THE EAT LANCET COMMISSION
On the 17 January 2019 findings from the EAT Lancet commission were published, the commission brought together 30 leading scientists on nutrition, planetary sciences and agriculture to review the current status of public health and food production. This includes the global impacts such as climate change, water use and biodiversity and the aims of the Paris Agreement.
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Based on the scientific evidence the report concluded that the adoption of a healthy diet from sustainable sources would improve our health and safeguard the planet. In the ‘Food, Planet, Health’ report these are split into two main ‘boundaries’ that define the optimum planetary health:
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Health boundaries: how food consumption impacts physical, mental and social well-being
Sustainable boundaries: these were further split into 6 separate boundaries for greenhouse gas emissions, cropland use, water use, nitrogen application, phosphorous application, and biodiversity loss.
This report proposes a total revision of food consumption and production to achieve a ‘planetary health diet’ presenting 5 strategies to achieve this.
seeking international and national commitments for a shift towards healthy diets;
shifting agricultural priorities from producing high quantities of calories towards high quality food;
sustainably intensifying agriculture for high-quality food production;
strengthening and improving coordination of governance of land and oceans; and
halving food loss by at least 50%.
A HEALTHY DIET: THE MODERN EATWELL
In a nutshell, the recommendations can be split into general ‘food guidelines’ to follow and recommendations on the relative proportions of food
Food guidelines:
Eat mostly plant based
Limited refined grains and other processed foods
Low added sugars
Eating mostly plant based
Plant based diets were found to be associated with the best health outcomes and longest life expectancies
Eating mostly plant based includes increasing fruit and vegetable consumption
the report recommends 500g a day, this is around 6-7 portions
2:3 ratio fruit:vegetables
Ensure that your vegetables include something green and leafy and something red/ orange
The report recommends choosing plant-based protein sources (see our recipe ideas for plant-based protein) over animal products, if you choose not to follow a vegetarian diet, on a fortnightly basis the commission recommends
1 portion of red meat
2 eggs
2 portions of sustainable sources fish
2 portions of poultry a week
To give an idea of what to aim for, the Mediterranean diet was proven to be one of the best ‘reference diets’- this includes lots of fruits and veg, wholegrains, plant-based proteins and little animal based protein
Limited grains and processed foods
Universally diets high in carbohydrates and refined grains and were positively associated with type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease
The diet recommends around 230g of diet coming from carbs, reduction from the amounts typically included in the western diet, as a guide carbohydrate should make up around 1/3rd of your plate
A daily recommendation includes
60g rice
80g pasta
50g of starchy vegetables
The diet recommends whole grains as opposed to processed sources, as a simple rule: does your carbohydrate look as it did in its natural form? Bread: definitely not, quinoa, rice, bulgur wheat- absolutely!
Low added sugar
High sugar intake was associated with multiple adverse metabolic effects including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and weight gain
As a safe reference for consumption the report recommends a limit of 31g a day of all added sugars (around 2 tablespoons)
Added sugars include all the extra sugars (refined caster sugar, syrups, honey and treacle) added to processed foods, this does not include the sugars naturally occurring in sweet foods such as fruits or dairy
To keep your added sugars in checkalways check the food labels
THE RELATIVE QUANTITIES OF FOODS
For the past 20 years relative food proportions have centred around the ‘eat well plate’, although this has been revised many times there is still a huge disparity between the commissions relative proportions and the proportions outlined in the traditional plate. Note: the percentages are recommendations on the relative space on a plate that the food should make up and not the relative proportion of caloric intake.
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Main differences to note
Increase your fruit and vegetable intake: the classic eat well suggests around a third, the planetary health diet recommends this is increased to around half the plate Reduce carbohydrates: the classic eatwell recommends over a third of the plate (35%) carbohydrates however the planetary health diet limits this to 20%The planetary health diet specifies that the protein sources should be mainly plant based (around three quarters), however the traditional eat well does not specify
CALORIC INTAKE GUIDE
Besides are the recommendations of the relative caloric intake from different food sources. This is a simpler way of tracking your relative consumptions from each source- it is a common misconception that foods split nicely into either: carbs, proteins, fruit/ veg, dairy and fat, this is a result of the eatwell plate showing this typical split. In reality foods contain a complex mix of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, for example- take an avocado, its high in fat but technically a fruit, take quinoa- it is a whole grain so would be assigned to the carbohydrate group, however it a great source of protein. The commission splits food into 8 different groups based on what the food fundamentally is rather then the nutritional it provides. Whilst this may seem overwhelming to try and implement, there are suggested meal plans and recipes on the lancelistic website under recipes to help give you an idea of what to aim for.
