Just to reassure you: you don’t have to stop having a cheese sandwich or a bowl of yoghurt for breakfast from today onwards. “But it is good to be aware of the footprint of the products you eat,” says professor of nutrition, public health and sustainability Pieter van ‘t Veer of Wageningen University.
172 grams of milk per day
Van ‘t Veer conducted research into dairy consumption and the alternatives. He concluded that someone who exchanges animal dairy for soy drinks, coconut milk or other plant-based alternatives in one day would save 16 percent of emissions and almost 10 liters of water.
How much protein do you need?
On average, healthy people need 0.83 grams of protein per kilo per day. So about 58 grams of protein for someone weighing 70 kilos.
To make it a little more clear: a glass of milk contains 8.5 grams of protein, an 80 gram piece of beef contains 23.8 grams of protein. Here you can see what is included per product.
On average, men between the ages of 19 and 50 consume 91 to 98 grams of protein. Women between 19 and 50 years old eat an average of 68 to 72 grams of protein.
Source: Nutrition Center
So we consume quite a bit more dairy than we need. But what about emissions? Which types of dairy produce a lot of emissions, and which have fewer?
Cheese in particular scores high when it comes to dairy and greenhouse gas emissions. In the overview below (source: Poore & Nemecek) you can see which products contribute the most to emissions. Red meat scores high, but cheese is already third on the list:
A diet containing meat and dairy causes more than twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as a diet without meat and dairy, Van ‘t Veer concluded. But we don’t necessarily need to drastically reduce our dairy consumption, he says.
Milk instead of beef, that’s possible
“Less meat? Yes, that is definitely necessary. Beef especially,” says Van ‘t Veer. And according to the professor, milk can be a good substitute for beef. “It is about the intake of high-quality proteins. These are found in milk.”
If you indeed eat less beef and drink more milk, you will also have a smaller impact on the climate. Because as you can see above, beef is the product with the largest footprint.
Of course, you can also live without milk, as the vegans in our country prove, Van ‘t Veer also says. “But that does require attention and knowledge. It can certainly be done plant-based, so you have to look carefully at which protein is easily digestible. You have to look at sensible combinations.”
Substitute for milk
Combinations are important, but so is quantity. Because you should consume 30 percent more of vegetable proteins than of the animal version, nutritionist Suzan Tuinier previously told RTL News. They are less well absorbed by the body.
Tuinier: “If you choose a plant-based version of milk, soy drink is the best choice. The drinks with oats and coconut that are also widely sold actually contain very little protein.”
Sustainable eating expert Paulien van der Geest of the information organization Milieu Centraal states that of all the food we consume at home, meat and dairy are the biggest polluters when it comes to the climate. “So you can make big steps there.”
But she also points to health. “We use too much dairy. There are risks involved. To such an extent that the Health Council recently came up with a study and said: most people would be better off eating vegetarian.”
‘Don’t take cheese instead of chicken’
Van der Geest, like Van ‘t Veer, states that dairy can also be healthy, but in moderation. She also has a message for people who want to do something to reduce consumption: “Look at what you replace it with. Chicken instead of cheese, for example, makes little sense for emissions, replacing it with legumes will make more of a difference.” .”
People often focus on awareness, says Van der Geest. “Just try it for a day. Maybe it will give you a more extensive kitchen.”
2024-03-04 16:17:18
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