Contrary to popular belief, a vegetarian diet is not the most reasonable and planet-friendly way to live. 


New studies find that managing a flexitarian diet, consisting of at least one portion of meat a day, has a lower carbon footprint than vegetarians who consume dairy products. 

Creative Market

According to a research by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, America it was found out that vegetarian diets are doing more harm than good. 


The study included around 140 countries and a number of dietary alternatives to study the least and most harmful way of consuming food regularly. 

Pinterest

As per the research, when vegetarians are giving up on meat and replacing that intake with dairy products (like cheese, yogurt and whipped cream), they are only slightly improving their carbon footprint, merely a fraction. 

Nutrition Advance

The alternative to dairy products can be fresh fruits, crunchy veggies and eating only once a day for sourcing protein and energy to your body. 

Heart.org

When making a steady comparison, the researchers start from the UK. 


Here, the average healthy two-thirds vegan diets contribute to approximately 762.7 kg of CO2 emissions per-person. 

In comparison, a vegetarian diet that includes diary releases 1,265.2 kg of carbon dioxide per person. 

Telegraph UK

One of the paper’s authors, Dr Keeve Nachman, spoke to The Telegraph and said: 

Our study found that in the UK, switching to a vegetarian diet that includes eggs and dairy is actually less helpful for reducing greenhouse gas emissions than a diet that includes meat, dairy and eggs for one of three meals, and is exclusively plant-based for the other two meals.
Healthline

The research that talks about consumption patterns also sharply indicates that meat production and consumption cannot be sustained at this level for long. 


It agrees that in order to bring climate change under control, meat consumption must be brought down globally.