Environmental and nutritional analysis of the EAT-Lancet diet at the individual level: insights from the NutriNet-Santé study

The EAT-Lancet Commission has recently proposed a “universal” healthy reference diet. However, no study has specifically investigated its possible environmental benefits at the individual level based on observed data. Our objective was therefore to characterize the environmental pressures and impacts related to the level of adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet among French adults. Dietary data from a 264-item FFQ in 29,210 NutriNet-Santé participants (75% women, mean age = 53.5y (SD = 14.0)), were used to estimate (i) the level of adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet through the EAT-Lancet diet index (ELD-I), (ii) the food production-related environmental impacts using 3 individual environmental indicators (greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative energy demand and land occupation) and (iii) the overall environmental impact using a validated aggregated partial score (pReCiPe). For clarity purpose, results are presented by quintile (Q) of ELD-I. High ELD-I (Q5), compared to low (Q1), was associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions (−56%), cumulative energy demand (−31%) and land occupation, (−54%). The pRECIPE was 62% lower in high ELD-I than in low ELD-I but the range of pReCiPe in Q1 was large. In this large scale-study of French adults, adherence to the EAT-Lancet recommendations led to lower environmental impacts. Nonetheless, some low-EAT diets (reflecting unhealthy diets), may exhibit low environmental impacts.