Alignment of Healthy Dietary Patterns and Environmental Sustainability: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
To support food security for current and future generations, there is a need to understand the relation between sustainable diets and the health of a population. In recent years, a number of studies have investigated and compared different dietary patterns to better understand which foods and eating patterns have less of an environmental impact while meeting nutritional needs and promoting health. This systematic review (SR) of population-level dietary patterns and food sustainability extends and updates the SR that was conducted by the 2015 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, an expert committee commissioned by the federal government to inform dietary guidance as it relates to the committee's original conclusions. In the original SR, 15 studies met the criteria for inclusion; since then, an additional 8 studies have been identified and included. The relations between dietary intake patterns and both health and environmental outcomes were compared across studies, with methodologies that included modeling, life cycle assessment, and land use analysis. Across studies, consistent evidence indicated that a dietary pattern higher in plant-based foods (e.g., vegetables, fruits, legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains) and lower in animal-based foods (especially red meat), as well as lower in total energy, is both healthier and associated with a lesser impact on the environment. This dietary pattern differs from current average consumption patterns in the United States. Our updated SR confirms and strengthens the conclusions of the original US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee SR, which found that adherence to several well-characterized dietary patterns, including vegetarian (with variations) diets, dietary guidelines-related diets, Mediterranean-style diets, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, and other sustainable diet scenarios, promotes greater health and has a less negative impact on the environment than current average dietary intakes.
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Higher quality diets have been associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, water use, and cropland use.
“For example, higher quality diets have been associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, water use, and cropland use.[8–11]”
From Relationship between food waste, diet quality, and environmental sustainability (2018) · cites this paper as [10]
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- Authors
- Nelson, M. E., Hamm, M. W., Hu, F. B., Abrams, S. A., & Griffin, T. S.
- Affiliations
- Tufts University (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nelson, Miriam E
- Venue
- Advances in Nutrition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-11
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1005-1025
- ISSN
- 2156-5376 (ISSN-L)
- 2161-8313
- PMC
- PMC5105037
- OpenAlex
- W2553047085
- Cited by
- 405
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 54 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 12
- FWCI
- 2.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Advances in Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- 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, dietary habits, environmental impact of food, plant-based diet, vegetarian diet, red meat consumption, Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, food security, life cycle assessment, land use, dietary guidelines, health outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Diet, Environment, Feeding Behavior, Food Supply, Humans, Meat, Plants, United States, Nutrition Policy
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