Sustainable Diets for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Management
Abstract
Purpose of review Healthy dietary patterns are recommended for prevention of cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. In this review, we discuss dietary patterns that are not only optimal for CVD prevention and management but also sustainable in maximizing health, environmental, and economic benefits. Recent findings The growing literature on sustainable diets in the context of environmental sustainability includes subtopics of climate change, land use, biodiversity loss, freshwater use, and reactive nitrogen emissions. Similarly, economic sustainability, beyond the retail cost of food, extends to healthcare costs and the economic costs of environmental destruction related to current agricultural practices and food choices. Dietary patterns that are high in plant foods and low in animal foods could maximize health, environmental, and economic benefits; however, questions remain about how to best promote these patterns to achieve wider adoption in an environmentally and economically sustainable way.
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At a population level, wider adoption of a culturally appropriate dietary pattern that is higher in plant foods and lower in animal foods can promote health and environmental benefits.
“At a population level, wider adoption of a culturally appropriate dietary pattern that is higher in plant foods and lower in animal foods can promote health and environmental benefits.3,4,10,52”
From Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous vs Vegan Diets in Identical Twins: A Randomized Clinical Trial (2023) · cites this paper as [4]
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- Authors
- Mendoza-Vasconez, A. S., Landry, M. J., Crimarco, A., Bladier, C., & Gardner, C. D.
- Affiliations
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Gardner, Christopher D.
- Venue
- Current Atherosclerosis Reports
- Published
- 2021-05-10
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 31-31
- ISSN
- 1523-3804 (ISSN-L)
- 1534-6242
- OpenAlex
- W3160827218
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6
- FWCI
- 0.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Atherosclerosis Reports (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32 HL007034)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Nutrition, Health, and Society Studies
- Keywords
- sustainable diets, cardiovascular disease prevention, dietary habits, plant-based diet, environmental sustainability, climate change, land use, biodiversity loss, freshwater use, reactive nitrogen emissions, economic sustainability, health care costs
- MeSH terms
- Diet, Healthy, Cardiovascular Diseases, Diet, Food Supply, Humans
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