Recommendations
To achieve this, it has defined new recommendations on consuming meat, dairy, and starchy vegetables, specifically red meat. The aims of this are:
- to lessen the impact of the meat and dairy industries on the environment,
- theoretically, to drastically decrease these food groups' saturated fat and sugar intake. [2] Today's consumption of meat and dairy often exceeds nutritional recommendations. [4]
The planetary health diet recommendations have an optimal caloric intake and consist largely of a diversity of plant-based foods, and small amounts of animal source foods. They contain unsaturated rather than saturated fats, and limited amounts of refined grains, highly processed foods and added sugars.
Scientific targets for a planetary health diet, with possible ranges, for an intake of 2500 kcal/day.| Food | Macronutrient intake
(grams per day)
(possible range) | Caloric intake
(kcal per day) | Example | Comparison |
|---|
| Vegetables | 300 (200–600) | 78 | | |
| Dairy foods | 250 (0–500) | 153 | One cup of milk per day | |
| Whole grains | 232 | 811 | | |
| Fruits | 200 (100–300) | 126 | | |
| Tubers or Starchy vegetables | 50 (0–100) | 39 | Two medium-sized potatoes or servings of cassava per week | |
| Unsaturated oils | 40 (20–80) | 354 | | |
| Added sugars | 31 | 120 | Two tablespoons of honey per day | |
| Palm oil | 6.8 (0–6.8) | 60 | | |
| Lard or tallow | 5 (0 to 5) | 36 | | |
| Protein sources: |
|
| Legumes | 75 (0–100) | 284 | | |
| Nuts | 50 (0–75) | 291 | | |
| Chicken and other poultry | 29 | 62 | One boneless, skinless chicken thigh every other day | |
| Fish | 28 | 40 | | |
| Beef, lamb and pork | 14 | 30 | One medium-size hamburger per week | Twice the average per capita consumption in South Asia, and the average amount of red meat eaten in Africa [5] |
| Eggs | 13 | 19 | One egg every third day (e.g., poached, made into pancakes, etc.) | Half the egg consumption in Japan and China; [6] six times the egg consumption in India [7] |
There are also other recommendations on the amounts of fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, and oil. This is because the diet is created around a total intake of 2,500 calories a day (to discourage overeating). But the main focus is on meat, eggs, dairy, and starchy vegetables. The EAT-Lancet Commission describes the planetary health diet as a "flexitarian diet, which is largely plant-based but can optionally include modest amounts of fish, meat and dairy foods." [2]
There are full-fledged options with even 1600 kcal, such as MED_EAT-IT. [8]
Response
The UK newspaper The Guardian [9] and the US news outlet CNN [10] have given the diet positive coverage.
Harry Harris, writing in New Statesman , was wary of claims that the diet could transform the world's food system, saying, “It seems churlish to keep placing the onus for climate change onto individual's [sic] behaviour, when we know that 100 companies are responsible for 71 per cent of global emissions." [11]
The World Health Organization withdrew its sponsorship of the EAT-Lancet event following criticism from Gian Lorenzo Cornado, Italy's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva. [5] [12] Cornado said that adopting one dietary approach for the whole planet would destroy traditional diets and cultural heritage, and that reducing meat and candy consumption would cause the loss of millions of jobs. [5]
In 2025, it was revealed that a PR firm sponsored by the dairy and meat industry orchestrated journalists and influencers for negative coverage. These groups were briefed to frame the diet as "radical," "out of touch," and "hypocritical". [13]
Comparison with recommended diet patterns
A 2020 comparison study found agreements between the planetary diet and the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The differences are in the recommended amounts of fruit, nuts, red meat, seeds, starchy vegetables and whole grains. [18]
A 2020 comparison study of the average Indian diet with the planetary diet found that the average Indian diet is considered unhealthy because of excessive consumption of cereals and processed foods, with insufficient protein, fruits, and vegetables. [19] [20]
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