Lancet Diet Is Healthy but Too Costly: Said In a Study

The ideal diet for the optimal health of humans and the planet is the Lancet diet, which was recommended by the EAT-Lancet Commission earlier this year. This has been found to be unaffordable for nearly 1.58 billion people across the world, including those in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The study which was published in “The Lancet Global Health”, was an eye-opener. This perfect diet would cost 64 percent more than the lowest-cost combination of foods, which provides a balanced mix of 20 essential nutrients, in low-income nations said by Dr. Friday

One should consume “EAT-Lancet diet”, which is an excellent diet, this is designed in such a way that it supports in the less degradation of environment, by including the massive use of the quantity of fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes, and by cutting down largely on meat, added sugar, refined grains, and starchy vegetables.

This benchmark diet consumed in low-income nations is not at the reach of the quantities of animal source foods, fruits, and vegetables. Thus results in the minimum nutrient adequacy required by one for a healthy life.

But, we cannot deny by the fact, the EAT-Lancet diet failed to balance its cost, in order to circulate such a diet in various parts of the world. In the new study, researchers from the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Tufts University are required to evaluate the affordability of this diet across different nations.

William Masters an economist at Tufts University and one of the authors of the study said when this pioneering standard diet was formulated and was addressing its benefits for individual health outcomes as well as the health of the planet, the Commission intentionally did not take its cost into account.

The researchers in their study had evaluated the prices for 744 food items in 159 countries, in terms of their circulation among the people, where they identified the lowest circulation of the EAT-Lancet diet due to its high cost which could not justify the pocket of people.

Non-affordable by low-income countries 

Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, and Health had published immediate recommendations for this diet that would adequately feed the growing population and will also protect the planet.

The Commission had recommended the massive reduction in meat consumption and increased consumption of pulses, which could ensure that our future food systems will suitably help in feeding the estimated population of 10 billion people in 2050.

Kalle Hirvonen, the lead author of the new study, said that the global average of the proposed diet would cost $2.84 per day. In low-income countries, that amounts to 89.1 percent of a household’s daily per capita income, which is more than sufficient what people can actually spend on food.

Hirvonen, a development economist at the IFPRI in Ethiopia further said that in high-income countries, we found that the EAT-Lancet reference diet would cost 6.1 percent of per-capita income, which is repeatedly less than what people now spend on food.

Comparison of people earning with Eat-Lancet diet

• In Africa south of the Sahara, nearly 57 percent of people earn less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.
• In South Asia, it is 38.4 percent of people earn less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.
• In the Middle East and North Africa, 19.4 percent of people earn less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.
• East Asia and the Pacific 15 percent of people earn less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.
• Latin America and Caribbean 11.6 percent of people earn less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.
• Europe and Central Asia 1.7 percent of people earn less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.
• North America 1.2 percent of people earns less than the local cost of the EAT-Lancet diet.

The researchers said that fruits, vegetables, and animal source foods are often the most expensive components of a healthy diet, as suggested by the EAT-Lancet.

Although there are 1.58 billion people, who in actual cannot afford the diet recommended by the EAT-Lancet Commission. The preparation cost of food and the cost of non-food necessities together lead to the non-affordability of larger number of people for this kind of healthy diet.

Hirvonen, the Lead author also said that even if many poor consumers were to aspire to consume healthier and more environmentally sustainable foods, income and price constraints frequently make this diet unaffordable. An increase in the earnings of people and the systemic changes to lower food prices are needed to bring healthy and sustainable diets within reach of the world’s poor population.

No doubt there are, however, limitations to the new study. It did not take into consideration of additional costs and barriers to food use imposed by time restriction, flavor, and inclination towards it.

The study also used 2011 prices and nationally-aggregated data. So, the next steps will include research on variation within countries as well as overtime.