Here’s all you need to know about the Diet-Environment relationship and its impact on your health

Alisha Alam | Nov 15, 2018, 17:48 IST
Are we killing the environment or is it killing us? When we look at what we eat and how we grow it, we find extensive evidence for damage both to our food from pollution and soil depletion and to our environment. Ecologically speaking, we are squandering the nutrients taken from the soil. And we are not replacing them fully. We have broken the ecological link wherein the nutrients from the soil used in growing food are consumed locally and then returned to that soil as compost and other waste. Not many people give much thought as to how their diet impacts the environment, the animals, and our future. And some people don't care at all. But it is a real problem as our diets are linked to the environment through the companies you fund and your personal emissions.

A researcher said that the world faces a challenge in trying to solve the diet, health, and environmental problems. “And these challenges are linked,” he added. According to Brian Halwell, a researcher for WorldWatch, vitamin C has declined by 20 percent, iron by 15 percent, riboflavin by 38 percent, and calcium by 16 percent. Meanwhile, a common thread of many recent expert reports has emphasized the need to intensify agricultural production to double food output by 2050. Limiting or eliminating meat from your diet won't just benefit the environment, it will help you as well! Other benefits personal and general include decreased risk or type II diabetes, cancer, and coronary heart disease, conservation of rainforests, animal life, and water, less water pollution, and a lower amount of methane gas released into the atmosphere.

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