Optimal diet for cardiovascular and planetary health

Abstract

### Learning objectives A healthy diet is the cornerstone of cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention.1 Dietary habits influence cardiovascular risk, through an effect on, for example, blood pressure (BP), blood lipids, obesity, inflammation and endothelial function.2 Over the past decades, knowledge about the components of a healthy diet has grown. Since there are few randomised controlled trials, most evidence on diet–disease relationships comes from prospective cohort studies, with inherent methodological problems, such as measurement error in dietary intake and correlations between dietary components. Still, the basic principles of a healthy diet can certainly be outlined. Since average dietary intake in most countries is far from optimal, the potential health gain is large, not only for CVDs but for other chronic diseases as well. Diet also has a large impact on the environment.3 Food production systems are associated with approximately 25% of the worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 80% of the loss of biodiversity, 70% of water withdrawals for irrigation and 40% of land use. Therefore, dealing with environmental challenges is also a major food system challenge, especially when the foreseen growth of the world population and increasing demands for meat are considered. The EAT-Lancet commission recently introduced ‘The Great Food Transformation’: an urgent call for a transformation of the whole food system, from production to consumption,to decrease the total environmental impact of our current and future food system.4 In this paper, we will discuss diet in relation to both cardiovascular and planetary health. ### Diet and cardiovascular health The focus of dietary …

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