Environmental footprints of Mediterranean versus Western dietary patterns: beyond the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet

Abstract

BackgroundDietary patterns can substantially vary the resource consumption and environmental impact of a given population. Dietary changes such as the increased consumption of vegetables and reduced consumption of animal products reduce the environmental footprint and thus the use of natural resources. The adherence of a given population to the Mediterranean Dietary Pattern (MDP) through the consumption of the food proportions and composition defined in the new Mediterranean Diet pyramid can thus not only influence human health but also the environment. The aim of the study was to analyze the sustainability of the MDP in the context of the Spanish population in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural land use, energy consumption and water consumption. Furthermore, we aimed to compare the current Spanish diet with the Mediterranean Diet and in comparison with the western dietary pattern, exemplified by the U.S.A. food pattern, in terms of their corresponding environmental footprints.MethodsThe environmental footprints of the dietary patterns studied were calculated from the dietary make-up of each dietary pattern, and specific environmental footprints of each food group. The dietary compositions were obtained from different sources, including food balance sheets and household consumption surveys. The specific environmental footprints of food groups were obtained from different available life-cycle assessments.ResultsThe adherence of the Spanish population to the MDP has a marked impact on all the environmental footprints studied. Increasing adherence to the MDP pattern in Spain will reduce greenhouse gas emissions (72%), land use (58%) and energy consumption (52%), and to a lower extent water consumption (33%). On the other hand, the adherence to a western dietary pattern implies an increase in all these descriptors of between 12% and 72%.ConclusionsThe MDP is presented as not only a cultural model but also as a healthy and environmentally-friendly model, adherence to which, in Spain would have, a significant contribution to increasing the sustainability of food production and consumption systems in addition to the well-known benefits on public health.

Med Diet 4.0: the Mediterranean diet with four sustainable benefits

“…This is because it is mainly a plant-based diet with low consumption of animal products and thus has a smaller water footprint and lower greenhouse gas emissions, compared with other current dietary patterns (25)(26)(27)(28)(29) . Increased adherence of the Spanish population to the MDP was reported to have a marked impact on all standard environmental footprints: reduce greenhouse gas emissions, land use and energy consumption, and to a lower extent water consumption, while on the contrary, adherence to a Western dietary pattern increases all these parameters (81) . In an Italian study, adherence to the MDP was shown to significantly reduce the food environmental footprint on natural resources especially for water consumption (82) .…”

Nutrition, oxidative stress and intestinal dysbiosis: Influence of diet on gut microbiota in inflammatory bowel diseases

“…One diet pattern that is considered useful for the prevention/ improvement of intestinal diseases is the Mediterranean diet. This is characterized by a high intake of fruit and vegetables (rich in fiber, antioxidants and vitamins), olive oil and oily fish (rich in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids), and whole grains and nuts 15,24 . It is based on the daily or weekly consumption of specific food groups according to the standardized food pyramid 24 .…”

“…This is characterized by a high intake of fruit and vegetables (rich in fiber, antioxidants and vitamins), olive oil and oily fish (rich in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids), and whole grains and nuts 15,24 . It is based on the daily or weekly consumption of specific food groups according to the standardized food pyramid 24 . Current research on probiotics, as a food supplement in addition to a mediterranean diet, showed that probiotics (such as Lactobacillus Rhamnosus) changes the composition of the microbiota, thus allowing the return to eubiosis 5 .…”

Water Footprint in the Mediterranean Food Chain: Implications of Food Consumption Patterns and Food Wastage

“…The methodology used in this paper for the calculation of the water footprint of national food supply is similar to that used by [51] in their analysis of the environmental footprint of the Spanish dietary pattern. Water footprints of crops and derived crop products as well as farm animals and animal products were obtained from the main report of Mekonnen and Hoekstra [22,52].…”