Transitioning to sustainable dietary patterns: learnings from animal-based and plant-based dietary patterns in French Canadian adults

Gabrielle Rochefort; Didier Brassard; Sophie Desroches; Julie Robitaille; Simone Lemieux; Véronique Provencher; Benoît Lamarche

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1148137

Transitioning to sustainable dietary patterns: learnings from animal-based and plant-based dietary patterns in French Canadian adults

Front Nutr. 2023 Apr 17:10:1148137. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1148137. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Gabrielle Rochefort^{1

2}, Didier Brassard^{1

2}, Sophie Desroches^{1

2}, Julie Robitaille^{1

2}, Simone Lemieux^{1

2}, Véronique Provencher^{1

2}, Benoît Lamarche^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Centre Nutrition, Santé et Société (NUTRISS), Institut sur la Nutrition et les Aliments Fonctionnels (INAF), Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
² École de Nutrition, Faculté des Sciences de l'Agriculture et de l'Alimentation, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.

Abstract

Introduction: Many dietary guidelines promote the substitution of animal proteins with plant-based proteins for health benefits but also to help transitioning toward more sustainable dietary patterns. The aim of this study was to examine the food and nutrient characteristics as well as the overall quality and costs of dietary patterns consistent with lower intakes of animal-based protein foods and with higher intakes of plant-based protein foods among French Canadian adults.

Methods: Dietary intake data, evaluated with 24 h recalls, from 1,147 French-speaking adults of the PRÉDicteurs Individuels, Sociaux et Environnementaux (PREDISE) study conducted between 2015 and 2017 in Québec were used. Usual dietary intakes and diet costs were estimated with the National Cancer Institute's multivariate method. Consumption of animal- and plant-based protein foods was classified into quarters (Q) and differences in food and nutrient intakes, Healthy Eating Food Index (HEFI)-2019 scores and diet costs across quarters were assessed using linear regression models adjusted for age and sex.

Results: Participants with lower intakes of animal-based protein foods (Q1 vs. Q4) had a higher HEFI-2019 total score (+4.0 pts, 95% CI, 0.9 to 7.1) and lower daily diet costs (-1.9 $CAD, 95% CI, -2.6 to -1.2). Participants with higher intakes of plant-based protein foods (Q4 vs. Q1) had a higher HEFI-2019 total score (+14.6 pts, 95% CI, 12.4 to 16.9) but no difference in daily diet costs (0.0$CAD, 95% CI, -0.7 to 0.7).

Discussion: In a perspective of diet sustainability, results from this study among French-speaking Canadian adults suggest that a shift toward a dietary pattern focused primarily on lower amounts of animal-based protein foods may be associated with a better diet quality at lower costs. On the other hand, transitioning to a dietary pattern focused primarily on higher amounts of plant-based protein foods may further improve the diet quality at no additional cost.

Keywords: animal-based protein; diet cost; diet quality; dietary pattern; healthy eating food index (HEFI)-2019; plant-based protein; sustainability; sustainable diet.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR No. FHG 129921). The funding organizations were not involved in the writing of this article. GR received studentships from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS). DB holds a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship award (MFE-181852). JR was Chair of Nutrition at Université Laval, which is supported by private endowments from Pfizer, La Banque Royale du Canada, and Provigo-Loblaws. BL had received funding from the CIHR (ongoing), the FRQS (ongoing), Fonds de Recherche du Québec—Nature et Technologies (NT) (ongoing), the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux (MSSS) du Québec (ongoing), and Atrium Innovations (completed in 2019). BL was an Advisory Board member of the Canadian Nutrition Society.