A protein profile “with low contribution from meat has great potential for human health and environment preservation, and “shifting a large part of the population toward this profile could be an easy first step toward building a more sustainable diet.”
This is according to a new study being published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment, and published ahead of print by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It was conducted by researchers at the Université Paris-Saclay and Sorbonne Paris Nord University, both in France.
“Patterns of protein intake are strong characteristics of diets, and protein sources have been linked to the environmental and nutrition/health impacts of diets”, states the study’s abstract. “However, few studies have worked on protein profiles, and most of them have focused on specific diets like vegetarian or vegan diets.”
Furthermore, “the description of the environmental impact of diets has often been limited to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) and land use.”
This paper “analyzes the alignment of environmental pressures and nutritional impacts in a diversity of representative protein profiles of a western population.”
Using data from a representative survey in France (1125), researchers “identified protein profiles using hierarchical ascendant classification on protein intake (g) from main protein sources (refined grains, whole grains, dairy, eggs, ruminant meat, poultry, pork, processed meat, fish, fruits & vegetables, pulses).”
THey assessed their diet quality using 6 dietary scores, including assessment of long-term risk for health, and associated 14 environmental pressure indicators using the Agribalyse database completed by the SHARP database for GHGe.
“Five protein profiles were identified according to the high contributions of ruminant meat, pork, poultry, fish, or, conversely, as low contribution from meat”, states the study. “The profile including the lowest protein from meat had the lowest impact on almost all environmental indicators and had the lowest long-term risk.”
Conversely, “the profile with high protein from ruminant-based foods had the highest pressures on most environmental indicators, including GHGe.”
Researchers conclude: “We found that the protein profile with low contribution from meat has great potential for human health and environment preservation. Shifting a large part of the population toward this profile could be an easy first step toward building a more sustainable diet.”
The study’s full text and abstract can be found by clicking here. We have also posted the full abstract below.
Abstract
Patterns of protein intake are strong characteristics of diets, and protein sources have been linked to the environmental and nutrition/health impacts of diets. However, few studies have worked on protein profiles, and most of them have focused on specific diets like vegetarian or vegan diets. Furthermore, the description of the environmental impact of diets has often been limited to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) and land use. This paper analyzes the alignment of environmental pressures and nutritional impacts in a diversity of representative protein profiles of a western population. Using data from a representative survey in France (INCA3, n = 1125), we identified protein profiles using hierarchical ascendant classification on protein intake (g) from main protein sources (refined grains, whole grains, dairy, eggs, ruminant meat, poultry, pork, processed meat, fish, fruits & vegetables, pulses). We assessed their diet quality using 6 dietary scores, including assessment of long-term risk for health, and associated 14 environmental pressure indicators using the Agribalyse database completed by the SHARP database for GHGe. Five protein profiles were identified according to the high contributions of ruminant meat, pork, poultry, fish, or, conversely, as low contribution from meat. The profile including the lowest protein from meat had the lowest impact on almost all environmental indicators and had the lowest long-term risk. Conversely, the profile with high protein from ruminant-based foods had the highest pressures on most environmental indicators, including GHGe. We found that the protein profile with low contribution from meat has great potential for human health and environment preservation. Shifting a large part of the population toward this profile could be an easy first step toward building a more sustainable diet.
