The Association of Planetary Health Diet with the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Related Complications: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Nutritional interventions such as the planetary health diet, which the EAT-Lancet commission proposed, may be an effective strategy for reducing type 2 diabetes risks and its associated complications. The planetary health diet demonstrates the significant role of diet in associating human health with environmental sustainability and the significance of transforming food systems in order to ensure that the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement are achieved. Therefore, the aim of this review is to examine the association of the planetary health diet (PHD) with the risk of type 2 diabetes and its related complications. Method: The systematic review was conducted in line with established guidelines. The searches were carried out in health sciences research databases through EBSCOHost. The population, intervention, comparator and outcomes framework was used in order to define the research question and the search terms. The searches were carried out from the inception of the databases to 15 November 2022. Search terms including synonyms and medical subject headings were combined using Boolean operators (OR/AND). Results: Seven studies were included in the review and four themes were identified, including incidence of diabetes; cardiovascular risk factors and other disease risks; indicators of obesity and indicators of environmental sustainability. Two studies examined the association between the PHD and the incidence of type 2 diabetes and found that high adherence to the reference diet (EAT-Lancet reference diet) was correlated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. High adherence to the PHD was also associated with some cardiovascular risk factors and environmental sustainability. Conclusion: This systematic review has shown that high adherence to the PHD is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and may be associated with a lower risk of subarachnoid stroke. In addition, an inverse relationship was found between adherence to the PHD and markers of obesity and environmental sustainability. Adherence to the reference diet was also associated with lower values of some markers of cardiovascular risk. More studies are needed to fully examine the relationship between the planetary health diet, type 2 diabetes and its related conditions.

Nutritional Recommendations for the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…In a pro-Thieme German Diabetes Association: Clinical Practice Guidelines spective study of nearly 75,000 Mexican women, higher PHD adherence was associated with a lower incidence of T2DM [23]. This was also confirmed in a meta-analysis of seven studies [17].…”

“…In fact, this could result in a calcium, vitamin B12, iron, and zinc deficiency, which can be countered by modifying the originally proposed PHD [13]. The PHD presents a radical change in current dietary habits and its implementation in most countries requires a reduction in the consumption of red meat and sugar by about 50 % and an increase in the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts by more than 100 % [14][15][16][17].…”

Beneficios del consumo de dieta mediterránea en individuos con elevado riesgo cardiovascular: un patrón que debe convertirse en el común denominador

“…Analizando más allá el impacto de la dieta mediterránea sobre la salud cardiovascular, vale resaltar dos puntos que son importantes a la hora de sugerir o recomendar un plan dietario en una (41) sociedad, su sostenibilidad y adherencia . Teniendo en cuenta que la dieta mediterránea plantea un bajo consumo de carnes rojas y procesadas, y maximizar el consumo de proteína derivada de plantas, pescados y mariscos, esta concepción iría de la mano con la salud y dieta planetaria, que busca la (42)(43)(44) sostenibilidad alimentaria a largo plazo en la humanidad . Tal y como lo plantean diversos autores, el consumo de proteína animal es una carga económica y ambiental muy grande, por lo que esta alternativa, podría incluso traer beneficios indirectos en la interacción medio ambiental, que pudiera (45,46) traducirse en otros beneficios para la salud humana .…”

Benchmarking for healthy food stores: protocol for a randomised controlled trial with remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia to enhance adoption of health-enabling store policy and practice

“…Indigenous Peoples continually fight to redress the systemic economic, social and political inequities associated with the structures of colonisation and marginalisation that underpin this burden [ 18 , 19 ]. Improvements in diet through reduced consumption of unhealthy foods alongside increased consumption of healthy foods, could potentially prevent one in every five deaths globally [ 20 , 21 ].…”