Researchers analyzed what would happen if animal-based foods were replaced with whole plant-based foods. Anne Charlotte explains:
"Whole foods (fruits, vegetables, etc.) are somewhat better in terms of environmental impact, but the real reduction in your ecological footprint comes from reducing animal food consumption."
In the study, the research team, including Center researchers Rachel Mazac, Amanda Wood, and Line Gordon, found that a diet consisting of various plant-based vegan alternative foods meets nutritional recommendations, at least in the case of Sweden.
The researchers designed six different dietary scenarios and compared their nutrient intake, environmental impacts, and retail prices with 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 of which were based on products currently sold in Swedish supermarkets.
The analysis confirms that transitioning to a plant-based diet reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50%, regardless of whether the diet consists entirely of whole foods.
A plant-based diet also requires significantly less agricultural land compared to the current average diet.
Since it contains a large amount of fruits and vegetables that require a lot of water to grow, a reduction in water use was observed in most scenarios, except for the two diets that included a lot of 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 Scandinavian Nutrition Recommendations. Researchers found that all scenario diets improved the intake of iron, fiber, folate, magnesium, polyunsaturated fats, and saturated fats. In all alternative diets, the intake of protein and zinc was lower, but still above the recommended levels. The vegan diet with plant-based alternatives performed better than current diets in terms of vitamin D and calcium intake, but it contained too much salt.
"Some foods in Sweden are required to be fortified with micronutrients such as vitamin D and calcium. Therefore, processed Swedish plant-based alternatives typically have a similar nutritional profile to the animal-based foods they are meant to replace. For example, oat drink has a calcium level similar to that of milk," explains Anne Charlotte.
In addition to the high salt levels in processed plant-based alternative foods, the bioavailability of nutrients remains a concern. Even though nutrients may be readily available, obtaining them from plants can be more difficult than obtaining them from animal food sources.
Anne Charlotte says, "We are currently seeing a lot of research focused on developing the next generation of plant-based alternatives, and there are reasons to hope that these will be healthier and more sustainable than the ones available today."
According to the research findings, for consumers in Sweden, transitioning to a more plant-based diet will be cost-competitive with the current average diet and may even be cheaper if consumers switch to whole foods.
The authors emphasize the many environmental benefits and improvements in public health that go hand in hand with transitioning to a more plant-based diet.
"We should not get too caught up in debates about whether plant-based alternatives or whole foods are better for the environment. The important thing is that we need to reduce the amount of animal-based foods we consume today in Sweden."
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