New research suggests that the healthiest foods for the body are also the least degrading for the environment and vice versa.
Previous studies have focused on the benefits of certain foods to human health. Others have focused on the impact of certain crops or livestock on the environment. New research has attempted to link the two and it looks like a positive equation may emerge. Details of the study are published in the journal PNAS .
Indeed, researchers from the universities of Minnesota and Oxford recently examined the impacts of fifteen food groups on health and the environment. The results suggest that almost all foods beneficial to health (whole grain cereals, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and olive oil for example) have the lowest environmental impacts.
For foods associated with serious health issues, such as red meat and processed meats, it's different. Indeed, they are consistently associated with devastating environmental impacts.
“The foods that make up our diet have a big impact on ourselves and our environment. This study shows that eating healthier also means eating more sustainably “, says David Tilman, lead author of the study.
The study still raises two exceptions. Raising or harvesting fish, a food considered "healthy", does indeed appear to have moderate environmental impacts. In addition, unhealthy sugary drinks seem to have a relatively low environmental impact.
Despite everything, in view of these results, the researchers do not hesitate to conclude that switching to healthy diets in a generalized way would not only be beneficial for the health of everyone, but also for environmental well-being.
“It's important that we all think about the health effects of the foods we eat “, they explain. “We now know that making our nutrition a priority will also pay off for the Earth “.
This new study also echoes the IPCC report published last October. Researchers had warned that it was impossible today to keep global temperatures below acceptable levels without rethinking our food production.
Remember that deforestation and agricultural production activities aimed at feeding livestock produce nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.
The researchers had also suggested several courses of action to follow. According to them, new techniques will have to be designed to maintain and enrich agricultural land, but also to limit the extraction of fresh water and the use of fertilizers.
They had also advised to reduce our meat consumption and to favor plant-based diets, which are much less greedy in water.
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