More sustainable European diets based on self-selection do not require exclusion of entire categories of food

Vieux, Florent; Privet, Lisa; Soler, Louis-Georges; Irz, Xavier; Ferrari, Marco; Sette, Stefania; Raulio, Susanna; Tapanainen, Heli; Hoffmann, Ruben; Surry, Yves; Pulkkinen, Hannele; Darmon, Nicole

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119298

Cited by 41 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Thus, while nutritionally healthy diet and environment preservation are overall in alignment, these dimensions however may not always go hand in hand. This observation seems in line with previous works showing that unhealthy foods, such as sweet and fat food, may exhibit low environmental impacts (Clark et al, 2019;Perignon et al, 2017) and observational studies showing that the lowest emitting diets are not systematically the most sustainable as regards their nutritional values (Vieux et al, 2020). This is of great importance from a public health point of view as it highlights the need of fostering both environment-friendly and healthy diets.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Environmental and nutritional analysis of the EAT-Lancet diet at the individual level: insights from the NutriNet-Santé study

Kesse‐Guyot

Rebouillat

Brunin

et al. 2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

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The EAT-Lancet Commission has recently proposed a "universal" healthy reference diet. However, no study has specifically investigated its possible environmental benefits at the individual level based on observed data. Our objective was therefore to characterize the environmental pressures and impacts related to the level of adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet among French adults. Dietary data from a 264item FFQ in 29,210 NutriNet-Santé participants (75% women, mean age=53.5y (SD=14.0)), were used to estimate (i) the level of adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet through the EAT-Lancet diet index (ELD-I), (ii) the food production-related environmental impacts using 3 individual environmental indicators (greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative energy demand and land occupation) and (iii) the overall environmental impact using a validated aggregated partial score (pReCiPe). For clarity purpose, results are presented by quintile (Q) of ELD-I. High ELD-I (Q5), compared to low (Q1), was associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions (-56%), cumulative energy demand (-31%) and land occupation, (-54%). The pRECIPE was 62% lower in high ELD-I than in low ELD-I but the range of pReCiPe in Q1 was large. In this large scale-study of French adults, adherence to the EAT-Lancet recommendations led to lower environmental impacts. Nonetheless, some low-EAT diets (reflecting unhealthy diets), may exhibit low environmental impacts.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Environmental and nutritional analysis of the EAT-Lancet diet at the individual level: insights from the NutriNet-Santé study

Kesse‐Guyot

Rebouillat

Brunin

et al. 2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

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“…Another limitation of simulations or models is that they remain theoretical. Indeed, the relationship between the health and environmental impacts of self-selected diets is more complex than that between single foods/food groups [ 38 ]. The modelled changes may also be less acceptable to consumers than what is assumed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The modelled changes may also be less acceptable to consumers than what is assumed. Vieux et al examined actual dietary patterns in six European countries, including Sweden, and concluded that exclusion of entire categories of food is not necessary to achieve health and climate benefits, and a “more sustainable” diet with “moderate” amounts of animal-based products is probably realistic, as it is already adopted by nearly one in five adults [ 38 ] corresponding to the population segments innovators, early adopters and some of the early majority according to the Diffusion of Innovations theory [ 8 ]. We therefore made sure to include scenarios where animal-based products were still included to a large degree, as well as being more extensively reduced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential health impact of increasing adoption of sustainable dietary practices in Sweden

et al. 2021

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Background An urgent transition to more sustainable diets is necessary for the improvement of human and planetary health. One way to achieve this is for sustainable practices to become mainstream. We estimated the potential health impact of wider adoption of dietary practices deemed by consumers, researchers and stakeholders in Sweden to be niche, sustainable and with the potential to be scaled up. Methods A life table method was used to estimate the impact - changes in years of life lost (YLL) - over periods of 20 and 30 years in the Swedish population had the practices been adopted in 2010–11, when the last national adult dietary survey was conducted. The practices modelled were reducing red and processed meat (by 25, 50 and 100%), and assuming, for each stage, replacement by an equal weight of poultry/fish and vegetables +/− legumes; reducing milk intake (by 25, 50 and 100%); and reducing sugar-sweetened beverage intake (by 25, 50 and 100%). Using population data together with data on cause-specific mortality and relative risks for diet-disease outcomes, impacts were estimated for each scenario separately and in combination, for the outcomes ischaemic heart disease (IHD), ischaemic stroke, diabetes type 2 and colorectal cancer. Results For a “moderate” combination of scenarios (changes at the 50% level), reductions of 513,200 YLL (lower-upper uncertainty estimate 59,400-797,900) could have been achieved over 20 years and 1,148,500 YLL (135,900-1,786,600) over 30 years. The majority (over 90%) of YLLs prevented were related to IHD, and the majority were in men. The singular practice that had the most impact was reducing the intake of red and processed meat and replacing it with a mixture of vegetables and legumes. Reducing milk intake resulted in an increase in YLL, but this was compensated for by other scenarios. Conclusion If these practices were more widely adopted, they would be expected to lead to improvements in public health in Sweden. Over the long term, this would translate to many premature deaths postponed or prevented from a number of chronic diseases, to the benefit of individuals, society, the climate and the economy.

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“…The “dairy-based diet” of the cohort was somewhat healthier and had higher dietary GHGE, which corresponds to our “high dairy, low fruit juices dietary pattern”. The same was observed in another study that searched for healthy and environmentally sustainable dietary patterns in five European countries, using a multiple factor analysis, focusing on GHGE and mean adequacy ratio, mean excess ratio, and solid energy density as proxies for nutritional value of the diet [ 24 ]. They found a diet that was healthier and more sustainable, in which significantly larger quantities of plant-based products and smaller quantities of meat, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages were consumed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Can Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Patterns That Fit within Current Dutch Food Habits Be Identified?

et al. 2021

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This study investigated major healthy and sustainable dietary patterns in the Dutch population. Two 24-hour dietary recalls were collected in 2078 participants aged 19–79 years in the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2012–2016. Dietary patterns were identified using reduced rank regression. Predictor variables were food groups and response variables were Dutch Healthy Diet index 2015 (DHD15-index) score, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), and blue water use. Three patterns were discovered, including a “high fruit and vegetable dietary pattern”, a “low meat dietary pattern”, and a “high dairy, low fruit juices dietary pattern”. Diets in the highest quartile of these patterns had higher DHD15-index score than the average population. However, diets of the “high fruit and vegetable dietary pattern” were associated with higher dietary GHGE (14%) and blue water use (69.2%) compared to the average population. Diets of the “low meat dietary pattern” were associated with lower GHGE (19.6%) and higher blue water use (7.7%). Concluding, the “low meat dietary pattern” was the most healthy and sustainable dietary pattern in this population. The addition of blue water use as an environmental impact indicator shows the difficulty of finding existing dietary patterns that have low environmental impact in all determinants.

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More sustainable European diets based on self-selection do not require exclusion of entire categories of food

Cited by 41 publications

References 54 publications

Environmental and nutritional analysis of the EAT-Lancet diet at the individual level: insights from the NutriNet-Santé study

Environmental and nutritional analysis of the EAT-Lancet diet at the individual level: insights from the NutriNet-Santé study

Potential health impact of increasing adoption of sustainable dietary practices in Sweden

Can Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Patterns That Fit within Current Dutch Food Habits Be Identified?

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