There is a lot of fighting amongst people with differing views on healthy and sustainable diets, particularly around the role of animal-source foods. But I think everyone can play a role in achieving diets at the population level that are good for human and planetary health.
Vegans are already playing an important role by advocating for animal rights and planetary health. Some could do a better job by ensuring their diets provide nutrient adequacy (using fortification and supplementation when needed), moderating intake of ultra-processed foods and...
...when possible, choosing foods that are produced using regenerative and sustainable production practices, like diverse farms. Just because it comes from a plant doesn't mean the production doesn't have a negative impact on animals and ecosystems (eg, intensive monocultures).
And vegans should keep advocating for animal rights and sustainable diets. But they should not pressure others to adhere to their diet. They should be open to respectful discussion about what is best for humans, animals, and the planet.
Omnivores can do a better job of, when possible, selecting animal-source foods that have been produced humanely using regenerative and sustainable production practices. And more power to those who want to reduce intake of animal-source foods for planetary health.
Many omnivores could benefit from increasing intake of whole plant-source foods. And when possible they should choose plant-source foods that are produced in regenerative and sustainable ways.
People who have benefited from ketogenic diets should not be ashamed to have improved their health this way. But they shouldn't push it on others. And they should recognize that there is a limit to how much animal-source food can be produced sustainably, depending on the context.
Those who have found no solutions to their severe auto-immune disease except through a carnivore diet should not be ashamed. But they shouldn't advocate that everyone should be carnivore. All should seek animal-source foods that are produced in regenerative and sustainable ways.
Ultimately, everyone should be choosing foods that support their health and that contribute to a better food system because they encourage better practices. We all have a role to play. So do farmers, businesses, and politicians, but I'll leave that for a separate discussion.
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I calculated the % of recommended nutrient intakes for adults on a #EATLancet planetary health diet using global aggregated food composition data. It falls short on iron, calcium, and especially zinc. We urgently need a sustainable food system but cannot ignore nutrient adequacy.
Deficiencies in many of these micronutrients are widespread globally, even in high-income countries like the US and UK, where 30–50% of women 15–49 have at least one micronutrient deficiency.
US 👉🏼
The top sources of priority micronutrients are organs, dark green leafy vegetables, mollusks, fish with bones, crustaceans, ruminant meat, eggs, and dairy.
For human and planetary health, I do think there needs to be moderation of animal-source foods at the population level, but how much depends on the context and method of production.
In my view, moderation would leave room for a very, very small amount of exclusive carnivores for those who absolutely need to be so for their auto-immune condition. And hopefully a much larger share of vegans, many of whom are making huge contributions to planetary health.
Here's a breakdown of the nutrient density rating by nutrient
Top iron sources:
•Organs (liver, spleen, kidney, heart)
•Small dried fish
•Bivalves (clams, mussels, oysters)
•Beef/goat
•Pulses (beans, peas, lentils)
•Traditional grains (fonio, teff, millet, sorghum)
Nutrient density rating
Very high: provides an average of 1/3 of recommended intakes with ≤ 1/6 of both energy & mass recommended intakes (assuming an energy density of 1.3 kcal/g)
Optimal sources of iron, zinc, calcium, folate, vitamin A & B12 are organs, small dried fish, cheese, beef/goat, eggs & dark leafy greens
Shows grams & kcals needed to provide 1/3 of recommended intakes for pregnant women
Nutrient density rating is preliminary & explained below
Foods with optimal nutrient density provide an average of 33.3% of recommended intakes with ≤ 16.7% of both energy (2,583 kcal) and mass (1987 g) recommended intakes (assuming an energy density of 1.3 kcal/g).
Foods with high nutrient density provide an average of 33.3% of recommended intakes with ≤ 33.3% of both energy and mass recommended intakes and with < 16.7% of either energy or mass recommended intakes.
Love Kevin’s advice at the end: love each other, exercise, and limit ultra-processed foods sigmanutrition.com/episode376/
Important distinctions between the two groups in this study: the low-carb diet had nearly double the energy density (2.1 v 1.1), lower fiber (9 g v 31 g), & a higher proportion of energy from ultra-processed foods (32% v 26%) compared with the low-fat diet.nature.com/articles/s4159…
Yet both groups lost weight, & there was no significant differences in weight loss or fat loss between the two groups. So I think most people could maintain a healthy body weight on a variety of macronutrient ratios, animal-to-plant-source food ratios, & diets. Diet quality key.