Researchers analyzed what would happen if animal-based foods were replaced with plant-based whole foods. Anne Charlotte explains:
“Whole foods (fruits, vegetables, etc.) are slightly better in terms of environmental impact, but the real reduction in your diet’s ecological footprint comes from reducing animal food consumption.”
In the study, the research team, which included lead researchers Rachel Mazac, Amanda Wood, and Line Gordon, also found that a diet consisting of various plant-based vegan alternative foods met nutritional recommendations, at least in the Swedish example.
The researchers designed six different scenario diets and compared their nutrient intake, environmental impacts, and retail prices to the current average diet of a person living in Sweden. These scenarios consisted of vegan, vegetarian, and flexible diets, each based on whole food products or plant-based alternatives; all were based on products currently sold in Swedish supermarkets.
Their analysis confirms that switching to a plant-based diet reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50%, regardless of whether the diet consists of whole foods or not.
Plant-based diets also require significantly less agricultural land compared to the current average diet.
Since they contain large amounts of fruits and vegetables that require a lot of water to grow, water usage decreased in most scenarios, except for two diets that included many unprocessed foods. These two diets required a similar amount of water compared to the current average diet.
The study also shows that plant-based diets meet most of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. Researchers found that all scenario diets improved dietary intake of iron, fiber, folate, magnesium, polyunsaturated fats, and saturated fats. Protein and zinc intake was lower in all alternative diets but still above the recommended levels. The vegan diet with plant-based alternatives also performed better than current diets in terms of vitamin D and calcium intake but contained too much salt.
“In Sweden, it is mandatory to fortify certain foods with micronutrients such as vitamin D and calcium. Therefore, processed Swedish plant-based alternatives generally have a similar nutritional content to the animal-based foods they are intended to replace. For example, oat drinks have a calcium level similar to milk,” explains Anne Charlotte.
In addition to high salt levels in processed plant-based alternative foods, the bioavailability of nutrients remains a concern. Even if nutrients are readily available, obtaining nutrients from plants can be more difficult than obtaining them from animal food sources.
Anne Charlotte says, “We are currently seeing a lot of work being done to develop a new generation of plant-based alternatives, and there are reasons to hope that these will be healthier and more sustainable than the existing ones.”
According to research findings, a shift toward more plant-based diets for Swedish consumers would be cost-competitive with the current average diet and even cheaper if consumers switched to whole foods.
The authors highlight the many environmental benefits and improvements in public health that go hand in hand with a shift toward more plant-based diets.
“We shouldn’t get too caught up in the debate over whether plant-based alternatives or whole foods are better for the environment. What matters is that we need to reduce the amount of animal-based foods we consume in Sweden today.”
