What if there was a simple way to combat climate change and improve your health at the same time?
According to recent research, the answer may lie in your plate. By adopting a plant-based diet, you can not only reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, but also increase your intake of beneficial compounds that can protect you from chronic diseases.
In this article, we will explore how eating more plants can have a double impact on the environment and human health.
Plant-based Diets Reduce Greenhouse Gases
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
A new study published in Nature Communications reveals that switching to a plant-based diet can have a double benefit for the climate.
Not only would it reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 61%, but it would also allow more land to be restored to its natural state, which could remove up to 98.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the end of the century.
The researchers from Leiden University and other institutions calculated that if high-income countries adopted the EAT-Lancet 'planetary diet', which is high in plant-based foods and good for human health, they would need much less land to grow food.
This would free up vast areas of cropland and pasture that could be rewilded, meaning that wild plants and trees could grow back and store carbon in their biomass and soil.
The study estimates that the potential carbon sequestration from rewilding could equal about 14 years' worth of agricultural emissions, which is a significant contribution to keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The authors also point out that rewilding would have many other benefits for biodiversity, water quality, air pollution, and human well-being.
Vegetarian Diet Helps Lower Risks For Chronic Diseases
The benefits of plant-based diets are not only environmental, but also health-related. Numerous studies have shown that eating more fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes, and less animal products, can lower the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and some cancer.
One of the reasons for this is that plant-based foods are rich in flavonoids, which are phenolic compounds that have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties.
Flavonoids are also essential for plant development and defense, and a recent study published in Chemical Research in Toxicology has shed light on how human enzymes modify flavonoids in a similar way to how plants do.
The researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University and other institutions analyzed the metabolism of three major flavonoids-naringenin, apigenin, and genistein-and found that human enzymes oxidize them in the same manner as plant enzymes.
This suggests that there is a close relationship between the biosynthesis and biotransformation of flavonoids in plants and humans, and that these compounds may have evolved to benefit both.
The authors of the study hope that their findings will help elucidate the correlation between the metabolism of flavonoids in the body and their potential health benefits.
They also recommend consuming more foods that contain flavonoids, such as broccoli, celery, and tofu.
