestyle diseases, and at saving our planet from environmental devastation.
www.eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/07/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf
The EAT- Lancet Commission determined that a
whole food, plant-predominant diet
is the healthiest for our bodies and the planet.
Fruits and veggies should be the cornerstone of healthy eating, comprising half our plates by volume at every meal. Regardless of whether animal products are eaten, there should be a focus on daily consumption of plant-based protein from legumes and nuts (approximately 25% of calories consumed). Whole grains should feature prominently (approximately 30% of calories consumed), and healthy unsaturated fats are encouraged. If animal products are included, there should be a greater reliance on sustainable fish (approximately two servings a week), a moderation of dairy and poultry, and a massive reduction in consumption of red meat (reduced to approximately one serving per week). Finally, sugar should be included sparingly and ultra-processed foods should be eliminated entirely.
“Universal adoption of a
Planetary Health Diet
would help avoid severe environmental degradation and prevent approximately
11 million human deaths annually.”
While dramatic systemic change in our global food system is clearly needed to improve the health of the planet and its people, as individuals we aren't powerless. We can each make a valuable contribution to our personal health and the planet's ongoing success with every dollar we spend at the grocery store and every bite we choose to take.
We can actively choose to eat a whole food,
plant-predominant diet for personal and planetary health.
Wishing you and our planet a healthy future.
🌱💕
If you are interested in more information on the impact of our food system on our environment and how to eat for planetary health, the following are all excellent resources:
Videos:
www.eatforum.org/learn-and-discover/can-healthy-food-save-the-planet-animation/
www.eatforum.org/learn-and-discover/eat-lancet-explained/
Online Resources:
www.eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/07/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf
www.eatforum.org/content/uploads/2020/07/Diets-for-a-Better-Future_G20_National-Dietary-Guidelines.pdf
www.eatforum.org/knowledge/
Books:
The Proof by Simon Hill - www.theproof.com/book/
Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well by Tim Spector - www.penguin.co.uk/books/435986/food-for-life-by-spector-tim/9781787330498