In an era where dietary choices have far-reaching consequences, Prof. Danit Shahar from the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev aims to unravel the complex relationship between our food choices, general well-being and environmental impact, emphasizing the importance of healthy and sustainable diets.
"My research focuses on the relationship between diet and health across age groups," she says. Prof. Shahar is a pioneer in new ways to assess diets, combining traditional methods with cutting-edge techniques. Her approach evaluates different food exposures, from dietary patterns and processed foods to pesticides, environmental impacts and additives. Shahar investigates how these factors influence health outcomes such as obesity, diabetes, geriatric functionality and overall nutritional status.
Prof. Shahar's research methods are holistic, assessing each component of the nutritional equation. "High consumption of one product always comes at the expense of something else in the overall diet," she emphasizes. "And in our research, we try to tie all the variables together."
Her research is breaking new ground by linking sustainable food choices to improved health outcomes. "We created a food library that covers the ecological footprint based on data provided by one of my colleagues. Based on this work, we calculated the environmental impact of the Israeli diet and are now working on strategies to promote a healthy and sustainable diet."
By carefully evaluating the land use, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with different foods, she highlights the significant ecological footprint of our diet. "It turns out," she said, "that the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits and vegetables, olive oil and fish, and very low in meat and dairy consumption, is extremely sustainable in terms of its emissions."
For example, Greek and Italian diets, which are based on home cooking and very rich in olive oil, are good examples. "Although," she adds, "even these two cuisines also have other, less favorable products."
One of the advantages of the Mediterranean diet is that it is low in animal products, which are characterized by very high greenhouse gas emissions. "If beef is 100 percent of the emissions scale," she said, "then the emissions related to hummus will be only 1 percent. That's how big the gap is."
Israel is unique in this respect, as the problem is not related to meat, Prof. Shahar points out. "In Israel," she said, "high consumption of milk and other dairy products results in significant greenhouse gas emissions." Her goal is to find strategies to reduce this impact without taking drastic measures: "We aim for gradual reductions rather than drastic measures, so that we can observe the real impact," she says. Her studies show that even modest dietary changes can have a significant impact on obesity, cognitive function in the elderly, and concentration.
Prof. Shahar's research also focuses on the prevalence of ultra-processed foods in modern diets and the far-reaching consequences of this. "Nutrition is just fascinating," says Prof. Shahar. "It's everything, we all eat. It's connected to everyone and from a behavioral perspective it's very important."
"In public health," she adds, "real life is your teacher, and you are constantly learning. That is especially true in my research, where we study not only the whole field of nutrition in old age and how it affects cognitive and physical function, but also every related aspect. For example, the field of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has recently come to the public's attention because of the diseases it causes, which are becoming increasingly prevalent."
Ultra-processed foods undergo multiple industrial processes and are products that cannot be recreated in someone's home kitchen. They often contain high levels of added sugars, unhealthy fats, and artificial additives such as preservatives, colorings, and flavor enhancers. For example, sugary drinks, packaged snacks, ready-made meals, and reconstituted meat products.
Prof. Shahar hesitates to even call them "food." "In Hebrew," she says, "'food' is derived from the word 'feed,' which conjures up the idea of someone providing their body with nutrition. While UPF might mimic something that could be called 'food,' it is definitely not nourishing, as most of these products are far removed from real nutrition."
Unafraid to delve into the complexities of her field, Prof. Shahar's foray into public health nutrition is driven by a deep curiosity about the interplay between diet, health, and the environment. "You often see that when people go on a diet, they don't just eat less," she explains, "they change their entire way of eating-which is beneficial. They'll find that they sleep better and have more energy long before they say anything about weight loss."
She regrets the fact that more emphasis is placed on developing new products than on improving existing ones, jokingly adding that "the cucumber has no lobbyists".
"We are talking about the entire food system, starting with the sowing of the seeds, the growing of the cow and the years until it becomes fertile. The effect here is all-encompassing, and even this is an underestimation, because for example food waste is often omitted. The lack of knowledge has a very significant impact on the ground."
"Eating a meat substitute made from pea and beet protein is never going to be the same as eating the ingredients in their original form," she says. "If the factory had taken the vegetables, chopped them up, added a binding agent like egg or flaxseed, and baked them as they are, there would be no problem. The problem is that it is a product that needs to be kept in the freezer for a long time, so it has to have extra ingredients that compromise its nutritional value."
Prof. Shahar hopes her research will have a significant impact on the wider community. By highlighting the critical connections between diet, health and the environment, she hopes to inspire community interventions that implement gradual changes in eating habits, "so that everyone can know what they are eating, and not see it as something unimportant or elitist. It has to come from a place of commitment to ourselves as human beings."
To bridge the gap between dietary choices and their wider impact, Prof. Shahar is particularly passionate about influencing the eating habits of young people, as they will shape the future of our planet. "I believe in education," she concludes, "in actually implementing these ideas and creating buy-in and encouraging people to be proactive."
Despite the challenges, Prof. Shahar emphasizes her aspiration to work with the industry to create change, not necessarily against it. "The goal is not to eliminate an industry; it's part of our modern world," she exclaims. "The point is to understand what you're eating so you can make informed choices. I'm pushing for the industry to be vigilant, even though these changes will inevitably cost more money, and for the public to demand that they make such changes so that food is closer to the source."
This article was written in collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.The Environment and Climate Change portal is produced in partnership with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post retains all editorial decisions regarding content.
