Scientists reveal an "ideal" diet for the health of humans and the planet

Scientists have discovered that they consider an ideal diet for the health of the planet and its inhabitants.

The system includes doubling the consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes and halving the consumption of meat and sugar.

The researchers said that if the world followed a global "food" system, it could save more than 11 million people a year from premature death, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and further protect the earth, water and biodiversity.

"The food we eat and the way we produce it determines the health of people and the planet, and we take it seriously," said Tim Lang, a professor at the University of London, who co-sponsored the research.

Feeding about 10 billion people by 2015 on a healthy and sustainable diet would be impossible without changing dietary habits, improving food production and reducing waste, he said.

"We need a major reform and an unprecedented change in the global diet," Lang said.

Many life-threatening chronic conditions are linked to poor nutrition, including obesity, diabetes, malnutrition and many types of cancer.

The researchers said that unhealthy diets now cause more deaths and morbidity in the world than many factors combined, unsafe bad and the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco.

The proposed planetary diet is the result of a three-year project commissioned by the Lancet health journal and attended by 37 specialists from 16 countries.

According to the system, the average global consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar should be reduced by 50%, while the consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes should be doubled.

For some geographic areas, this system involves more dramatic changes. North Americans, for example, consume more than 6.5 times the amount of red meat recommended, while South Asians consume only half the amount suggested by the global diet.

To achieve the proposed system objectives for starchy foods such as potato and cbadava, major changes will have to be made in sub-Saharan Africa, where the average population is 7.5 times higher than that proposed.

The researchers, who introduced the scheme, acknowledged that the hope that everyone would adopt it was too ambitious, particularly because of the great disparity in food distribution around the world.

"More than 800 million people do not eat enough, while many consume an unhealthy diet that contributes to premature death and disease," said Walter Willett of Harvard University in the United States.

"If we can not achieve that goal, we'd better get as close to him as possible.