COP27: ProVeg and PAN South Africa to reveal impacts of plant-based diets on diabetics

06 Oct 2022 --- Climate change represents the biggest threat to global health and nutrition, flags ProVeg International and Pan South Africa. The organizations will live-stream the results of their study on the effects of plant-based diets on diabetics in South Africa at the Food4Climate pavilion of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. 

“We cannot continue to feed our growing population a predominately animal-based diet,” Dr. Nanine Wyma, programs manager at ProVeg and managing director of Physicians Association for Nutrition (PAN) South Africa, tells NutritionInsight.

“Over three-quarters of the global agricultural land is dedicated to livestock production, which includes land used for grazing and feed production,” she continues. “Yet, livestock only provides 18% of the world’s calories; this is an inefficient use of resources.” 

Two birds with one stoneThe NGOs state that animal-based food systems are an inefficient use of resources.
According to Wyma, the study’s presentation at COP27 is meant to showcase how Africa plans to tackle the two looming and urgent problems of obesity and its related noncommunicable diseases and how to transform global food systems and increase food security in the face of a steadily warming planet.

The study included participants from rural and urban areas, informal settlements, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It includes data obtained not only from the diabetic participants but from their healthcare providers, which it says gives insight into both the private and public healthcare benefits of plant-based diets.

The non-governmental organizations hold the targets to lessen the effects of climate change that cannot be made without the adoption of new agro ecological food systems and moving away from animal-sourced food systems it says accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions. 

“In South Africa, it is projected that 50% of our women will be obese by 2030, a major risk for type 2 diabetes,” Wyma underscores. “A study published in 2022 reported that 22% of South Africans had diabetes. Alarmingly, 67% of South Africans were pre-diabetic or on the road to becoming diabetic, and a large portion of our population remains undiagnosed.”

“This study is the first step towards a larger, more powerful investigation into how plant-based nutrition can improve health outcomes in South Africa,” she explains. “We are excited that we have participants from all over the country that represent the unique diversity present in South Africa.”Plant-based diets may be able to reverse the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes while lessening the effects of climate change.

Saving lives while saving the environment?
The groups further state that animal-based foods emit twice as much CO2 as plant-based food systems. Moreover, they use less water, a dwindling commodity, and require less land. Furthermore, almost all health organizations agree that plant-based nutrition is the most effective way to manage obesity-related diseases. 

“Chronic noncommunicable diseases, also known as lifestyle diseases, are a major global health problem,” Wyma stresses. “Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death in the world and currently pose an equal and greater risk to global health than infectious diseases.”

“Improving your diet can prevent one in five deaths globally,” She continues. “Plant-based nutrition is particularly helpful for chronic noncommunicable diseases, and the most scientific evidence exists for plant-based nutrition in managing cardiovascular disease – heart disease, hypertension, ischaemic heart disease – Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some cancers.”

By William Bradford Nichols