A study, largely carried out by the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, has revealed that sticking to the UK's 2016 Eatwell Guide can reduced premature death by7% whilst reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 30% (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/26/sticking-to-uk-diet-advice-cuts-premature-death-and-co2-study). The Guide recommends eating the much derided (but required) 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, basing main meals around high carbohydrate staples (such as potatoes or rice) and drinking of 6-8 glasses of (non-alcoholic?) fluids each day. It also suggests having some dairy but cutting down on fatty foods, limiting red meat consumption and eating more sustainable, oily fish. The trouble is that, although many people follow some aspects of the advice, less than 0.1% follow all. Even more alarmingly, the authors note that the UK diet would have to change more dramatically to fully achieve the needed reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (in fairness, they also point out that the Eatwell Guides were not designed with this aim in mind).
No comments:
Post a Comment