Eating for the planet might just be the key to a longer, healthier life, suggests new research.
A study found that individuals who ate a more environmentally sustainable diet were 25% less likely to die during a follow-up period spanning over 30 years compared to those whose diet was less sustainable.
The study reinforces previous findings which classified foods beneficial for both health and the environment (like whole grains, fruit, non-starchy vegetables, nuts, and unsaturated oils) and foods that may harm both (like eggs and red and processed meats).
The latest results show that consuming more planet-friendly foods can lower a person’s risk of dying from various causes, including cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Our new diet score incorporates the most recent scientific knowledge about the effects of food on health and the environment,” said Linh Bui, MD, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“The results confirmed our theory that a higher score on the Planetary Health Diet was linked to a lower mortality risk.”
The findings will be presented at NUTRITION 2023, the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting in Boston.
Green Diet, Reduced Risk
Evidence shows that plant-based foods are associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, colorectal cancer, diabetes, and stroke, while also causing less damage to the environment in terms of water use, land use, nutrient pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
The researchers of this study aimed to develop a tool that can guide policymakers and public health practitioners in creating strategies to enhance public health and tackle climate change.
“A sustainable dietary pattern should be healthy but also in line with environmental limits for greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental factors,” said Bui.
The Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI)
The researchers created the Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI) by examining existing studies on how different food groups are connected to health outcomes. This index is based on the EAT-Lancet reference diet that considers the environmental impact
of food production practices. The researchers then applied the index to a dataset of over 100,000 participants in two large cohort studies conducted in the United States, including more than 47,000 deaths from 1986–2018.
The study revealed that those with the highest PHDI scores had a 25% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those with the lowest scores.
Higher PHDI scores correlated with a 15% lower risk of death from cancer or cardiovascular diseases, a 20% lower risk of death from neurodegenerative disease, and a 50% lower risk of death from respiratory diseases.
However, Bui also cautioned that the PHDI might not encompass all food items and their relationships with all major diseases in all countries, and some people might face challenges in adhering to a more sustainable diet pattern due to specific health conditions, religious restrictions, or varying food accessibility.
Bui concluded, “We hope researchers can adapt this index to specific food cultures and validate how it is associated with chronic diseases and environmental impacts such as carbon footprint, water footprint, and land use in other populations.”
If you care about health, please read studies about the benefits of low-dose lithium supplements, and what we know about egg intake and heart disease.
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