A healthy start to the month

How to eat healthily and sustainably

(Bild: Tröster)

Column by Friedrich Hoppichler, Medical Director at the Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy Salzburg: What we eat and how this food is produced has an impact on our health and also on the environment.

Around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans are related to food. Animal-based foods account for the majority of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Plant-based foods have a much lower environmental impact.

It is therefore all the more important that general dietary recommendations take into account the climate aspect as well as the health aspect and focus on a diet rich in plant-based foods. The Austrian food-based dietary recommendations were also recently revised in this direction.

The recommendations are currently available as frequency and quantity data for food groups, and the new food pyramid is to be presented soon. The most important components of a healthy and sustainable diet remain drinking water (six portions/day), vegetables and fruit (five portions/day) and cereals and potatoes (four portions/day). A major innovation is that pulses and products made from them form a separate category for the first time. Experts recommend three portions per week. Meat products and fish should only be eaten in small portions three times a week.

For the first time, there is a food pyramid for vegetarian diets: one more portion each of pulses, cereal products and potatoes, milk and eggs. A plate model illustrates the optimal composition of a meal. For example, half of a "healthy and sustainable plate" consists of vegetables and fruit, a quarter of whole grains and potatoes, and a quarter shows the (mainly plant-based) protein side dishes.