Less Meat and Eggs, and More Plant-Based Foods - Recommends Germany’s New Nutrition Guidelines
The country’s nutrition society has updated its food pyramid to reflect the optimal nutritional advice - and now recommends a diet of at least 75% plant-based foods.
The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) is recommending a diet of at least 75 percent plant-based foods, as part of an update to its nutritional guidelines for a healthier and more sustainable society.
The food pyramid - an educational campaign and illustration that divides a diet into different food types - has been used for decades by many different countries to help show which foods we should be eating to keep healthy.
The pyramid, which typically has sections for meat, dairy, and fruit and vegetables, has transformed in recent years, and many guidelines including the US’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans now use a food circle or plate.
For Germany, its newly-redesigned food wheel now consists of over 75 percent plant-based foods, as seen in the illustration below.
Perhaps the biggest change in the guidelines within Germany’s updated food wheel is the new recommendation for meat consumption. The new advice lowers the former recommendation of 300-600 grams of meat and sausage per week, down to a maximum of 300 grams per week.
“But of course it can also be done without meat,” said Astrid Donalies from the DGE, reports national media, confirming that meat is an optional - and not essential - part of a healthy diet.
Elsewhere recommendations for the intake of other animal products have also been lowered. Dairy - which includes milk and cheese - has been dropped from three portions a day to two portions. To put that in perspective - that’s one glass of milk and a slice of cheese per day.
Egg intake is also limited to just one breakfast egg or fried egg per week - though this doesn’t include egg as a processed ingredient in foods like cake and sauces.
The daily intake of fruit and vegetables remains unchanged however, with the recommendation of at least five portions a day still in place. A new dedicated section for nuts (one portion a day) and legumes (a minimum of one portion a week) has also been added.
These updates to the food wheel all contribute to a recommended diet that consists of at least 75 percent plant-based foods and around a quarter that is of animal-derived foods.
The food wheel is not only optimized for health, but for the first time in the history of Germany’s nutrition guidelines, now incorporates national and global concerns on the climate too.
“A health-promoting and environmentally friendly diet goes hand in hand,” says the DGE.
Simple Swaps Can Make a Big Difference
The DGE says that people can adapt to the new changes and enjoy a health-promoting and more environmentally friendly diet just by making simple swaps.
“Instead of eating a large portion of meat, you can alternate pieces of meat and vegetables on a skewer. Or you could replace some of the minced meat in the Bolognese sauce with red lentils or green kernels.”
Let Species Unite help you get started on your plant-based journey today: sign up to our 30-Day Plant Power challenge to make cruelty-free choices when it comes to your food and fashion.
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