Thread by @TyRBeal

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 👉🏼

https://twitter.com/TyRBeal/status/1392879458802184200?s=20

UK👇🏼

https://twitter.com/TyRBeal/status/1420055093173309443?s=20

The top sources of priority micronutrients are organs, dark green leafy vegetables, mollusks, fish with bones, crustaceans, ruminant meat, eggs, and dairy.

https://twitter.com/TyRBeal/status/1414631588898476033?s=20

We absolutely need to produce food within planetary boundaries. But moderate amounts of livestock produced in alignment with local ecosystems can play a role both in achieving healthy diets and in regenerative and sustainable food production.

And fortification should play an important role, too, because it improves the nutrient density of the food supply. Not everyone has access to or will not choose to eat a highly nutrient dense diet.

But the US and UK both have had widespread fortification for decades, yet high burdens of micronutrient deficiencies persist. Thus, practically meeting micronutrient needs and prevent deficiency is remarkably challenging in the real world, even in high-income countries.

Data for the figure are from our preprint on priority micronutrient density. I assumed 15% bioavailability for iron needs and semi-unrefined diets for zinc needs (since I estimated there was between 900–1200 mg of phytate on the diet). researchsquare.com/article/rs-701…

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It's very possible that iron bioavailability on the #EATLancet diet, which is high in phytate and low in heme iron, is actually lower than 15%, perhaps 10% or less. If you assumed a 10% iron bioavailability the % of recommended iron intakes would fall to 59%.

Of course we do need to sustainably produce all food
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