“Healthy people on a healthy planet with fair food systems.” That is the objective that was set, formed by a multidisciplinary team of 50 scientists and linked to the prestigious publication. As a result of this initiative, the so -called planetary health diet (DSP). It is a proposal whose “adoption would reduce environmental impacts and nutritional deficiencies of most current diets,” their authors argue. This commission has updated its proposal six years later and, after reviewing scientific evidence, they reach an overwhelming conclusion: if adopted in the planet, 15 million premature deaths could be avoided per year (27% of the deaths of this type) since the impact of many ailments linked to food would be reduced.
The authors of the study warn that in all regions of the planet a common deficiency has been located: “Diets systematically lack sufficient fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains.” And in many places there is an excess of meat, dairy, animal fats, sugar and excessively processed foods.
In fact, only 1% of the world’s population is in a safe and fair space, from the social, environmental and health point of view. But, as Walter C. Willett, co-president of the Eat-Lancet Commission and professor at the DSP’s proposal is “very consistent with the traditional Mediterranean diet”, and with other traditional ones of many parts of the globe.
Basically, what they propose is a variety of comprehensive or minimally processed foods that are mostly of plant origin. The fats, explain in a study that they launch this Friday, are mainly unsaturated, without partially hydrogenated oils. In addition, they propose small amounts of added sugars and salt. “The diet allows flexibility and is compatible with many foods, cultures, dietary patterns, traditions and individual preferences,” they say. And it is characterized by a low protein intake of animal origin, against what happens in most developed countries.
Its proposal raises a medium daily consumption of 2,373 kilocalories and is flexitarian, that is, it focuses mostly on vegetables (fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds), but admits animal protein (such as eggs, meat, fish and dairy). The authors have also developed vegetarian, vegan and pescetarian alternatives.
“We are not talking about a deprivation diet. It’s something that can be delicious,” says Willett. Aware that the proposal contains many numbers and can be complicated to understand at a glance, this epidemiology and nutrition expert offers a simplification that summarizes in the formula “one plus one.” That is, a daily portion of dairy – which can be a glass of milk, a yogurt or a portion of cheese – plus another daily portion of animal protein, reducing red meat intake to only once a week. To this are joined by the rest of food of plant origin proposed by experts. “It’s something simple to follow,” says Willett.
According to the Eat-Lancet commission report, the adoption of the DSP, “together with ambitious climate mitigation policies, would result in substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the use of the land.”
This diet, explain the authors, is mainly designed to reach optimal levels of global human health, with the reduction of the incidence of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular ailments, type 2 diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative conditions. But, in the study, they also emphasize that “there is solid evidence that the adoption of diets according to the DSP would reduce the environmental impact of most current diets.” One of the clearest benefits of change in global food patterns would be the reduction of emissions.
“Food systems generate approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and, without changes, could alone push the heating on the planet beyond the limit of 1.5 degrees, even if fossil fuels gradually eliminated,” says Johan Rockström, co-chair of the Eat-Lancet commission and director of (PIK).
But the problem goes beyond global warming. In the report of this 2025 the authors have first analyzed the influence that food systems have in overcoming the so -called planetary limits, which are nine fundamental processes of the Earth that scientists led by the Potsdam Institute argue that they must remain stable so that the Earth remains habitable. Seven have already been overcome. In five of them, food plays a determining role in overcoming security thresholds. They are climate change, loss of biodiversity, change in land use, biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus) and fresh water use.
“Foods are the main cause of transgressions of planetary limits,” warn the authors. “The food system is putting the stability of the planet,” summarizes Rockström. That is why a “transformation” is required. According to this expert, that change does not only happen to adopt the planetary health diet, “it is also necessary to reduce food waste and make the transition to sustainable water use practices” and nutrients for agriculture.
For this there are formulas that have been proven effective, as another authors, Line Gordon, director of the. They are measures, for example, of fiscal policy to eliminate public aid to harmful agricultural and livestock practices or the strict regulation of food labeling that are presented as healthy, especially those aimed at minors.
Although the authors emphasize that only 1% of the world’s population is within the safe and fair zone, the degree of responsibility for the condition of the environment of what is eaten is much less homogeneous. Because, the authors emphasize that “the richest 30% diets of the world’s population contribute to more than 70% of environmental pressures” linked to food systems. “These statistics highlight the great inequalities in the distribution of the benefits and loads of current food systems,” they conclude.
Attacks and misinformation
An important part of the press conference that the coordinators and main authors of this commission offered to the media prior to the publication this Friday of the report were used to highlight the strength of the study they have prepared and in which fifty scientists have participated. “There is an overwhelming scientific evidence,” says Rockström. However, he and his team are prepared for the “attacks” that suspect they will receive.
Because this happened in 2019, when they first launched the planetary health diet, as Willett recalls. “There was an attack orchestrated the last time and also this time there will be,” predicts. “The last time he saw that they came mainly from the beef industry and the dairy industry,” says Willett. But this expert insists that his conclusions are based on “dozens and dozens of studies” and “rigorous reviews.”
