Environmental and public health co-benefits of consumer switches to immunity-supporting food

Abstract

During COVID-19, there has been a surge in public interest for information on immunity-boosting foods. There is little scientific support for immunity-supporting properties of specific foods, but strong evidence for food choice impacts on other health outcomes (e.g. risk of non-communicable disease) and environmental sustainability. Here, we relate online recommendations for “immunity-boosting” foods across five continents to their environmental and human health impacts. More frequently recommended food items and groups are plant based and have lower land use and greenhouse gas emission impacts plus more positive health outcomes (reducing relative risks of mortality or chronic diet-related diseases) per serving of food. We identify trade-offs between environmental outcomes of increasing consumption of recommended food items, with aquatic environment impacts increasing with food recommendation frequency. People’s reliance on the Internet for health information creates an opportunity to consolidate behaviour change towards consuming foods with multiple co-benefits. Our study identifies win–win options for nudging online information-seeking behaviour towards more sustainable choices for terrestrial biodiversity conservation and human health.

Plant-Based Innovations for the Transition to Sustainability: A Bibliometric and in-Depth Content Analysis

“…Shopping and trying out products is a necessary first step in the consumer's acceptance of new and unfamiliar products. Changing eating behavior and food consumption so that they become more sustainable requires not only direct influence and encouragement but also changes to legislation [150]. In this context, it is crucial to study actual consumer behavior, examine how consumers adopt new products and use them in various practices [130], and evaluate why consumers do not regularly commit to a meat-substitute diet [151].…”