Pulses Twice a Week in Replacement of Meat Modestly Increases Diet Sustainability

The French food-based dietary guidelines recommend eating pulses at least twice a week and to reduce meat consumption. This study assessed the impact on the sustainability characteristics (nutrition, cost, environment) of individual diets of meeting the pulse guideline. Dietary data of 2028 adults f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nutrients 2021-09, Vol.13 (9), p.3059
Main Authors: Gazan, Rozenn, Maillot, Matthieu, Reboul, Emmanuelle, Darmon, Nicole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Acidification
Beans
Beverages
Bioavailability
Cereals
Diet
Dietary guidelines
Food and Nutrition
french food-based dietary guideline
Greenhouse gases
Indicators
Iron
iron and zinc bioavailability
Life Sciences
Meat
Nitrogen
Nutrition
Nutrition research
Plant-based foods
Proteins
pulses
Starches
Substitutes
substitution
Sustainability
sustainable diets
Vegetarianism
Zinc
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The French food-based dietary guidelines recommend eating pulses at least twice a week and to reduce meat consumption. This study assessed the impact on the sustainability characteristics (nutrition, cost, environment) of individual diets of meeting the pulse guideline. Dietary data of 2028 adults from the Esteban survey were completed with the nutritional content (considering bioavailability on iron, zinc and protein), price and environmental impacts of foods. When the pulse guideline (i.e., 57 g/day) was not met, two substitution scenarios raised the quantity of pulses to the recommended level, in replacement of an equivalent portion of (i) starches or (ii) meat. Only 9.6% of the participants reached the pulse guideline. Diet sustainability characteristics improved with the meat scenario (nutritional indicators improved; diet cost, greenhouse gas emissions and acidification decreased), while several indicators deteriorated with the starches scenario. Zinc available for absorption slightly decreased in both scenarios while iron available for absorption decreased in the meat scenario only. Increasing pulse consumption to two portions/week could modestly improve the sustainability of diets when pulses replace meat but not starches. Cultural acceptability of that substitution still needs to be proven, and iron and zinc status of individuals at risk of deficiency should be monitored.
ISSN:2072-6643
2072-6643
DOI:10.3390/nu13093059