We eat to stay healthy and fit. But our surroundings also have a great impact on our health. And our faulty eating habits are adversely affecting the environment.
The greenhouse gas emissions and land use is leading to climate change and global warming.
Therefore, environmentalists and dietitians are urging people to make healthy food choices for themselves as well as the environment. The diet that helps these aims is the climatarian diet.
Food production and environment
Our health depends on our diet, our lifestyle as well as the health of our surroundings. The environment plays a significant role in the health of the people.
But human activities itself are causing a rapid deterioration in the environment. Food production itself leads to 24% of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
These gases released into the environment are affecting the climate of the globe. Global warming is setting in and this has led to droughts and floods in different parts of the world. Climate changes are detrimental for the health of humans and animals.
Climatarian diet (Source: Klimato)The type of food we consume also has a strong effect on the environment. Some foods are carbon neutral and hence healthy for people as well as the environment.
Whereas there are some foods that have high carbon footprint and lead to a fast decline in the environmental conditions. Dietitians are insisting on having healthy food choices that also save the planet.
What is the climatarian diet?
The climatarian diet focuses more on choosing and consuming foods that are carbon dioxide neutral and therefore reduce the adverse environmental impact of certain foods.
Animal foods lead to high greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing these foods and increasing intake of plant based foods is the climatarian diet.
This diet advocates veganism, vegetarianism, and pescatarianism because all these are more sustainable ways of eating.
Climatarian diet (Source: Real simple)In this diet, there is less of animal based foods and more of seafoods and plant origin foods.
Climates Network CIC advises people to opt for chicken instead of cow meat or beef since the latter emits more of the methane gas and requires more land for grazing and production.
If the person cannot give up animal foods, the diet advocates to choose pork, poultry, sustainable fish such as blue crab, milk products, and eggs.
Beef, goat meat, lamb, and unsustainable fish such as swordfish are bad for the environment. As per Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 36% of greenhouse gas emissions comes from beef. And lamb creates five times more of these gases compared to the same amount of chicken.
Other aspects of this diet
This diet also urges people to go for locally grown and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Air-flown foods should be lessened.
Additionally, the diet asks people to lessen the consumption of foods grown in heated greenhouses and highly packaged foods.
Disposable use should be limited and food waste brought down. Besides lessening the amount of food waste, whatever gets wasted should be composted.
Climatarian diet (Source: Food and nutrition magazine)Read more: Don Saladino Diet Plan, Workout Routine, Exercise, Body Measurements
Thus, climatarian diet is not a very strict diet plan. It does not ask people to completely forego certain foods from their daily intake.
But it is more of a humanitarian appeal to the people of the world to try as much as possible to lower the intake of foods with high environmental impact.