THE VEGAN DIET IS LESS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTING. LACTO-OVO VEGETARIAN DIETS ARE 280% HEAVIER FOR THE PLANET AND OMNIVOROUS DIETS 430% MORE - IN THEORY. IN PRACTICE INSTEAD, THE DIFFERENCES INCREASE, REVEALS A STUDY MADE IN ITALY

It is not really news, but rather a further confirmation of what we already know. The vegan diet, beyond animal activists, health-consciousness, and so on, is undoubtedly the least burdensome to the environment. Now, an article written by Italian authors and published in the international scientific journal "Foods", sustains this theory as well. The study calculated and compared the environmental impact of three different types of diet: vegan (100% vegetable), lacto–ovo vegetarian (includes dairy products and eggs but excludes any kind of meat and fish) and omnivorous.

The result confirms the already numerous studies on this subject that the vegan diet has by far the lowest impact, and it provides precise numerical data. The article is titled "Total Environmental Impacts of three dietary patterns in relation to the content of animal and vegetable foods", using the analysis method known as "LCA" (Life Cycle Assessment)- a standardized procedure for the evaluation of energy used and impacts on the environment caused by the activities under study.

In this case, the activity was the production of foods that comprise the diets examined (formed by the ingredients that a person consumes in one week). The 3 diets were all based on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines in 2010, providing information and advice for choosing a healthy diet consisting of nutrient-rich foods.

According to the study, 100% plant-based diets have less of an impact than others, regardless of the calorie content. Next are the lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets and last the omnivorous diet, which has the greatest impact. Considering a 2.400-calorie diet, the impact of a vegetarian diet is 2.8 times greater (280%) than vegan while an omnivorous diet is 4.63 times (463%). Experts explained, "These numbers are significant. They indicate how much more sustainable a 100% vegetarian diet is". But the results of this study do not stop there, because it must be emphasized that the omnivorous diet suggested by the guidelines is not the average omnivorous diet consumed in industrialized countries. The lacto-ovo-vegetarian and omnivorous diets in the guidelines are largely based on plants, contrary to what happens in reality (both omnivore and lacto-ovo-vegetarian). This is the reason why the numbers resulting from the comparison with the vegan diet are relatively low: the difference is much greater in practice than in theory.