This article claims that a diet that has long been touted as not only delicious but better for human health is also the best choice for the planet. The so-called Mediterranean diet - which differs in minor ways from Italy to Greece to Cyprus - “is rich in plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits and grains - although it has many variations between countries. It is also generally low in the consumption of animal products”.
This is in contrast to what the authors label the Western diet with its emphasis on “meat, dairy and processed foods”. The Mediterranean diet is better for individual health and also “most favourable for biodiversity and food-plant diversity”. Researchers in Israel, Germany and the USA have gone even further and run studies on what they call a ‘green’ Mediterranean diet that replaces “all the remaining meat in the diet with plant-based proteins”. This seemed to have an even better effect on individual health and is of course even more positive for the planet due to the elimination of all meat.
Learn more about how to adapt your eating to the Mediterranean diet and the various tweaks to the basic diet that can lead to even greater health results in this article from Medical News Today.