Can a diet that's good for the planet reduce your risk of dying from disease?
Can a diet that's good for the planet reduce your risk of dying from disease?
A diet promoting plant-based protein to help the environment now has a more human argument: It may lower your risk of dying from several major diseases.
We've known this for decades, and modern research is only strengthening this position.
The question is: what will it take for people to change their diet?
I would say Canada needs more education on cooking with plants and more sustainable options in the grocery market.
Edit: also cut subsidies for animal agriculture which will save Canada $2 billion a year and allow us to more closely fulfil the plan to 1.5 degrees warming.
Most studies I've seen on the subject could just as well explain the longer life span of a vegan diet by the fact that vegans are more careful about what they eat and tend to be more health conscious in general. It's extremely hard to actually associate a longer lifespan with just a particular choice of diet because there are a lot more factors than just diet that impacts this.
Not really true. If you exclude those other factors, plant-based diets still come out on top. You should check out studies on the Seventh-Day Adventists like this one, as it's fascinating stuff!
There are simply too many harmful compounds in animal flesh which aren't compatible with health in humans.
But overall, plant-based is just better in every way: cost, land use, water use, climate change, health, longevity, chronic disease risk/prevention, food security, etc., etc., etc.
That is a half truth.
While it’s true that some vegans are health conscious, it is the because it’s the norm that the diet is healthier. A plant based diet still has lower risks even when you eat a lot of the junk food.
Also it is good for your health to limit your cigarette,alcohol, caffeine, sodium and sugar intake, the plant-based diet is shown to reduce your level of cholesterol and risk of heart disease.
Just plant based. The protein part doesn't matter
There are loads of other benefits that come along with eating plants, but regarding protein source:
"Conclusions Higher intake of total protein was associated with a lower risk of all cause mortality, and intake of plant protein was associated with a lower risk of all cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. Replacement of foods high in animal protein with plant protein sources could be associated with longevity." SOURCE
"Conclusions and relevance: High animal protein intake was positively associated with cardiovascular mortality and high plant protein intake was inversely associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, especially among individuals with at least 1 lifestyle risk factor. Substitution of plant protein for animal protein, especially that from processed red meat, was associated with lower mortality, suggesting the importance of protein source." SOURCE
It's hugely dependent on a lot of factors but what I can say for sure that's helped for me personally:
- having more locally sourced options like farmers markets and local butchers
- not having to commute to work every day (the extra time and energy saved means I'm much more willing to cook something healthy)
- a healthier work/life balance
- making more money... Buying local isn't cheap.
I know veggies, even when they're not local, are cheaper than a lot of processed food but not when we're talking convenience and energy spent. Having the energy to prep and cook fresh produce, as well as a local market within walking distance have been the biggest factors for me.
I know I'm a pessimist but I feel like this is another one of those issues where we take the mask off and it's just that monster capitalism underneath.
I would argue that there are thousands of plant-based recipes out there you can learn to cook and you can also substitute your favourites with alternatives that taste just as good! Also meat, dairy and eggs make it way more complicated to keep your kitchen clean and increases the likelihood of cross-contamination.
Here are some substitutes for your common cooking ingredients:
https://www.foodnetwork.ca/article/vegan-baking-substitutes-guide/
Here is a good resource for recipes:
Also here if you’re still interested here is a 30 day challenge to keep you motivated to live healthier and more sustainable.
Let’s increase the life expectancy from 82 years to 88 years for all Canadians by using the lessons learned from Loma Linda as an inspiration.
Planetary Health Diet is such a weird name. Just use the term flexitarian.
The whole foods plant-based diet was known to be healthier for years.
You can also just say to follow the Canada food guide. It's pretty cool that that guide actually aligns with this diet (and the science in general)
Three diets come to the mind. Mediterranean, Atlantic, Mormon diet as it is designed and followed in America. Followers of these diets tend to live healthy and long. What the three diets have in common is, each of them is local and seasonal to a large extent.
Local and seasonal. Eases the transportation load and refrigeration load. Both contribute to what you refer to as
good for the planet.Perhaps letting every region design and foster its own local and seasonal diet is a good idea.
That brings us to the food industry. How may we escape the sales and marketing armies of the food industry? A great challenge indeed.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Willett co-authored a new study looking at the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) — which he helped develop in 2019 as part of the EAT-Lancet Commission — and its effects on mortality.
The new study, published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at decades of diet data from more than 200,000 health-care workers in the United States.
The new study also found that adhering to the PHD came with a lower environmental impact, based on calculations that foods in this diet would emit fewer greenhouse gases, require less water, fertilizer and crop land.
"That's huge," Willett told CBC News from Cambridge, Mass., "Because it really means that we could allow some of our cultivated land to go back to forest … which would definitely help stabilize the global climate situation."
Climate change, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is also exacerbated by agricultural emissions, which include methane, a shorter-living but more potent greenhouse gas.
A negative feedback loop occurs as food production is then threatened by drought and other extreme weather events, strengthened and lengthened by climate change.
The original article contains 895 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 80%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
