Browsing by Subject "Nutritionally Invested Environmental Impacts"

Current diets with high meat consumption have several adverse effects on the environment and human health. Different alternative foods such as whole plant foods (WPFs), plant-based meat substitutes, and novel/future foods (NFFs) are potential options to reduce the environmental pressure caused by meat. The aim of this thesis was to study the effect of replacing meat with alternative foods on the climate impact, energy use, and nutrient intakes in Finnish diets. The study was carried out by formulating scenarios for the current diet using the National FinDiet2017 survey, in which all meat or half of meat was substituted with WPFs, PBMSs, and NFFs. The daily climate impact and energy use were the highest for the current diet while substituting meat with alternative foods reduced the climate impact by 13%−37% and energy use by 15%−40% from the current diet. The largest decrease in the environmental impacts was found when all meat was replaced, especially with WPFs. Moreover, a similar reduction of the climate impact and energy use was found for all alternative scenarios when the environmental impacts were integrated with nutritional properties by using the NRD index. Regarding nutrient intakes in Finnish diets, substituting meat resulted in several beneficial changes such as increased levels of folate and fiber or decreased levels of saturated fatty acid. On the other hand, full replacement of meat with plant-based alternatives led to decreased intake of some nutrients, such as vitamin B12. Even though some NFFs are still under development, this thesis showed that they may provide nutritious options in future diets. To conclude, replacing even half of the meat may be beneficial for improving nutrient intakes and reducing the environmental pressure in terms of lower climate impact and energy use.