Manage Abstracts

Dietary habits of a population impacts the environment. To lessen the negative environmental effects, the No Harm Diet was designed and based on limiting harm to the organisms we receive our food from. Acceptable foods are plant or animal based and consumption does not harm the source. Fruits, dairy products and unfertilized eggs are acceptable while meat, seafood, grains, legumes, and vegetables are not since these foods harm the organism or subsequent generation.

Our aim was to determine if this diet meets Dietary Reference Intake [DRI] recommendations.

DRI evaluation was done by creating a one-month meal plan (2000 kcal per day), generating nutrient intakes using the Canadian Nutrient file and Nutritionist Pro software. SPSS was used to get descriptive statistics of the nutrient intakes and averages were compared to DRI recommendations.

Our meal plan nutrient averages met the DRIs with the exception of Omega 3, Omega 6, iodine, biotin, vitamin D and vitamin E. Nutritionist Pro limitations account for some of these. Supplements such as algae based Omega-3 supplements can mitigate these lows. Diet averages were compared to the diet nutrient adequacy of Canadians reported by the Canadian Community Health Survey 2004 (CCHS). Most nutrient average of the No Harm Diet were at or above the average intake of Canadians.

Our findings suggested that the No Harm Diet is nutritionally adequate.

It is important to consider all the elements that play a role in the foods we consume. Without a healthy planet we cannot have healthy food. The No Harm Diet takes into account not only our own health but the health of the world we live in. It is a sustainable and environmentally friendly diet that could be a better equipped diet to help combat environmental change.