Abstract
An increasing number of people are interested in following a dietary pattern that is environmentally sustainable and water saving. However, consumers are mostly unable to recognize evidence-based information on food and nutrition and efficiently manage their diet. We conducted a narrative review aiming to support professionals to guide their assisted people that decide to follow a dietary pattern chosen for environmental or ethical reasons. We reviewed three scientific databases and Google Scholar, searching for papers that deal with the water consumption of widespread and well known dietary patterns (Healthy and Balanced Diet, Western Diet, and Vegan and Vegetarian diets). Our results suggest that moving toward a low-animal-based diet favors a reduction in water consumption, but current evidence is not sufficient to establish which is the winner in terms of water saving by comparing Vegetarian and Vegan diets.
Highlights
To date, an increasing number of people are deciding to follow a specific diet for ethical and environmental reasons [1]
We reviewed titles and abstracts for selection and n = 252 items were considered for the revision of the full text [18]. These papers focus on environmental impact in terms of water consumption, excluding papers focused on other aspects of the environmental impact of diets such as, for instance, Carbon Footprint, cropland use, or nitrogen and phosphorus release
The environmental sustainability of a diet is a wide and complex topic and includes water consumption: the availability of fresh water on the
Summary
An increasing number of people are deciding to follow a specific diet for ethical and environmental reasons [1]. Despite the large amount of information and the interest in food and diet, people often struggle to efficiently manage their diet and make decisions about it [3]. As a sort of confirmation, while television programs regarding food and, more generally, information about foodstuffs have been exploding, the time spent on cooking, growing, or eating food by consumers is steadily falling [4]. The result of this phenomenon is people’s alienation in relation to the food they consume and the relative incapacity to manage their diet. Block et al [3] attributed a central role to food literacy: it can deeply influence human health and well-being through educational food programs and initiatives that inform people and spread individual knowledge, motivation, and ability, in addition to providing the opportunity to apply that knowledge with the aim to use food adequately [3]
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