Sustainable Dietary Patterns and Health Outcomes

Sustainable dietary patterns emphasise the consumption of foods that support human health while minimising environmental impact. They typically prioritise plant-based foods, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, moderate amounts of animal products and minimal ultra-processed items. Such diets aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, land use, freshwater withdrawal and biodiversity loss, aligning with planetary boundaries and global climate goals. From a health perspective, adherence to sustainable patterns has been linked to lower risks of non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, obesity and mental health disorders. These diets offer co-benefits by improving nutrient adequacy, supporting food security and addressing socioeconomic barriers through more efficient resource use. Policy frameworks and dietary guidelines are increasingly integrating environmental metrics with dietary recommendations to foster resilience in food systems and promote equitable access to nutritious foods worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent prospective analyses of over 180,000 middle-aged adults in the United Kingdom have examined adherence to a reference sustainable diet and its relation to mental health. Individuals scoring highest on diet quality indices consistent with planetary health recommendations experienced up to a 30% lower risk of incident depression and anxiety compared to those with minimal adherence. Multiple scoring systems demonstrated robust inverse associations, suggesting that increased consumption of plant-based foods and reduced intake of red and processed meats may confer protective effects on mood disorders over a decade of follow-up. These findings extend the evidence base for sustainable dietary patterns beyond physical health to encompass emotional well-being.

Sustainable Dietary Patterns and Health Outcomes publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable dietary patterns and health outcomes across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

EAT-Lancet reference diet: A benchmark global diet emphasising plant-based foods and sustainable levels of animal products to optimise health and environmental outcomes.

Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE): The total release of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane from food production processes that contribute to climate change.

Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs): National or regional recommendations that translate nutrient requirements into culturally appropriate food patterns.

Counterfactual attributable fraction: A modelling approach to estimate the proportion of health outcomes prevented under hypothetical shifts in population dietary patterns.

Hazard ratio (HR): A measure used in cohort studies indicating the relative risk of an event (such as disease onset) occurring in one group compared with another over time.

References

1. Adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and incident depression and anxiety. Nature Communications (2024).
2. Co-benefits from sustainable dietary shifts for population and environmental health: an assessment from a large European cohort study. The Lancet Planetary Health (2021).
3. The healthiness and sustainability of national and global food based dietary guidelines: modelling study. The BMJ (2020).
4. Affordability of the EAT–Lancet reference diet: a global analysis. The Lancet Global Health (2019).