Best Of

Would like to see a Mediterranean Diet Profile available. :-)

I just want to preface this by saying this is my personal opinion (as I try to answer questions as objectively as possible).

I think where we might agree to disagree is on our view of supplements; I can acknowledge that a vegan diet does not meet 100% of all RDAs, while simultaneously recognizing that those RDAs may not be relevant to vegans (which means approaching them as conservatively as possible). From a population standpoint, we should be promoting a diet that does the most good for the greatest number of people and has the lowest impact on global warming. With regard to the latter, it's difficult to dispute that any other diet, other than plant-based, is the solution.

With regard to nutrition, I tend to look at foods and diets as net positives vs. net negatives. For example, a plant-based diet can lower the risk of many chronic diseases, and provided it's unprocessed, tends to be protective against obesity and cancer. Yet, it needs to be supplemented. In this view, I feel like the benefits outweigh the negatives.

With more animal-centric diets, I tend to consider if those animal products displace other, more nutritious foods and if there are any negative (measurable) effects of such a diet (which includes a consideration of the environmental impact of our food choices - all dietitians should be considering this IMO). While I do think small amounts of animal products have negligible impacts, we tend to struggle with moderation as a society. So my opinion on omnivore diets and the overall healthfullness and environmental benefit comes down to the specific type of diet that is followed.

All this to say, I think there are many ways that humans can eat and be healthy but based on research (most recently the EAT Lancet report), I do think a more plant-centric diet has the greatest positive impact on both human and environmental health.

Kind regards,