Based on a meta-analysis of studies following millions of people in their diets for years,

better adherence to more plant-based diets, especially once emphasizing healthy plant foods,

is beneficial for lowering the risks of major chronic conditions, including

type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, as well as premature death in general.

Moving to diets with fewer animal-sourced foods could end up saving the lives of millions

of people every year, in addition to saving trillions of dollars.

Here's how many lives might be saved by a healthy global diet, which is like more of a

Mediterranean cut down on red meat and sugar, eat lots of fruits and vegetables diet, versus

a vegetarian diet versus a vegan diet.

So we're talking major health benefits eating fewer animal-sourced foods.

Healthier diets could save 5 million lives a year.

If the world went vegetarian, we'd save 7 million lives a year.

And if the world started eating vegan, we might save 8 million lives per year.

So the question is less what to do and more how to do it.

In other words, the main problem is the implementation gap, which is likely a result of things

like inertia, individual addictions, commercial interests, and economic issues. For example,

why did the World Health Organization pull support from a

global initiative promoting more plant-based foods? Yeah, eating that way might save millions of

lives, but a global move to such a diet could lead to the loss of millions of jobs linked

to animal agriculture. The total or nearly total elimination of foods of animal origin

would destroy cattle farming and many other activities related to the production of meat and dairy

products. The initiative urging for a centralized control of our dietary choices risked

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