It's not that hard
McGill University
Yet, the
full implications of replacing animal with plant protein foods in Canadians’
diets are unknown.
New research at McGill University in collaboration with
the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine provides compelling
evidence that partially substituting animal with plant protein foods can
increase life expectancy and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Importantly, it
also suggests that benefits depend on the type of animal protein being
replaced.
The study, published in Nature Food, drew data from a national nutrition survey to analyze Canadians’ dietary records. The study modeled partial replacements (25% and 50%) of either red and processed meat or dairy with plant protein foods like nuts, seeds, legumes, tofu, and fortified soy beverages, on a combination of nutrition, health, and climate outcomes.
Small dietary changes, big impact on carbon footprint
Red and processed meat and dairy are the primary
contributors to Canada's diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, as evidenced
in a previous study. Remarkably, this study
found a person’s diet-related carbon footprint plummets by 25% when they
replace half of their intake of red and processed meats with plant protein
foods. On the other hand, dairy substitutions showed smaller reductions of up
to 5%.
“We show that co-benefits for human and planetary health
do not necessarily require wholesale changes to diets, such as adopting
restrictive dietary patterns or excluding certain food groups altogether but
can be achieved by making simple partial substitutions of red and processed
meat, in particular, with plant protein foods,” explains Olivia Auclair, first
author and recent PhD graduate in McGill’s Department of Animal Science.
Sex gap in plant-based health benefits
Diets high in animal products are known to increase the
risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. In this study,
researchers estimated that if half of the red and processed meat in a person's
diet was replaced with plant protein foods, they could live on average, nearly
nine months longer, stemming from a reduced risk of chronic disease.
When broken down by sex, males stand to gain more by
making the switch, with the gain in life expectancy doubling that for females.
In contrast, partially replacing dairy with plant protein foods led to smaller
gains in life expectancy and was accompanied by a trade-off: an increased
calcium inadequacy by up to 14%.
“I hope our findings will help consumers make healthier
and more sustainable food choices and inform future food policy in Canada,”
says senior author Sergio Burgos, Associate Professor in McGill’s Department of
Animal Science and scientist at the Research Institute of McGill University
Health Centre.
As more people seek sustainable and health-conscious
diets, the study's findings serve as a guide, empowering individuals to make
informed choices that benefit both personal well-being and the planet.
“Increasing the consumption of plant-based foods
alongside reductions in red and processed meat would have considerable benefits
for health and the environment and would involve relatively small changes in
diets for most people in Canada,” says Patricia Eustachio Colombo,
co-author and Honorary Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine’s Centre on Climate Change & Planetary Health.
About the study
“Partial substitutions of animal with plant protein foods
in Canadian diets have synergies and trade-offs among nutrition, health and
climate outcomes” by O. Auclair et al. was published in Nature Food.