Introduction
Dr. Lana Vanderlee’s research aims to design and evaluate population-level nutrition policies and interventions that address diet-related non-communicable diseases and environmental sustainability, to help inform Canadian and international policy decisions. She conducts applied research with global networks of investigators to evaluate the status and impact of government and food industry policies relating to food environments, like dietary guidelines, restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children, food labelling, efforts to reformulate the food supply, and sugary drink taxes.
DIET AND HEALTH ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED – whether it’s not enough food, too much food, not the right types of foods, or unsafe food, diet is the biggest contributor to disease and death in the world. Experts from across the globe in the areas of research, policy and practice have come together in these pages to help explain some of the common and perplexing questions about the relationship between diet and health. This section explores a range of topics, discussing trends about consuming whole foods compared to ultra-processed foods, what types of vegetables you should aim to eat, whether organic foods really are healthier for you, and more, all explained by a mix of world leaders sharing their interpretation of the most current science.
Marie Spiker, PhD, MSPH, RDN is the Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems Fellow at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. In this role, she works to build the capacity of nutrition and dietetics professionals to contribute to sustainable food and water systems through education, research, practice, and policy.
Marie has multidisciplinary training in nutrition and dietetics, global health, systems science, and sustainable food systems. She trained as a CLF-Lerner Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, worked as a Senior Analyst on the Systems Science Core at the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins, worked as a Nutrition Consultant to Baltimore City’s Food Policy Director, and is a recipient of the Abell Award in Urban Policy.
Marie received her PhD and MSPH in human nutrition from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed dietetics training through the graduate coordinated program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also holds a BS in public health and a BA in medical anthropology from the University of Washington.
Marie Spiker
Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems Fellow
ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS FOUNDATION
Food processing is a spectrum, not a binary state. At the “minimally processed” end of the spectrum, fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, meats, and dairy products might be sliced, filtered, pasteurized, fermented, frozen, or vacuum-packed so they are more appealing, convenient, safe to eat, or can be stored for longer. Also at this end of the spectrum are grains, seeds, and nuts that have been ground, milled, or pressed to make flour, pasta, and oils. In the middle of the spectrum are processed foods with added sugar, salt, or fat — think bread, some cheeses, and canned vegetables, beans, or fish. At the “ultra processed” end of the spectrum, foods may include artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and other additives (like emulsifiers or bulking agents) for taste, texture, and shelf stability; think of sugary beverages, packaged snack foods like chips and cookies, sweetened breakfast cereals, and many frozen meals. So, “processing” itself is not inherently bad — some processes like canning and freezing can help to preserve the nutritional quality of fresh foods — but ultra processed foods tend to be lower in fiber and micronutrients and higher in sugar and salt.
HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH – Processed Foods and Health
Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Moubarac, J.-C., Levy, R. B., Louzada, M. L. C., & Jaime, P. C. (2018). The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing. Public Health Nutrition, 21(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017000234
Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Lawrence, M., Louzada, M. L. C., & Machado, P. P. (2019). Ultra-processed foods, diet quality, and health using the NOVA classification system. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J.-C., Louzada, M. L., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003762
Christopher Gardner is a nutrition scientist and the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine. For 26 years at Stanford he has studied what to consume and to avoid for optimal health, and how best to motivate individuals to achieve healthy dietary behaviors. He has served on many committees for organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, and has conducted and published dozens of human nutrition intervention trials. Current research interests including collaborating with chefs and dining operators as research partners in an effort to identify strategies to optimize the intersection of taste, health and environmental sustainability. Christopher teaches several food and nutrition classes, including an on-line course recently launched through the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning.
Christopher Gardner
Rehnborg Farquhar Professor
STANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
An important risk factor for type 2 diabetes is excess body fat, and so one of the ways to prevent diabetes is to develop eating habits that allow you to maintain a healthy weight, without excess body fat. However, there are people who have a healthy body weight, and still develop type 2 diabetes, so a healthy weight alone is not enough to prevent diabetes. This disease involves an inability to properly control blood levels of glucose. It is quite possible to have a healthy body weight, but consume the types and amounts of foods that lead to high blood glucose levels. The types of foods that do this are sugary, or high in refined carbohydrates such as white bread – the carbohydrates from those foods are rapidly digested and absorbed, making it hard for the body to keep up. In contrast, the carbohydrates that are found in whole plant foods such as beans, vegetables, whole intact grains and fruits, come with fiber that helps slow the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. A healthy Mediterranean type diet is a good choice for preventing diabetes, because it is a combination of healthy high carbohydrate plant foods that are high in fiber, as well as healthy fats from olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocadoes and fatty fish which can help keep down the total proportion of carbohydrates – foods with healthy carbs and healthy fats, for a healthy balance.
Carlos Monteiro is a Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil where he chairs the Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition. His main academic achievements include extensively quoted studies on the nutrition transition and the development of the most used food classification based on food-processing (NOVA) which is the basis for the internationally acclaimed Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. He has served on numerous national and international nutrition expert panels and committees and, since 2010, he is one of the members of the WHO Nutrition Expert Advisory Group on Diet and Health. In 2010, he received the PAHO Abraham Horwitz Award for Excellence in Leadership in Inter-American Health, and, in 2018 and 2019, he was listed by Clarivate’s Analytics/Web of Science among the top 1% of scientists in Social Sciences whose publications reached higher impact (2018 and 2019 Highly Cited Researchers).
Carlos Monteiro
Professor of Public Health Nutrition
UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
A specialist in international food and nutrition policy, Geoffrey Cannon works with the Centre for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (NUPENS), University of São Paulo, Brazil, directed by Carlos Monteiro. He was a member of the team responsible for the technical content of the second Brazilian official national nutrition guidelines, published in 2014. He was editor, founder and designer of the then monthly on-line journal World Nutrition from its launch in 2010 to 2016. The Giessen Declaration of the New Nutrition Science, which identifies nutrition as a social, economic and environmental as well as a biological and behavioural science, the result of a 2005 three-day workshop with 21 participants at Giessen he co-convened with Claus Leitzmann, published in a whole special issue of Public Health Nutrition of which he was chief editor, is now a foundation of UN and other leading reports. He has over 650 papers, commentaries and other work registered on ResearchGate, with a score of 41.17, and over 85 registrations on PubMed. From 2000-2002, he worked at the Brazilian federal Department of Health in Brasília. He drafted the first national official 2006 Brazilian nutrition guidelines. He was a member of the Brazilian government delegation to the WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva in January 2001. Living in Britain until 2000, he was a member of the UK government delegation engaged with the 1992 WHO-FAO report Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, which met in Copenhagen, Geneva and finally Rome. Previously, he was head of science at the World Cancer Research Fund International. As such he was director for WCRF and the American Institute for Cancer Research, of the first AICR/WCRF report Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, published in 1997. He was chief editor of the second AICR/WCRF report published in 2007, and of a separate report on policy implications published in 2009. All three reports have summaries in various languages. His books include The Fate of Nations: Food and Nutrition Policy in the New World, Superbug, The Politics of Food, Fat to Fit, and Dieting Makes You Fat. In the 1980s in the UK he was an assistant editor of The Sunday Times, chair of the National Food Alliance (now Sustain), and secretary of the Caroline Walker Trust, the McCarrison Society, the Guild of Food Writers, and the London Road Runners Club. Born in 1940, he was educated in the UK at Christ’s Hospital and Balliol College, Oxford. He is a British citizen, resident and working in Brazil. He is married with Raquel Bittar de Oliveira and has a son Gabriel with her, and by a previous marriage two adult sons (one has died) and an adult daughter.
Geoffrey Cannon
Specialist in international food and nutrition policy
UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
Carlos Monteiro: Instant noodles are not a form of pasta. Instant noodles, also known as ramen, invented in Japan in the 1950s, and also pot or cup noodles, invented in the 1970s, are ready-to-consume, multi-ingredient, hyper-palatable industrial products made from wheat flour with water added, prepared usually by flash frying usually in palm oil or other vegetable oil or else by air drying, then pressed. They contain many additives, notably flavors that may be packaged separately, designed to give to the product the taste of chicken, shrimp, beef, chili, or other real foods. Bits of vegetables are sometimes added to pot or cup noodles to give a ‘healthy’ impression. Vitamins and minerals may be added with the same purpose. They are usually eaten alone, mostly as snacks. As such, instant noodles are classified by the NOVA food system in its fourth group of ultra-processed foods. There is mounting evidence in the scientific literature that, through different mechanisms, increased ultra-processed food consumption increases the risk of several chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and all-cause premature mortality.
Geoffrey Cannon: Spaghetti and pastas of all forms, probably originated in Italy around the 13th century CE, are usually made from durum wheat (semolina), with water added and sometimes egg, then dried and cut or extruded into many shapes. They may be made in factories, restaurants or at home. Noodles (not instant noodles), invented in China at least 2,000 years ago, are made in much the same way. Pastas and traditional noodles are usually eaten as part of dishes often with legumes, nuts and a multitude of vegetables, As such, pastas and noodles, as well as the usual accompanying foods, are classified by the NOVA food system in its first group of unprocessed or minimally processed foods. There is abundant evidence in the scientific literature that healthy diets are those based on a diversity of unprocessed or minimally processed plant foods.
Kate Clancy is currently a food systems consultant, Visiting Scholar at the Center for a Livable Future Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Adjunct Professor at Tufts University, and Senior Fellow in the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, University of Minnesota (she resides in University Park, Maryland). Her resume includes positions at several universities (Cornell, Syracuse, and the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at the University of Wisconsin): the federal government (nutritionist and policy adviser at the Federal Trade Commission): and nonprofits (Director of the Wallace Center for Agricultural and Environmental Policy, Senior Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy).
She has served on numerous boards (the Society for Nutrition Education, Bread for the World, Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture, Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and the Agriculture Food and Human Values Society, among others). Clancy developed a graduate course on food systems in 1982 and since then has published, taught, spoken, and consulted widely on sustainable agriculture and food systems with government agencies, universities, and nonprofits around the country. Her present interests are the development of regional food systems, food supply chain analyses, the connections between community food security and regional food security, sustainable diets, the research and policy facets of Agriculture of the Middle, and the research needed to advance sustainable agriculture and food systems policy. Her BS and Ph.D. in Nutrition Sciences are from the University of Washington and the University of California at Berkeley respectively.
Kate Clancy
Food systems consultant
MISA
There are at least seven factors which combine to define a food as “healthy”. They are pesticide and heavy metal loads, nutrient and phytochemical levels, microbial contamination, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and the overall effect on health of eating particular foods. Research on comparisons between organically produced and conventionally produced foods show positive differences in two elements and no differences for five others. On the positive side, the researchers shown that organically grown produce has significantly lower pesticide residue levels but determining the potential health issues of exposure to dietary pesticides is quite complicated. We do know that there is altered neurodevelopment in children exposed in utero to high concentrations of organophosphate pesticides. Also, the risk of microbial antibiotic resistance is lower in organic animal foods because there are strong restrictions on antibiotic use in their production. There are no significant public health differences between nutrients except vitamin C in the two production systems and the same is true for microbe contamination. Polyphenols – non-nutrient components of food that appear to play a role in lowering the risk of some diseases – are modestly higher in organic foods. Conventional foods have higher concentrations of some heavy metals but there is no difference between the two systems for a number of other heavy metals. Finally, it’s not possible to draw any conclusions yet about the overall effect on health of eating organic foods (for example at this point the relationship between organic food consumption and cancer risk is unclear), because there are many confounders including the fact that people who consume organic foods also exhibit many healthy eating and exercise habits.
Christina A. Roberto, Ph.D. is the Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Assistant Professor of Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a psychologist and epidemiologist who studies policies and interventions to promote healthy eating habits and prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases. Dr. Roberto is Director of the Psychology of Eating And Consumer Health lab, or PEACH lab. Her research strives to provide policymakers and institutions with science-based guidance on creating and implementing food and nutrition policy.
Christina Roberto
Director, PEACH Lab
Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy
PERELMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
1. Hu FB. Resolved: there is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases. Obes Rev. 2013;14(8):606-619.
2. Dong D, Bilger M, van Dam RM, Finkelstein EA. Consumption Of Specific Foods And Beverages And Excess Weight Gain Among Children And Adolescents. Health Aff . 2015;34(11):1940-1948.
3. Bernabé E, Vehkalahti MM, Sheiham A, Aromaa A, Suominen AL. Sugar-sweetened beverages and dental caries in adults: a 4-year prospective study. J Dent. 2014;42(8):952-958.
4. Armfield JM, Spencer AJ, Roberts-Thomson KF, Plastow K. Water fluoridation and the association of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and dental caries in Australian children. Am J Public Health. 2013;103(3):494-500.
5. Nielsen SJ, Popkin BM. Changes in beverage intake between 1977 and 2001. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2004;27(3):205-210. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2004.05.005
Sugar-sweetened beverages are drinks with added sugar (e.g., soda, sports drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks) and their over consumption is linked with weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and dental caries.1–4 Intake of these drinks increased dramatically since the 1980s,5 and they are now the largest source of added sugar intake in the American diet.6 Sugar-sweetened beverages are consumed at least once per day by half of adults and nearly two-thirds of youth.7 Although sugar-sweetened beverage consumption has declined over time, overall levels remain high.8 Why are these beverages so popular? They are everywhere. They are heavily marketed. They taste good. They come in large portion sizes. And they are cheap, making it hard to give them up. Many people also wrongly believe that certain sugar-sweetened drinks like sports drinks are healthy.9 So if you want to take one concrete step to improve your health, limit the number of sugary drinks you drink each week.
6. Rosinger, A, Herrick K, Gahche J, Park, S. Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among U.S. adults 2011-2014. NCHS Data Brief No. 270. Published January 2017. Accessed March 15, 2020.
7. Rosinger A, Herrick K, Gahche J, Park S. Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among U.S. youth, 2011-2014. NCHS Data Brief No. 271, Centers for Disease Control. Published January 2017. Accessed March 15, 2020.
8. Bleich SN, Vercammen KA, Koma JW, Li Z. Trends in beverage consumption among children and adults, 2003-2014. Obesity . 2018;26(2):432-441.
9. Munsell CR, Harris JL, Sarda V, Schwartz MB. Parents’ beliefs about the healthfulness of sugary drink options: opportunities to address misperceptions. Public Health Nutrition. 2016;19(1):46-54. doi:10.1017/s1368980015000397
Sara Bleich is a Professor of Public Health Policy at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management. She is also the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Her research provides evidence to support policies to prevent obesity and diet-related diseases, particularly among populations at higher risk. Sara is the past recipient of several awards including one for excellence in public interest communication. Sara was recently appointed as a White House Fellow (2015-2016) where she was a Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative. She is currently an appointed member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. She holds degrees from Columbia (BA, Psychology) and Harvard (PhD, Health Policy).
Sara Bleich
Professor of Public Health Policy
HARVARD CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Probably yes. Here is what we know. Eating fast food increases total daily calories, reduces diet quality (since menu items are typically high in fat, salt and sugar), and increases weight gain. And we eat a lot of fast food. On a typical day, one-third of adults and kids in the U.S. eat at fast food restaurants. While many fast food restaurants do provide healthier menu items, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that eating fast food is not good for your health.
Sharon has created an award-winning career based on combining her two great loves: nutrition and writing. Sharon is an accomplished writer, editor, blogger, author, speaker, and media expert. In particular, her expertise is in plant-based nutrition and sustainability. Sharon has authored over 1000 articles in a variety of publications, including Better Homes and Gardens, Oprah Magazine, and LA Times. Her book The Plant-Powered Diet: The Lifelong Eating Plan for Achieving Optimal Health, Beginning Today (The Experiment, July 2012) was a critical success, which was followed by her second book Plant-Powered for Life: Eat Your Way to Lasting Health with 52 Simple Steps & 125 Delicious Recipes in July 2014. She is currently working on her third book on plant- based eating due for publication in 2020. Sharon has contributed to several book chapters on nutrition and sustainability. She also serves as nutrition editor for Today’s Dietitian, judge for the James Beard Journalism Awards, nutrition consultant for many publications and organizations, speaker at conferences, and nutrition expert in the media, including print, online, radio, podcasts, television, social media, and film. Sharon enjoys organizing farm and sustainability tours across the world. And she still has time to blog every day for her popular online community (200 K members strong and growing) at The Plant-Powered Dietitian. Sharon recently completed her Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems from Green Mountain College in Vermont, and she serves as associate faculty at both Sterling College in Vermont and Prescott College in Arizona on the topic of sustainable nutrition. Living in the chaparral hills overlooking Los Angeles with her husband and two sons, Sharon enjoys tending to her own organic garden, visiting the local farmers market every week, and cooking for friends and family.
Sharon Palmer
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)
THE PLANT POWERED DIETITIAN
Eating more fruits and vegetables is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health—you can boost your diet with nutrients that can help fight a range of chronic disease, as well as keep you feeling vibrant and well. One of the most important ways you can fit more fruits and vegetables into your diet is to make sure you have them on hand. When you do your weekly shopping, try to choose beautiful produce in season. Better yet, go to a farmers market to get unusual seasonal produce straight from harvest. You can’t include these foods in your diet if they aren’t around. Make sure to add a fruit (and maybe even a veg) at breakfast each day by slicing fruit into your morning cereal or smoothie. You can even have a breakfast sandwich or burrito with veggies in it. Next, enjoy fruit is your natural go to snack and even dessert. Include veggies at lunch—don’t skip out, find a way to add a side salad, soup or veggie-rich dish to your lunch meal. At dinner really load up on veggies—include two types of veggies on your plate, and add a soup and/or a salad too. Enjoy more veggie-based meals, such as veggie lasagna, stir-fry, or veggie tacos. Remember, most dietary guidelines recommend that vegetables and fruits make up half of your plate!
Dr. Campbell is a General Internist, a Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Community Health Sciences and Physiology and Pharmacology and a member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta and O’Brien Institute of Public Health at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Campbell is currently
Dr Campbell has over 490 peer-reviewed manuscripts and over 500 national/ international invited presentations.
Norman R.C. Campbell
Professor Emeritus of Medicine
UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY
Unhealthy diets are the leading risk for death globally, and too much salt is the leading dietary risk. It is estimated that too much dietary salt contributes to over 3 million deaths a year. The average consumption of salt globally is about 10 gm a day. Most people recognize that eating too much salt is bad for their health however, most people also believe they are personally eating the right amount of salt. In part, people do not understand they eat too much salt because salt is put into nearly all foods during processing and the foods often do not taste salty. In industrialized countries about 80% of the dietary salt comes from processed foods including restaurant foods. Breads, processed meats, soups, sandwiches and piazza tend to be major sources of dietary salt even if they do not taste salty. Restaurant and fast foods tend to be high in salt. The best way to avoid salt is to eat fresh foods with little to no added salt. An unprocessed food diet based mainly on a variety of vegetables and fruit tends to be very healthy and has only 1-2 gm of salt a day. Minimize highly salted foods (e.g. pickles), shop for foods with <5% of the daily value for salt (sodium) on the food label, eat less frequently at restaurants and do not add extra salt to your foods in cooking or at the table.
Becky Ramsing
Senior Program Officer, Food Communities & Public Health
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE
Mindful eating is eating purposefully. It’s about focusing on what you eat, choosing to savor and enjoy and taking time to sit and eat your meals. When we eat mindfully, we tend to choose healthier foods and foods we truly like. We also eat less because we have a better sense when we’ve had enough and are satisfied. Distracted eating, on the other hand, is associated with eating more highly processed, calorically dense and nutritionally poor foods. When we eat quickly and on the run, we don’t sense fullness and have a tendency to overconsume calories.
Christopher Gardner is a nutrition scientist and the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine. For 26 years at Stanford he has studied what to consume and to avoid for optimal health, and how best to motivate individuals to achieve healthy dietary behaviors. He has served on many committees for organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, and has conducted and published dozens of human nutrition intervention trials. Current research interests including collaborating with chefs and dining operators as research partners in an effort to identify strategies to optimize the intersection of taste, health and environmental sustainability. Christopher teaches several food and nutrition classes, including an on-line course recently launched through the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning.
Christopher Gardner
Rehnborg Farquhar Professor
STANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Most of the foods we eat contain carbohydrates, the exceptions are primarily meat and oils. For example, vegetables, beans, grains, fruits, and dairy all contain various amounts and types of carbohydrate that either are made of glucose, or are converted to glucose after being consumed and absorbed. The body works very hard to keep blood levels of glucose in a narrow range, and when it doesn’t the result is a blood glucose level that is too low (hypoglycemia) or too high (hyperglycemia), both of which have negative health consequences. When we eat a mixed diet of whole foods, particularly plant foods that have fiber, the digestion and absorption of glucose occurs slowly and gives the body plenty of time to decide whether to use it right away or store it for later, allowing enough time to store it, and glucose homeostasis is maintained. When high sugar sweets and refined grain breads and snack foods are consumed (i.e., hyperpalatable, ultra-processed), the digestion and absorption of glucose happens so quickly the body often can’t keep up. When blood glucose levels are high, rather than being stored properly, the glucose can bind and attach to cells all around the body in ways that impair the optimal function of those cells (called glycosylation). Optimal health comes from avoiding this rush of glucose into the blood, and avoiding unregulated glycosylation, which can be achieved by eating a whole-food, plant-based diet in amounts that help you maintain a healthy weight.
Marie Spiker, PhD, MSPH, RDN is the Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems Fellow at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. In this role, she works to build the capacity of nutrition and dietetics professionals to contribute to sustainable food and water systems through education, research, practice, and policy.
Marie has multidisciplinary training in nutrition and dietetics, global health, systems science, and sustainable food systems. She trained as a CLF-Lerner Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, worked as a Senior Analyst on the Systems Science Core at the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins, worked as a Nutrition Consultant to Baltimore City’s Food Policy Director, and is a recipient of the Abell Award in Urban Policy.
Marie received her PhD and MSPH in human nutrition from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed dietetics training through the graduate coordinated program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also holds a BS in public health and a BA in medical anthropology from the University of Washington.
Marie Spiker
Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems Fellow
ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS FOUNDATION
Eat vegetables every day, and aim for variety. There is not one type of vegetable you should focus on at the exclusion of others — the power of vegetables comes from “eating the rainbow” (eating a variety of vegetables), rather than focusing on one particular food. There is incredible diversity within the vegetable group, including leafy greens (like lettuce and spinach), cruciferous vegetables (also known as brassicas, like kale, broccoli, and cauliflower), starchy vegetables (like sweet potato and squash), and pulses (like beans and peas). Vegetables are important as a source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals — the same compounds that give vegetables their taste and vibrant colors also have a variety of health-promoting properties. You don’t need to eat every kind of vegetable every day, but aim for variety as you plan your weekly shopping, cooking, and ordering.
Sophie Egan, MPH, is an author and the founder of Full Table Solutions, a consulting practice that’s a catalyst for food systems transformation. On behalf of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Sophie serves as Co-Director of the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative, a collaboration with Stanford University. For over five years, Sophie served as the Director of Health and Sustainability Leadership/Editorial Director for the CIA’s Strategic Initiatives Group—leading nationwide movements throughout the foodservice industry to help make menus healthier and better for the environment. Her new book is How to Be a Conscious Eater: Making Food Choices That Are Good for You, Others, and the Planet (Workman, 2020).
Sophie Egan
Author and founder of Full Table Solutions
FULL TABLE SOLUTIONS
As my colleagues at The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have defined “plant-forward” through the Menus of Change initiative, it is: a style of cooking and eating that emphasizes and celebrates, but is not limited to, plant-based foods—including fruits and vegetables (produce); whole grains; beans, legumes (pulses), and soy foods; nuts and seeds; plant oils; and herbs and spices—and that reflects evidence-based principles of health and sustainability. From an eater’s standpoint, the key word is emphasis, as it’s about the overall proportion of the diet that’s made up of “stuff that comes from the ground, So, it’s not about sacrifice or taking foods away or pushing a vegan or vegetarian agenda (though those types of foods, meals, and diets are certainly enjoyed within this umbrella term). More or less synonymous with “plant-rich,” “plant-centric,” and “Flexitarian,” “plant-forward” reflects both the direction I hope the overall restaurant and foodservice industry will take its menu options in the future, and the overall eating pattern I hope the global population will takes its lifelong food choices. The beautiful opportunity is that more and more chefs and scientists agree: it’s the best way to deliciously align optimal nutrition with planetary boundaries.
Becky Ramsing
Senior Program Officer, Food Communities & Public Health
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE
Despite gains in global nutrition, around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to undernutrition. (WHO) At least 1 in 3 children under 5 – or over 200 million – is either undernourished or overweight, while almost 2 in 3 children between six months and two years of age do not consume food that supports their development. (UNICEF)
Chronic undernutrition early in life is linked to health problems throughout a child’s life, including poor growth and increased susceptibility to infections, as well as chronic diseases later in life. In addition these children are more likely to have poorer achievement in school, earn lower lifetime wages and live in poverty.
Adequate protein intake, including essential amino acids, is crucial for bone and skeletal muscle growth early in life. Even with sufficient caloric intake from staples (grains, starches, etc.), a lack of protein has devastating, long term effects. For young children, the best source of protein and essential amino acids is animal source foods (ASF), especially in settings of low dietary diversity and reliance on staples. Micronutrients associated with growth and cognitive development (B12, choline, zinc) are plentiful in ASF; as is calcium in dairy products. Furthermore, there is a strong association of ASF consumption (especially from multiple sources such as dairy and eggs) and child growth and stature.
Saskia de Pee
Senior Technical Advisor Nutrition
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
Vegetables and fruits are a good source of several micronutrients, anti-oxidants, fibre and other components, and they are an important component of a healthy diet. However, for some micronutrients vegetables are not a good source (e.g. vitamin B12, vitamin D) and for some the micronutrient content is good, but it is not easy to absorb (iron, zinc, provitamin A). Therefore, it is recommended to consume in total 400 g of vegetables and fruits per day, and to combine this with foods from several other food groups (staples, pulses, nuts, moderate amount of animal source foods incl fish, eggs, dairy etc). When vegetable intake is lower than recommended, eating more vegetables can improve micronutrient intake, but to a limited extend and not for all required micronutrients.
Bela Gil is a chef, nutritionist, activist and author of 5 bestselling books in Brazil. Her career has spanned many fields: food, television and media, healthcare, women’s rights, public policy, and education. Underlying her work is the belief that a life of quality should be a right for everyone. More than that, she works towards a future where we are not only surviving, but thriving. She graduated with a BS in Nutrition from Hunter College and a diploma in Culinary Art’s from the Natural Gourmet Institute, both in New York. In 2019 she got a Master degree of Gastronomy at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy.
Bela Gil
Television Chef
BELAGIL.COM
The best answer to this question is: it depends. Fried food could be healthy or unhealthy depending on the type of oil that is used, the temperature of the oil and the frequency that it is consumed. Steamed, sautéed and baked foods with little or no oil are smarter and healthier choices because of the inflammatory nature of fried foods. The best oils to deep fry are the saturated oils because they are more stable in high temperatures and resistant to oxidation and the release of free radicals that triggers inflammation in the body. Examples are: red palm oil, coconut oil, ghee and lard. Another great oil for deep frying is olive oil, which is monounsaturated and packed with antioxidants that protect the oil from becoming rancid during the frying process. Finally, the least recommended oils are the polyunsaturated oils such as corn and soy because they are refined and more prone to oxidation.
Christopher Gardner is a nutrition scientist and the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine. For 26 years at Stanford he has studied what to consume and to avoid for optimal health, and how best to motivate individuals to achieve healthy dietary behaviors. He has served on many committees for organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, and has conducted and published dozens of human nutrition intervention trials. Current research interests including collaborating with chefs and dining operators as research partners in an effort to identify strategies to optimize the intersection of taste, health and environmental sustainability. Christopher teaches several food and nutrition classes, including an on-line course recently launched through the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning.
Christopher Gardner
Rehnborg Farquhar Professor
STANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
The law of thermodynamics that supports the concept of your weight, and changes in weight, being a result of the balance of calories in vs. calories out (i.e., eaten vs. expended by physical activity or metabolic activity). If a group of individuals all ate an extra 1000 calories/day, they would all gain weight, and conversely if they all cut back by 1000 calories/day, they would all lose weight. Interestingly, it was proven decades ago that not everyone would gain or lose the same amount of weight even if the calorie increase or decrease was held constant; there is some individual variability involved. Multiple weight loss diet studies have demonstrated that some individuals are likely to be successful with weight loss on just about any diet type (e.g., Low-fat, low-carb, high protein, Mediterranean, Paleo, etc), at least in the short term. But what has also been demonstrated is that there is no one diet that has proven to help all people to be successful with weight loss. The two factors that probably matter the most are satiety, and long-term maintenance. Choosing an eating plan of a set of foods that are generally satiating will help to avoid over-consuming calories. Interestingly, different people find different food combinations more vs. less satiating. If the eating plan is satiating, it will be one that will be more likely to be maintained long-term. If it isn’t sustainable in the long-term, the achieved weight change won’t be maintained. Bottom line is to avoid “going on a diet”, if it means you will eventually “go off the diet”. Choose an eating plan that is enjoyable, satiating, and can be maintained long-term; and if the goal is to lose weight or avoid weight gain, then limit or avoid added sugars or refined grains as these tend to be the least satiating.
Mary Purdy, MS, RDN, holds a Master’s Degree from Bastyr University where she is currently adjunct faculty. Previously she worked for 4 years at the wellness company, Arivale, as a Coach and Clinical Education Lead training coaches, as well as providing nutrition and lifestyle counseling to clients using a personalized medicine approach. Prior to that she was in private practice for 8 years as well as a Clinical Supervisor at Bastyr’s Teaching Clinic, working with hundreds of patients on a variety of health issues. She has given over 100 nutrition workshops, speaks regularly at health and nutrition conferences and was the keynote speaker at Bastyr University’s Commencement Ceremony 2019. She serves on the board of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition and was Chair of Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine Additionally, she hosts the podcast “The Nutrition Show”, authored the books “Serving the Broccoli Gods” and the forthcoming “The Microbiome Reset Diet”, and is a tireless advocate for a sustainable food system that supports our environment and helps to mitigate climate change. Her website is www.marypurdy.co
Mary Purdy
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
MARYPURDY.CO
While consuming some saturated fat can be part of an overall healthy diet, the vast majority of scientific research has shown that consuming higher amounts (above 7-10% of total calories in a day) may not be supportive of optimal health. Not only has saturated fat in excess been shown to increase the bad LDL-cholesterol levels which increase the risk of heart disease, (although “good” cholesterol known as HDL may also rise) but it can increase levels of inflammation in the body and may contribute to insulin resistance (a precursor to diabetes) and less healthy weight gain, especially in those who also consume a diet high in refined grains and sugar. From a sustainability perspective, most saturated fat sources come from red meat and dairy products which have a much larger carbon footprint than plant-based foods like beans and nuts. That being said, plant sources of saturated fat aren’t squeaky clean on the sustainability front either. Palm oil production often leads to deforestation of precious land and coconut oil may travel thousands of miles to get into your frying pan. This doesn’t mean a total ban on these foods is necessary, just a sense of mindfulness as you make daily dietary decisions that may affect both human and planetary health. Artificial trans fats from chemically altered oils that are found in a variety of processed foods have been shown in numerous studies to be inflammatory and hazardous to human health. They have been determined/shown to increase risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer and are best avoided.
Paul Newnham currently heads up the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 Advocacy Hub as Director, an initiative bringing together NGOs, advocacy groups, civil society, the private sector and UN agencies to coordinate global campaigning and advocacy to achieve SDG2. To this end, the SDG2 Hub facilitates a network of 700 chefs from 70 countries to support chef action on the SDGs. Chefs are equipped with a simple set of actions called the Chefs’ Manifesto, to drive progress on the Global Goals. Paul specialises in generating solutions to complex problems alongside communities around the world. Working strategically alongside actors from all aspects of the food, agriculture and nutrition industries, Paul seeks to generate change that will impact our food system and planet. Paul has developed a broad base of expertise in drawing connections from the Culinary community to the Sustainable development agenda. Paul has over 20 years’ experience in, and extensive knowledge of, the Not For Profit Sector having worked in National and Global roles with a focus on Campaigning, Youth Mobilisation, Advocacy, Marketing and Communication. Having worked with World Vision Australia, New Zealand and the Global Headquarters for 15 years, his career has focused on the belief that it is possible to end global poverty. He has worked in communities throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, to achieve planned objectives and generate positive, lasting and sustainable change. He is a strong advocate for good development, working alongside communities to improve livelihoods. Through inspirational and evocative leadership, Paul is able to enthuse and motivate others, achieving goals beyond expectation.
Paul Newnham
Director
SDG2 ADVOCACY HUB
For me, “diverse diets” are those packed with colourful, delicious, biodiverse ingredients. From highly nutritious crops like moringa to climate-smart grain pearl millet, there are 30,000+ edible plant species around the world, each with specific traits that can improve soil health, add nutrients to our diets, build climate resilience and support farmer’s livelihoods. Protecting the diversity of our foods is vital to feeding a growing global population sustainably and yet, we are losing these delicious resources each day. By adding lesser-known ingredients to our plate, we can help shift food systems by encouraging the growth and supply of a more diverse range of crops and safeguarding the health of people and planet.
Raychel Santo is a Senior Research Program Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, where she works on research projects related to food systems and climate change, local and regional food governance, urban agriculture, and institutional food procurement. Raychel earned her Master’s degree in Food, Space & Society from Cardiff University School of Geography & Planning and her BA in Public Health and Environmental Change & Sustainability from Johns Hopkins University.
Raychel Santo
Senior Program Coordinator, Food Production & Public Health, Food Communities & Public Health
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE
In an ideal world, most of us would rely on minimally processed legumes like dry beans and peas, lentils, and soybeans as key sources of protein in our diets. Diets rich in whole plant foods including legumes have been associated with a reduced risk for many diet-related diseases and have the lowest impact on our planet out of all protein foods available. That said, meat alternatives derived from legumes and other plant-based ingredients can add variety to our diets and make it more convenient to eat plant foods. Meat alternatives range from traditional products that can be used in similar ways as meat (e.g., tempeh, tofu, seitan) to more processed products that are designed to mimic meat (e.g., burgers, fillets, and sausages made from plant protein isolates). It is currently unknown whether these processed products, sometimes referred to as meat analogs, offer nutritional or chronic disease benefits comparable to whole legumes. But we do know that, per every gram of protein, most meat alternatives have a lower planetary impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, land and water use, pesticides, and nutrient runoff, compared to conventional meats.
Shu Wen Ng is a health economist who seeks to understand individual and household-level decisions about dietary behaviors and their health impacts, while acknowledging that such decisions are constrained by monetary, time and biological factors, and are made within a broader environmental or policy context. She uses tools and approaches from economics, epidemiology, sociology and public policy, and collaborates with these disciplinary experts.
Shu Wen has been Principal and co-Investigator on several foundation and NIH studies that use ‘big-data’ on commercial store sales, household purchase, and nutrition label data at the barcode level (scanner data), alongside dietary intake and nutrition databases and policy databases. Analyzing such data, she has studied how policies such as taxation, subsidies or quotas affect consumer purchases, diet, nutrition, and health outcomes across many settings, as well as differentially across subpopulations.
Shu Wen Ng
Distinguished Scholar in Public Health Nutrition
UNC
Excess sugar consumption is a major cause of chronic diseases like dental caries, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, liver and kidney damage, heart disease, obesity and some cancers. Reducing sugar intake is recommended by many international and inter-governmental groups because these chronic disease can start at early ages and become much worse over time without meaningful changes in dietary intake. Children with chronic diseases will struggle to learn and grow properly, individuals with chronic diseases and their caregivers will be unable to work and earn income at their fullest potential and instead incur large out-of-pocket healthcare costs as well as loss in quality of life. At a societal level, when a large and growing share of the population suffer from chronic diseases, the economy will suffer and the healthcare system will not be able to serve all who need its services.
Keith P. West, Jr., Dr.P.H., R.D. is the George G. Graham Professor of Infant and Child Nutrition and Director of the Program and Center for Human Nutrition within the Department of International Health at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Early in his career, Dr. West worked as a Registered Dietitian in the US Army on Okinawa, Japan and in Preventive Medicine of the Office of the Army Surgeon General. He earned his Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. West has worked extensively in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa for 40 years, conducting field trials and epidemiological studies to prevent malnutrition, especially vitamin A and other micronutrient deficiencies and their health consequences among infants, children and women in Southern Asia and Africa. Professor West has authored over 260 scientific publications , received the American Society of Nutrition’s International Nutrition Prize in 2007 and inducted as a Fellow of the Society in 2020.
Keith P. West
Program Director, Human Nutrition
JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Undernutrition remains a global concern because it is never eradicated, only controlled by assuring all members of societies have access to a safe, adequate, nutritionally balanced diet. Undernutrition can affect humans at any age, be acute and obvious or chronic and even “hidden”, yet impose numerous consequences to health, development, quality of life and survival. Each generation has faced the challenges of preventing hunger, undernutrition and famine. In our day, 800 million to two billion people are undernourished. The good news is that undernutrition is preventable, by producing food that is healthy, sustainable, affordable and accessible to the poor, fortifying stable foods or supplementing diets with essential nutrients, promoting breast feeding, reducing infections, ending conflict and investing in peace.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita, and author of books about food politics, most recently, Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat. She blogs almost daily at www.foodpolitics.com, and tweets @marionnestle.
Marion Nestle, NYU Department of Nutrition & Food Studies
Marion Nestle
Instructor of Nutrition and Food Studies
NYU
“ultraprocessed foods encourage excessive calorie consumption and weight gain”:
Whole foods have become much easier to define since the term “ultraprocessed” came into use with a fairly clear definition distinguishing them from unprocessed and minimally processed foods. Ultraprocessed foods bear little relationship to the whole foods from which they were derived, are industrially produced, and contain additive ingredients not available in home kitchens or added salt, sugar, and fat. In contrast, whole foods are unprocessed or minimally processed and look a lot like they did when raised, picked, or gathered. These distinctions have important health implications. Frequent consumption of ultraprocessed foods has been linked in observational studies to increased obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and mortality. One clinical trial demonstrated that ultraprocessed foods encourage excessive calorie consumption and weight gain. Again in contrast, consumption of whole foods is associated with good health as well as with minimal impact on the environment.
Becky Ramsing
Senior Program Officer, Food Communities & Public Health
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE
A grain of any type – rice, wheat, corn – is made up of three components: the endosperm, bran and germ. A whole grain food product is made with the intact grain kernel, whereas a refined grain product typically contains only the endosperm. While the endosperm of a grain contains carbohydrates and some protein and B-vitamins, the bran and the germ additionally contain fiber, B vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and even some healthy fats. By choosing whole grains, individuals get the full nutritional and environmental benefit of grains. People who consume more whole grains tend to have healthier weights, lower rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Erik Oberholtzer is the co-founder of Tender Greens, a pioneering fine casual brand founded in Los Angeles, CA in 2006 with a mission to democratize good food. A vision of the future he continues to drive as a Food Forever Champion on global biodiversity for the Crop Trust with whom he cooks globally alongside the world’s leading chefs. He joined the Rodale Institute’s board in 2019 to help drive awareness around soil health, regenerative organic agriculture and food as medicine. In 2009, he founded The Sustainable Life Program, a six month paid culinary internship program with a mission to provide a path forward for foster youth. Many of the students now hold leadership positions at Tender Greens, serving as beacons of success and inspiration to those at the edge of society. In 2019, Erik joined Cohere as an advisor to founders of conscious brands as they navigate the headwinds of scale. With the success of Tender Greens, he provides a founder-centered roadmap to growth with emphasis on culture, supply chain integrity and long term strategic planning. Currently he is advising brands that are putting the health of people and the planet first, such as The Butcher’s Daughter in NYC/LA, Pocono Organic’s regenerative farm and Mulberry & Vine in NYC. Prior to founding Tender Greens Erik worked as a chef in many of California’s best restaurants. This chef identity informs his intense dedication to ingredient providence, technique and deliciousness without compromise. A daily practice of meditation, fitness and good food helps Erik show up with a calm demeanor in a dynamic world. Erik is based in Brooklyn, NY and a small farm in Pennsylvania where he and his family grow organic hemp, native flowers and heirloom crops.
Erik Oberholtzer
Chef & Co-founder
TENDER GREENS
A balanced meal usually means a combination of fresh fruits and vegetables, complex grains and some animal protein. The specific blend of balance is often debated between stakeholders causing public confusion. For me, Michael Pollan defines it best – “Eat good food, whole food, real food, mostly plants, not too much”. Eating as Pollan suggests supports more than sound nutrition. It supports ingredient diversity important to soil health and ecosystems resilience. Meals built around diverse ingredients deepen our connections to various food cultures and support micro economies around the world. Meals centered on organic heirloom varieties alleviate the pressure on the environment from industrialized food production. As a chef, meals built on fundamentals of fresh, clean, pure flavor simply taste better.
Meera Shekar is Global Lead for nutrition with the World Bank’s Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice. Over the last several years, she has led the repositioning of the nutrition agenda that led to the new global Scaling-up Nutrition (SUN) initiative, and was a key partner in the discussions on the Catalytic Financing Facility for Nutrition that evolved in to the Power of Nutrition. Meera serves as the chair for the SUN executive committee and has been one of the principals for the emerging aid-architecture for the SUN, and the G8 and G20 agenda-setting process for food security and nutrition over the last several years. She leads the global and country-level costing and financing analyses at the World Bank, and the first ever global Investment Framework for Nutrition. She has also worked on the demographic dividend and population and development issues. Meera has lived and worked across the globe and has extensive policy and operational experience Asia, Africa, Latin America. Before joining the World Bank in 2003, she led UNICEF’s Health, Nutrition and Water and Sanitation and ECD teams in Tanzania, the Philippines and Ethiopia. Meera has a PhD in international nutrition, epidemiology and population studies from Cornell University and is a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Obesity co-led by the University of Auckland & GW University; co-author of the Lancet Undernutrition Series; Member of the Expert Advisory Group for UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report; Member External advisory board at DNS (2012-18), Cornell University; Adjunct Professor Tufts University (2012-15); She is on the Advisory panel member for Essential Living Standards index, Legatum Institute, UK; and a member of advisory group at Gates Ventures (Bill Gates’s private office) and several other groups. She has authored several publications.
Meera Shekar
Global Lead for nutrition
THE WORLD BANK
Breast-milk is perfectly tailored to a baby’s needs, to an extent that no processed/ultra-processed formula can ever be. Breast-milk is truly better than medicine – the first milk (colostrum) is the baby’s first immunization. WHO recommends that all babies should be exclusively breast-fed (not even water) for the first six months of their lives, following which complementary solid foods need to be added to their diets. Breast-fed babies grow better, have stronger immune systems, in poor environments they are protected from environmental infections thereby reducing the risk of death and diseases, and globally as adults they are less likely to suffer from overweight, obesity and related chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Processed foods have been implicated in many disease etiologies, especially those related to the growing epidemics of cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, etc and of course the undernutrition problems in developing countries. And, even when mothers are undernourished, they can still breast-feed –that’s what motherhood is!
Kate Geagan a nutrition pioneer and award-winning registered dietitian who’s helped millions of eaters fall in love with foods that are better for people and planet. She is the author of Go Green Get Lean: Trim Your Waistline with the Ultimate Low-Carbon Footprint Diet (Rodale), creator of A Greener You column with Clean Eating Magazine, and co-founder of Food + Planet, a health professional global platform whose mission is to empower 1 million health professionals with sustainability by 2025. As a strategic advisor, Kate helps forward-thinking companies and investors gain clarity at the intersection of food, health and sustainability, and to leverage those insights to drive enduring growth and impact. Kate is a currently a strategic advisor to the Drawdown Investment Fund, Clif Bar, Scout Craft Cannery, The American Farmland Trust, Earth’s Best Organics, the Sun Valley Institute and New Hope’s Influencer Network. She serves on the Global Council of Directors of the True Health Initiative, has given over 1,500 interviews across television, print and digital platforms globally, and formerly served as a Medical Advisory Board Member and regular expert for the Emmy award winning Dr. Oz Show.
Kate Geagan
Nutritionist and Author
KATEGEAGAN.COM
The best sources of plant-based proteins are those that create extraordinary health in people, are widely accessible and affordable for all eaters, delicious to eat, and sustainable for our planet’s resources. Reams of research point to the power of plant-based protein to deliver high performance nutrition and plenty of protein to meet our body’s needs – making them a vital tool to solve our urgent challenge of how to support healthier people on a thriving planet.
To get the biggest bang for your buck, here’s a trick: focus on minimally processed, whole food options that look similar to how they are found in nature, and opt for packaged food products that list simple to understand, easy to recognize ingredients that sound like you could craft in your own kitchen (instead of highly processed options).
Beans and legumes are longevity and vitality superfoods, delivering heart healthy nutrients such as folate, plus protein (around 15 g per cup) and fiber, a particularly powerful combo that works to keep blood sugar stable, enhance gut health, fight obesity and help ease inflammation. Because of this bounty, in 2016 they were recognized by the UN as being one of the world’s most highly nutritious, affordable and sustainable foods that can also ensure food security. Seeds (such as flax, hemp, chia, sunflower, or pumpkin) deliver roughly 7-9 grams of protein per 1/4 cup and also top the list for good reason: they hold nature’s “essential nutrition blueprint” to start and sustain life, including minerals such as zinc and magnesium, phytonutrients and heart healthy fats. And whole soy foods (such as tofu or edamame), are high-quality complete proteins that contain all 9 essential amino acids in every bite, similar to animal protein.
Nuts (including almond, walnut, cashew and Brazil) deliver 7-9 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, plus are rich sources of key nutrients like omega-3 fats, Vitamin E or selenium. Peanuts in particular have the added benefit of helping replenish our food system by fixing nitrogen back into the soil, reducing the need for fertilizers or agrochemicals (peas are regenerative, too). Ancient supergrains like teff, quinoa and sorghum, and new protein-rich flours like garbanzo bean or almond, are fast reshaping the “inner aisles” of a typical American grocery store, offering super swaps for refined grains and flours in your favorite recipes.
And don’t forget the sea! Seaweed is a nutritional jackpot, boasting impressive amounts of protein (red seaweed has the most, with about 50 grams per 3.5 oz), a bevy of vitamins (A, D and E to name a few), minerals (such as potassium, iodine and magnesium), fiber and more. In addition to promising health benefits such as fighting cancer or supporting our body’s natural detoxification pathways, seaweeds also hold enormous potential to help restore our oceans and create enduring livelihoods for coastal communities.
Andrew Thorne-Lyman, ScD, MHS, joined the center as Affiliated Faculty in 2019. He is an associate scientist at the Center for Human Nutrition in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In his role at The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Andrew provides expertise on human nutrition, including in the context of seafood consumption, and he brings an international health background to the Center, as well. Before coming to Johns Hopkins in 2016, he was a senior nutrition specialist and team leader at The WorldFish Center (Malaysia), a lecturer at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a director of nutrition research at the Earth Institute, Columbia University. He has also served in various capacities at the UN World Food Programme (Rome) and Helen Keller International (Bangladesh). Current research interests include exploring the role of fish in meeting the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations in low and middle income countries, particularly of young children, studying links between food systems, diet and nutrition and health outcomes, and the development and validation of indicators to measure the effectiveness of nutrition programs. Andrew earned his BA at Pomona College, his MHS at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and his ScD at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Andrew Thorne-Lyman
Associate Scientist, Center for Human Nutrition
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE
In addition to its widely appreciated role as a ‘protein’, animal meat can be an important source of highly bioavailable vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids in the human diet. Differences in the individual components of red meat, poultry, or seafood (particularly in the type of fatty acids, vitamins and minerals) may influence both the risks and benefits associated with its consumption. As no long term randomized trials of diet exist, nutritional epidemiology studies which measure diet over time and relate it to health outcomes, help to guide our understanding of the relative health risks of substituting different types of ‘proteins’.
Research suggests that regular consumption of even small amounts of red meat is associated with an overall greater risk of premature mortality, particularly from heart disease and stroke and that substitution of red meat with poultry, fish, or other protein sources such as beans appears to reduce that risk. Processed red meat may be particularly harmful. Red meat consumption has also been associated with greater risk of certain types of cancer and with diabetes.
Unlike terrestrial meats, for which limited species exist, more than 2000 species of fish and seafood are consumed by humans. The nutritional profile of many of these species is uncertain and influenced by what part of the fish is consumed and how it is prepared. Certain species of fatty fish are rich in long chain omega-3 fatty acids, and in some studies, fish consumption has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, neurocognitive benefits, lower risk of preterm birth and better early child development outcomes.
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