Professor Tim Spector says cutting two food groups can boost health and wellbeing – The Mirror

Diet guru Professor Tim Spector has explained how slashing two major food groups from our diets can actually boost levels of essential minerals.

The professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and founder of the Zoe health app said that lessening the meat and dairy in diets would have big benefits – as well as being better for the planet. According to Prof Spector, not only does this help the environment, but it’s also a win for our gut microbes, leading to a host of health perks like reduced inflammation, pain, and a lower risk of diabetes, reports Wales Online.

He said: “Good news. Eating well for the planet is also good for your health. A study of 33,000 Americans looking at the Planetary Health Diet Index showed that those people that ate sustainably didn’t have problems of nutrition deficit from potassium iron levels or fibre.”

He added that there’s been a positive shift in dietary habits over the past two decades towards more planet-friendly eating: “And the encouraging signs were actually there was a slight improvement over the 20 years in how people were eating for the planet. Now there’s a long way to go, but it meant that people were eating slightly less red meat and slightly more vegetables, legumes, mushrooms, et cetera. So it’s really important to realise that when you eat sustainably for the planet, you’re also eating well for your gut microbes and eating well for your general health.”

The planetary health diet index suggests a shift towards a diet dominated by whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, with meat and dairy taking a backseat. Sharing insights on Instagram, the expert noted: “Compared with current eating patterns, adopting this diet will require global consumption of red meat and sugar to decrease by 50% and double consumption of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and legumes.”

He further explained: “This planetary health diet is not only more sustainable for a food system to feed a growing population, expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, but as this research and our own research @ZOE shows, will also better support our health.”