What is the Healthy Planet Diet?

A healthy planet diet is a vegan diet that promotes the health of plants, animals, and the environment. The diet is designed to help mitigate climate change and reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses by reducing the consumption of unhealthy animal products.

What are the Benefits of a Healthy Diet?

The benefits of a healthy planet diet are numerous. The benefits include:

1. Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

In the United States, per capita, greenhouse gas emissions are more than two-thirds food-related. Climate change impacts will cause severe environmental problems; as of 2010, 23% of greenhouse gas emissions were attributed to agriculture. Globally, farm animals account for nearly half of all gasses emitted into the atmosphere; therefore, reducing or eliminating animal products from our diets can significantly impact our environment.

2. Health Maintenance

An environmental diet will help to alleviate the numerous health challenges we face today. An environmental diet will balance the health of individual body systems, including the cardiovascular and nervous systems, while simultaneously improving overall wellness.

3. Reduced Risk of Diabetes and Obesity

Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting 25 million people. Our diets are a primary cause of this disease, with poor food choices contributing to over half of the cases of diabetes in America. By adopting an environmentally friendly diet, Americans can significantly reduce their risk of diabetes and obesity.

Types of Healthy Planet Diets

There are various types of environmentally friendly diets. These diets are healthy for the body and the planet, as they promote the conservation of animals and plants.

1.The Vegan Diet

A vegan diet is a diet that excludes all forms of animal products, including eggs and milk. Some vegans will not even wear products made from animals, such as leather. A vegan diet is one of the world's most environmentally friendly diets and can help reduce animal product consumption significantly. Still, some people do not adopt a vegan diet for ethical reasons.

2. Diet High in Protein

A protein diet is a diet that modifies a vegan diet to include more protein. A protein diet is becoming more popular in the United States, with an estimated 500 million protein-based products sold yearly. For example, a protein nut butter can be substituted for butter. With a protein diet, the protein found in plants is replaced with protein from more sustainable sources, such as soybeans, hemp, and quinoa.

3. Eating Plan for Vegetarians

A vegetarian diet is a diet that excludes the consumption of red meat but does not exclude the consumption of fish. Most vegetarians today are pescatarians—they do not eat red meat but fish and some types of seafood. Even with a meatless diet, there are still many environmentally healthy ways to live. A vegetarian diet can be dramatically less harmful to the environment than a meat-based diet.

4. The Seafood Diet

A seafood diet is a diet that excludes the consumption of meat, fish, and poultry but does not exclude the consumption of shellfish. Seafood is an important part of a healthy environment. It provides many essential nutrients like protein and iron and is low in fat, cholesterol, and sodium.

The health of our environment depends on our eating habits. The first step to a healthier planet is making the right food choices. Selecting sustainable products and reducing our consumption of animal products will help to combat climate change and improve the health of our planet.