What’s the Difference Between Plant-Rich and Vegan?

With more people getting into plant-rich, vegetarian, and vegan diets, all the varying terms can get confusing. The plant-based diet, in particular, has gained significant popularity, with an increasing number of people exploring and adopting this way of eating.

Contrary to what many think, plant-based and vegan aren't the same thing. Our sustainable nutrition team is here to explain.

What is veganism?

A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including meat, dairy, eggs, and honey. However, veganism isn’t just about what you eat- it’s a whole lifestyle. Vegans also avoid using animal-derived materials like leather, wool, silk, and fur, opting for alternatives in clothing, accessories, and home goods. People choose veganism for many reasons, such as ethical concerns, environmental impact, and health benefits.

What is a plant-rich diet?

A plant-based diet, or as we like to call it, a plant-rich diet, focuses on consuming more foods from plant sources, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, and legumes. Unlike veganism, this approach doesn’t require you to eliminate meat or dairy products, instead, it encourages a lifestyle shift to center your diet around plant-rich foods with small amounts of animal-based products.

What are the main benefits of adopting a plant-rich diet?

The growing scientific agreement indicates that a diet abundant in plant-based foods offers substantial benefits for both our health and the environment. Additionally, the costs associated with diet-related illnesses and the resulting strain on the health system highlight the importance of dietary changes.

• Improved heart health- Plant-rich diets are associated with lower risk factors for heart disease and stroke [1,2].
• Improved Gut Health- Plant-rich diets are typically high in fiber, prebiotics, and beneficial plant compounds that promote a healthy gut microbiome [3].
• Enhanced weight management- Associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and reduced risk of obesity-related conditions [4].

Why should we consider shifting to a plant-rich diet?

“Food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability” [5]

What we eat matters not only for our own health but also for the health of the environment.

Our daily food choices play a significant role in tackling climate change, and other environmental issues including biodiversity loss, water pollution, and deforestation.

Food production relies on a stable climate, it’s a contributor to climate change but also affected by its consequences. Key global crops like soy, wheat, rice and cocoa are already being impacted by changing weather patterns. Some of the stats:

• Our global food system is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions [6]
• Half the world’s habitable land is used for food production, either to raise livestock or grow crops [7]
• 70% of biodiversity loss is driven by agriculture
• It’s also the reason for 70% of our freshwater withdrawals and 78% of freshwater pollution [8]

What are the main benefits of a plant-rich diet for the environment/ sustainability?

Reducing the impact of food on the environment - food production is a leading driver of a multitude of environmental issues including climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water pollution. Adopting a plant-rich diet is one the simplest actions we can take to reduce this.

Use land more efficiently and prevent deforestation - currently, half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture, primarily to raise livestock (either as land for animals to graze, or land to grow crops to feed them). It takes around 100x more land to produce 1 kilocalorie of beef compared to plant-based alternatives [7]. Yet meat and dairy products only provide 18% of our calories [9] (Poore Nemecek, 2019).

Just reducing meat intake makes a huge difference - low-meat diets can lower the environmental impact of what we eat by 30%, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing [4].

A plant-rich diet has the potential to reduce agricultural land use by 75% [3] (Ritchie, 2021), halve food-related carbon emissions, and reduce water pollution by 49% [10] (Gibbs and Cappuccio, 2022).

How can I shift towards a plant-rich diet?

Carefully planned plant-rich diets can supply all essential proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals while offering higher levels of fiber and phytonutrients.

Here are some simple tips to begin your transition:

• Load up on vegetables, making them the star of about half of your plate, aiming for a variety of colors from the rainbow offering a range of nutrients.
• Start your day with whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, or buckwheat paired with fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds. These also provide important nutrients like vitamin B12.
• Incorporate meat substitutes such as tofu, tempeh, and seitan which are all excellent sources of protein (a variety of protein sources ensure you get all the essential amino acids!).
• Set yourself the initial target to eat a meat-free meal at least three times a week based on beans, whole grains, and vegetables.

Remember, the focus is on what you can add to your plate, take it one step at a time. Embracing a plant-rich diet is about incorporating more nutritious plant-based foods into your meals, rather than focusing on restriction.

References:

1. Perez-Cornago A et al. Plant foods, dietary fiber and risk of ischemic heart disease in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Int J Epidemiol. 2021;50(1):212–22.

2. Tong TYN et al. The associations of major foods and fiber with risks of ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke: a prospective study of 418 329 participants in the EPIC cohort across nine European countries. Eur Heart J. 2020;41(28):2632– 40.

3. Tomova A et al. The Effects of Vegetarian and Vegan Diets on Gut Microbiota. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2019: 6(47)

4. Qian F et al. Association between plant-based dietary patterns and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med. 2019;179(10):1335–44.

5. Willet W et al. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet. 2019; 393(10170): 447-493.

6. Ritchie, H. Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Our World in Data. 2019. Date Accessed: 11/06/24. [Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions#article-citation].

7. Ritchie, H. If the world adopted a plant-based diet, we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares. Our World in Data. 2021. Date Accessed:11/06/24. [Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets#article-citation].

8. Scarborough P et al. Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts. Nature Food. 2023; 4: 565–574.

9. Poore J and Nemecek T. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science. 2018; 360: 987–992.

10. Gibbs J et al. Plant-Based Dietary Patterns for Human and Planetary Health. Nutrients. 2022; 14(8): 1614.