As cities and incomes increase around the world, so does consumption of refined sugars, refined fats, oils and resource- and land-intense agricultural products such as beef!
A new study led by University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman shows how a shift away from this trajectory and toward healthier traditional Mediterranean, pescatarian or vegetarian diets could not only boost human lifespan and quality of life, but also slash greenhouse gas emissions and save habitat for endangered species, Medical News Today reports.
The study, published in the online edition of Nature by Tilman and graduate student Michael Clark, synthesised data on environmental costs of food production, diet trends, relationships between diet and health, and population growth.
Their integrated analysis painted a striking picture of the human and environmental health costs of our current diet trajectory as well as how strategically modifying food choices could reduce not only incidence of type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and other chronic diseases, but global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and habitat degradation as well.
"We showed that the same dietary changes that can add about a decade to our lives can also prevent massive environmental damage," said Tilman, a professor in the University's College of Biological Sciences and resident fellow at the Institute on the Environment.
"In particular, if the world were to adopt variations on three common diets, health would be greatly increased at the same time global greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by an amount equal to the current greenhouse gas emissions of all cars, trucks, plans trains and ships. In addition, this dietary shift would prevent the destruction of an area of tropical forests and savannahs as large as half of the United States."
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