There’s a new diet that’s been in the news this month, but it’s not just another weight-loss fad. This one instead targets not only our own health, but the planet’s as well.
The “Planetary Health Diet,” devised by an international team of researchers, is meant to be mutually beneficial. It cuts back on the consumption of red meat and sugar while increasing our intake of fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
According to the scientists’ report, it could also help prevent up to 11.6 premature deaths. Notably, that’s with no harm done to our planet.
With the world’s population growing, it’s expected we’ll reach 10 billion people by the year 2050. Already, 3 billion people across the planet are malnourished – be it over or undernourished. With that in mind, the authors believe a global change is required sooner than later.
Food production, they warn, is currently driving climate change, harming biodiversity, and causing pollution. The new diet could not only save millions of lives, it’s also intended to reduce further damage to the earth.
“The stakes are very high,” said The Lancet’s editor in chief Dr. Richard Horton, editor in chief at The Lancet of the report’s findings. He also noted his belief that “nutrition has still failed to get the kind of political attention that is given to diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria.”
Achieving the goals set forth by the diet would essentially mean creating a more sustainable and healthier future. It also means making major dietary changes.
The diet is still designed to provide a total daily intake of 2,500 calories, through dietary changes differ based on location. For example, in North America, we need to significantly cut back our red meat consumption. (We consume more than 6.5 times the recommended amount currently.)
Ideally, meat consumption should be reduced worldwide. And with more than 30,000 edible plants on our planet, it’s quite possible to have a diversified, primarily plant-based diet.
There are many skeptics when it comes to whether such a diet could be adopted globally. However, the scientists behind the report do have some strategies. They include reducing food waste, enforcing strict rules on land and ocean use, and encouraging people to eat healthier.
Additionally, they’ve suggested intensifying agricultural sustainability and incentivizing variation in crops produced.
