According to a recent study set to be presented at NUTRITION 2023, the American Society for Nutrition’s annual event, a diet of “planet-friendly foods” can help eaters live longer and healthier lives. Those that followed the diet in the study were found to be 25% less likely to die over the following 30 years.
“We proposed a new diet score that incorporates the best current scientific evidence of food effects on both health and the environment,” Linh Bui, MD, a PhD candidate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said, as reported by News-Medical.Net. “The results confirmed our hypothesis that a higher Planetary Health Diet score was associated with a lower risk of mortality.”
The study, which spanned from 1986 to 2018, featured over 100,000 participants. By reviewing existing research on the health outcomes of different food groups, researchers formed the Planetary Health Diet Index to analyze health outcomes within the study.
“As a millennial, I have always been concerned about mitigating human impacts on the environment,” she said. “A sustainable dietary pattern should not only be healthy but also consistent within planetary boundaries for greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental parameters.”
Fruit, whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, nuts and unsaturated oils were found improve health and lower a subject’s risk of death from cancer, diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Foods with higher Planetary Health Diet Index scores were associated with a 15% lower risk of cancer-related deaths, 20% lower risk of neurodegenerative disease-related deaths and a 50% lower risk of respiratory disease-related deaths.
“We hope that 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,” Bui said.
