Making Change
Changing Your Own Diet As you ve now seen, what you eat has effects that ripple not just through every organ in your body, but also through the natural environment and farms and other parts of the food industry. Will you change your diet or continue eating as you have been? If you re like most of us, you probably could make some easy and tasty changes that will help protect your arteries, protect the planet, and protect farm animals. While some people think nutrition is impossibly complicated, today s basic dietary message is actually quite clear and simple. The experts (see table 1) recommend that you: Base your diet largely on vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, and healthy oils. Eat fish and only modest amounts if you choose to eat them of fat-free or low-fat meat and dairy products. 143
144 Six Arguments for a Greener Diet Table 1. Health experts dietary advice 1 Organization American Cancer Society American Diabetes Association American Heart Association American Institute for Cancer Research/ World Cancer Research Foundation 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans World Health Organization Nutrition advice Eat five or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits each day. Limit consumption of red meats, especially those high in fat and processed [bacon, ham, sausage]. Choose fish, poultry, or beans as an alternative to beef, pork, and lamb. Reduced intake of total fat, particularly saturated fat, may reduce risk for diabetes [as would] increased intake of whole grains and dietary fiber. Consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruits whole-grain, high-fiber foods fish lean meats and vegetable alternatives, fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1% fat) dairy products. Choose predominantly plant-based diets, rich in a variety of fruits and vegetables, pulses (legumes), and minimally processed starchy foods. A healthy eating plan is one that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts. Is low in saturated fats, trans fat, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars. [Eat] more fruit and vegetables, as well as nuts and whole grains. [Cut] the amount of fatty, sugary foods in the diet. [Move] from saturated animal-based fats to unsaturated vegetable-oil based fats. Cut way back on salt, refined sugars, white flour, and partially hydrogenated oils. Making the right dietary choice can be extended beyond health concerns by eating in an environmentally responsible way. Raising livestock requires far more resources land, energy, pesticides, fertilizer, and water and generates far more pollution than growing fruits, vegetables, and grains. Among animal products, producing grain-fed beef harms the environment much more than raising poultry and grass-fed beef and producing dairy foods. In addition, we should consider animal welfare. Out of sight is usually out of mind, and it is all too easy to forget about cramped chicken coops, filthy slaughterhouses, and the like when we sink our teeth into a juicy charbroiled steak or grilled chicken breast. Those considerations suggest the benefits of not only avoiding fatty meat, dairy foods, and poultry, but of eating less animal products and getting essential nutrients from other sources. Far from being a punishment, eating such a diet opens up a mul-
Changing Your Own Diet 145 titude of wonderful new taste sensations. Alternatively, you could make a special effort to buy meat, dairy products, and eggs from humanely raised animals, ideally from small, local farms. We can all take control of our diets, even in a culture that encourages people to eat hamburgers, hot dogs, and soda pop almost from birth. Two healthy diets that are easy to follow and delicious are the modified Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan (see figure 1) and the Mediterranean Food Pyramid (see figure 2). The DASH Eating Plan was developed by the National Institutes of Health for studies on blood pressure. 2 It is loaded with fruits and vegetables; recommends nuts, seeds, and low-fat dairy foods; and includes modest amounts of fish and low-fat meat and poultry. It also is low in sodium. The DASH diet includes no more than 4 to 5 servings of low-fat animal foods, and 16 to 19 servings of plant foods, per day. The Mediterranean Food Pyramid (figure 2) was developed by Oldways, a nonprofit organization that advocates healthy, traditional diets. It is based Figure 1. The DASH Food Pyramid 3
146 Six Arguments for a Greener Diet Figure 2. Healthy Mediterranean Diet Pyramid 2000 Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust, http://oldwayspt.org. on the diet once consumed widely in southern Europe, including mainland Greece, the island of Crete, and southern Italy. The diet includes modest amounts of dairy foods, fish, poultry, and eggs; wine in moderation; and plenty of fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. The Mediterranean diet allows red meat only rarely. Both the DASH and Mediterranean diets specify much less refined sugars than most Americans eat, and they pretty much exclude butter and stick margarine. Oldways Healthy Mediterranean Diet Pyramid also emphasizes daily physical activity, but that s a given with any diet. Walking, biking, jogging, tennis, swimming, weight-lifting, and other activities are essential to good health.
Changing Your Own Diet 147 For those who have ethical concerns about animal welfare or eating animal products, a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet is the way to go. Such a diet is based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dried beans, nuts, and, if not vegan, low-fat and non-fat dairy products and egg whites. Either a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet or a vegan diet can provide all the necessary nutrients while minimizing the risk of chronic disease. 4 For any doubters, the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada are reassuring: Appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. 5 Those groups produced a Vegetarian Food Pyramid that features a healthy lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (see figure 3 for our adaptation of that pyramid). 6 Figure 3. Vegetarian Food Pyramid 7 Fruits 2 or more servings a day 1 tsp oil, soft margarine, or mayonnaise Fats 2 servings 1 medium fruit, a day ½ cup cut-up or cooked fruit, ½ cup fruit juice, 1/4 cup dried fruit, ½ cup calcium-fortified fruit juice Legumes, milks, nuts, other protein foods 5 servings a day ½ cup cooked vegetables; 1 cup raw vegetables; ½ cup vegetable juice; 1 cup cooked or 2 cups raw bok choy, broccoli, collards, kale, Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, or okra; ½ cup calcium-fortified tomato juice 4 or more servings a day ½ cup cooked beans, peas, or lentils; ½ cup tofu or tempeh; 2 tbs nut or seed butter; ¼ cup nuts (including almonds); 1 oz meat analogue; 1 egg; 1/2 cup cow s milk, yogurt, or calcium-fortified soymilk; ¾ oz cheese; ½ cup tempeh or calcium-set tofu; ½ cup cooked soybeans; ¼ cup soynuts Vegetables 1 slice whole-grain bread, ½ cup cooked whole grain or cereal (oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, wheat berries, bulgur, buckwheat groats), 1 oz whole-grain ready-to-eat cereal (Wheaties, Cheerios, All-Bran, Shredded Wheat, wheat germ, and others), 1 oz calcium-fortified whole-grain breakfast cereal 6 or more servings a day, mostly whole grains Grains Notes: This pyramid is designed for both vegans and those who eat dairy products and eggs. Aim for eight servings a day of calcium-rich foods (in italics), and be sure to get sufficient vitamins B12 and D from foods or supplements. (A serving of milk or yogurt is ½ cup.)
148 Six Arguments for a Greener Diet The Vegetarian Food Pyramid Avoid Food Poisoning replaces meat and poultry with nuts (and nut butters), beans (including Whatever diet you choose, protect tofu), seeds, and eggs. It emphasizes yourself from germs that lurk in low-fat or non-fat milk, yogurt, or animal products and in fruits and cheese or vegetarian substitutes. Vegans can easily adapt that lacto-ovo vegetables. Wash your hands and all cooking implements after they come in contact with raw meat and diet to their needs. Because of their poultry. Wash fruits and vegetables more restricted diets, vegetarians before eating them. And keep hot (especially vegans) should eat fortified foods hot and cold foods cold. foods or take dietary supplements to ensure that they consume adequate amounts of vitamin B12, calcium, vitamin D, iron, and zinc. 8 Anyone who does continue to eat animal foods should consider buying ones that caused the least misery for the animals. That means eggs from uncaged hens, beef from cattle that never saw a feedlot, pork and poultry from pigs and birds that could roam about, and milk from cows that grazed on pastures, weather permitting. Look for label claims like humanely raised and, if you re at a farmer s market, ask the farmers about their practices. Even animals raised organically are not necessarily raised in the most humane ways. Several resources are provided in appendix B, p. 179. When changing your diet for health, environmental, or ethical reasons, you need to remember that avoiding fatty meat and dairy products is only half the solution. The other half is choosing healthy plant-based foods. Most of the bread, pasta, rice, and other grain foods that Americans consume are made from refined grains; soft drinks and candy are made with emptycalorie sugar and high-fructose corn syrup; and too much once-healthy vegetable oil has been partially hydrogenated and contains artery-clogging trans fat (that is especially the case for fried foods at restaurants). Making several little changes quickly adds up to an overall healthier diet. Consider someone who replaced one 3½-ounce serving of beef, one egg, and a 1-ounce serving of cheese each day with a mix of vegetables, fruit, beans, and whole grains. That modest change would increase the person s daily consumption of dietary fiber by 16 grams (more than half the recommended intake) and reduce the intake of fat by 22 grams (one-third of the recommended daily limit) and saturated fat by 12 grams (more than half the recommended limit). 9 In environmental terms, over a year, those changes would spare the need for 1.8 acres of cropland, 40 pounds of fertilizer, and 3 ounces of pesticides. It also would mean dumping 11,400 fewer pounds of animal manure into the environment. Multiply those improve-
Changing Your Own Diet 149 ments by millions of people and it s easy to see the dramatic improvements in health and reductions in pollution that dietary changes could bring about. (You can see the effects of the dietary changes that you might make by using our computerized calculator at the Center for Science in the Public Interest s web site at www.eatinggreen.org.) We ve created a Diet Scorecard (next page) to help you gauge the overall impact of your diet on your health, the environment, and the welfare of farm animals (our computerized version is a lot easier to use). The health score reflects the benefits of plant foods, seafood, and low-fat animal products and the harm from the saturated fat, cholesterol, and other substances in animal foods. The environmental dimension considers such factors as air and water pollution from feedlots and industrial-style hog and poultry production, methane emitted by cattle, and problems related to fertilizers and pesticides. The animal welfare score reflects such practices as crowding on factory farms and feedlots and inhumane treatment at slaughterhouses.
cx 150 doc 172 7/10/06 3:50 PM Page 1 150 Six Arguments for a Greener Diet Food (average diet) Health score Environmental Animal welfare score score