The super famous (and a bit controversy-prone) medical journal The
Lancet has teamed up with “the world's most famous nutritionist”, Walter
Willett from Harvard University, and a whole pack of capable scientists to
create a new project called “EAT-Lancet”.
EAT-Lancet started in January 2019. The Lancet has named 2019 “the
year of nutrition”.
EAT-Lancet urges the
global community (of humans) to adopt a plant-based diet. Why? Because
a healthy plant-based diet is healthier and better for the environment.
Their website states:
“What is the
“planetary health diet”? [the kind of diet that EAT-Lancet recommends]
The planetary health
diet is a global reference diet for adults that is symbolically represented by
half a plate of fruits, vegetables and nuts. The other half consists of
primarily whole grains, plant proteins (beans, lentils, pulses), unsaturated
plant oils, modest amounts of meat and dairy, and some added sugars and starchy
vegetables. The diet is quite flexible and allows for adaptation to dietary
needs, personal preferences and cultural traditions. Vegetarian and vegan diets
are two healthy options within the planet health diet but are personal choices.”
What is the “EAT-Lancet commission”?
Their website states: “The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet,
Health brings together more
than 30 world-leading scientists from across the globe to reach a scientific
consensus that defines a healthy and sustainable diet.”
Please find the most interesting and relevant (I think so) infographics
and statements from EAT-Lancet’s new report (called the “EAT-Lancet
Commission Summary Report”, English
PDF) summarized below. This summary report is also available in several
other languages, namely in Arabic, Standard Chinese, French, Indonesian, Portuguese,
Russian and Spanish!
(There is also a “full report”, named Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet
Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems (Walter Willett
et al.).)
The following information is from the “summary report”:
“Transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary
shifts. Global consumption
of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and
consumption of foods such as red
meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50%. A diet rich in
plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both improved
health and environmental benefits.”
“To Achieve Planetary Health Diets for Nearly 10 Billion People by
2050”
“Target 1
Healthy Diets
A healthy diet should optimize health, defined broadly as being a
state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the absence of disease. Scientific
targets for healthy diets are based on
the extensive literature on foods, dietary patterns and health
outcomes (see Table 1).”
“Figure 3
A planetary health plate should consist by volume of approximately half a plate of vegetables and
fruits; the other half, displayed by contribution to calories [! … this means even less animal
source foods than shown], should consist of primarily whole grains, plant protein sources
[legumes, nuts and seeds], unsaturated
plant oils [not palm, palm fruit or coconut oil], and (optionally [!!!]) modest
amounts of animal sources of protein.”
“Target 1
Healthy Diets
Healthy diets have an optimal caloric intake and consist largely of a diversity
of plant-based foods, low
amounts of animal source foods, contain unsaturated rather than
saturated fats, and limited amounts of refined grains, highly processed foods
and added sugars.”
Table 1
„Table 1
Scientific targets for a planetary health diet, with possible
ranges,
for an intake of 2500 kcal/day.
Although the planetary health diet,
which is based on health considerations, is consistent with many traditional
eating patterns, it does
not imply that the global population should eat exactly the same food, nor does
it prescribe an exact diet. Instead, the planetary health diet outlines
empirical food groups
and ranges of food intakes, which combined in a diet, would optimize
human health. Local interpretation and adaptation of the universally-applicable
planetary health diet is necessary and should reflect the culture, geography
and demography of the population and individuals.”
“[…] planetary health diet. This is a flexitarian diet [or a vegetarian or vegan
diet, as their website states, see above, or see the “full report”],
which is largely plant-based
but can optionally [!!!] include modest amounts of fish, meat and dairy foods.”
[no mention of eggs, but see below]
"Figure 4"
[Note: We do not need to eat fish. We can obtain omega-3 fatty acids
from plant foods, see here,
or see the “full report”.]
“Our vision: A fair and sustainable global food system […].”
What the EAT-Lancet commission and their report is missing:
EAT-Lancet focuses on two dimensions of sustainability: human health
and environmental protection. But this is not enough. A sustainable food system
also needs to consider economic sustainability as well as ethical considerations.
EAT-Lancet is fully aware of this. The summary report states:
“The Commission acknowledges that food systems have environmental impacts along the
entire supply chain from production to processing and retail, and furthermore reach beyond human and environmental
health by also affecting society, culture, economy, and animal health and
welfare [!!!]. However, given the breadth and depth of each of these
topics, it was necessary to place many important issues outside the scope of
the Commission.”
Maybe the biggest and most urgent question that remains “outside the
scope” of EAT-Lancet is: How can slaughterhouses be “fair”? How can all the
other practices that nonhuman animals in the food system go through – like castration,
debeaking, etc. – be considered “fair”? How can killing animals for food – food
we do not need, as we can be vegans – be justified ethically?
The “full report” (not the “summary report”) states: “These findings
suggest that a shift
towards a dietary pattern emphasising whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts,
and legumes without necessarily becoming a strict vegan, will be beneficial.”
If a lot of people, followed this advice – without increasing their
consumption of fish or chicken – that would also be a big step forward for
animals who are killed for food.
P.S.: The “full report gives a more precise idea of what a healthy
and environmentally sustainable diet should look like:
“Summary of evidence describing healthy diets
Evidence from controlled feeding studies with intermediate risk factors as
outcomes, long-term observational studies relating individual dietary
components and overall dietary patterns to major disease endpoints and quality
of life, and randomised clinical trials supports the conclusion, with a high level of certainty,
that dietary patterns with the following characteristics promote low risk of
major chronic disease and overall wellbeing:
(1) protein sources primarily from plants, including soy foods,
other legumes, and nuts, fish or alternative
sources [!!!] of
omega-3 fatty acids several times per week with
optional [!!!] modest consumption of poultry and eggs, and low intakes of red
meat, if any, especially processed meat; (2) fat mostly from unsaturated plant
sources, with low intakes of saturated fats, and no partly hydrogenated oils; (3)
carbohydrates primarily from whole grains with low intake of refined grains and
less than 5% of energy
from sugar; (4) at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per
day, not including potatoes; and
(5) moderate dairy consumption as an option [!!!]. These elements of
a healthy diet allow great flexibility
because they are compatible with a wide variety of foods, agricultural
systems, cultural traditions, and individual dietary preferences. These elements can be combined
in various types of omnivore, vegetarian, and vegan diets.”