Dr Kelly Lambert1, Mr Nathan Clay1, Prof Karen Charlton1, Dr Anita Stefoska Needham1, Dr Emma Heffernan1, Dr Xiatao Jiang3, Dr Hicham Cheikh Hassan2, Ms Jordan Stanford1
1University Of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia, 2Dept of Renal Medicine, ISLHD, Wollongong, Australia, 3UNSW Microbiome Research Centre, Kogarah, Australia
Aim: Quantify the climate footprint of four dietary patterns
Background: Food production and consumption contribute to climate change. Few studies have evaluated the climate footprint of CKD related dietary prescriptions and none in the Australian context.
Methods: A reference diet of all foods required for one week were compiled. This reference diet was based on usual intake of Australians. The quantities were then adapted to reflect the recommendations from the Australian adapted EAT- Lancet Planetary Health diet; usual care for a person with stage 3b CKD; and a novel plant-based diet for CKD aiming for 30 different plant foods per week. Total CO2 produced per day was estimated using an Australian specific Life Cycle Analysis calculator, and reported as C02 equivalents.
Results: Compared to the EAT Lancet Planetary health diet (1.04 kg CO2 per day), the novel plant-based diet produced 1.19 kg C02 per day. This was superior to usual care for CKD (1.83 kg CO2 per day) and the current Australian diet (2.38kg CO2 per day). The main contributors to CO2 production in the novel plant-based diet were cow’s milk, olive oil and cheese. This contrasted with beef and cheese in the current Australian diet; cow’s milk, olive oil and beef in the EAT Lancet Planetary health diet; and beef and milk in the usual care diet for CKD.
Conclusions: Plant based diets for CKD are environmentally superior to usual care for CKD stage 3b. The EAT- Lancet Planetary health diet was not carbon neutral in the Australian context. Future work is required to determine the affordability of these diets in economic terms.
Biography:
Dr Kelly Lambert is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian with qualifications in knowledge translation, health economics and management, and two decades of experience as a renal dietitian and a doctorate investigating health literacy and cognitive impairment in end stage kidney disease. Dr Lambert is the Academic Program Director for the Nutrition and Dietetics Program at the University of Wollongong. Dr Lambert’s research interests are intended to support people with kidney disease to live better lives and to progress the science about developing better patient education materials.