The planetary health diet may help you live a longer, healthier life, study shows—here's how it compares to the Mediterranean diet

Eating a diet which consists of mostly fruits, vegetables and whole foods — is not only good for the planet but can also be good for your health.

"The planetary health diet [was] designed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, to try and see how we [can], on a global level, design a dietary pattern that meets people's nutritional needs," says Maya Vadiveloo, an associate professor in the department of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.

"But also address the issues that we see with the growing proportion of animal-based foods and how [production] contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and other markers that could adversely affect planetary health."

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the risk of premature death was lower by 30% for people who followed the planetary health diet in comparison to those who did not.

Whole-food, plant-based diets like the planetary health diet "tend to be very nutrient dense, so they end up being an important source of antioxidants and macro- and micronutrients that are ideal for the body," says Vadiveloo, who wasn't involved in the study.

Followers of the diet also had a 29% lower contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the study found.

"A single cow produces between 154 to 264 pounds of methane gas per year," according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That number only multiplies when you consider that 1.5 billion cattle are specifically raised for meat production, meaning at least 231 billion pounds of methane emissions are entering the atmosphere from meat production from cows alone, the agency reports.

But what makes the planetary health diet different from other popular eating patterns like the Mediterranean diet or the heart-healthy