The Climate Footprint of Diabetic and Gluten-Free Diets in Australia
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Reference Diets
- The Australian adapted EAT Lancet Planetary Health Diet, found in Supplementary Material Table S1 [21]. The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) was designed to be both sustainable and nutritionally adequate. To reflect the Australian context, the diet was adapted to include Australian vegetables such as sweet potato, with cassava and coconut oil in the place of palm oil (Supplementary Material Table S2).
- The dietary intake of an Australian male aged 71 yrs was obtained from a previous study [22], whereby a food basket was constructed for an elderly couple based on the 2011 Australian Health Survey and with food intake consistent with the current Australian diet (Supplementary Material Table S3). The diet of the 71-yr-old male had significant amounts of energy from excessive discretionary food intake, with items generally high in saturated fats, added sugar, and salt, as well as meat intake exceeding the recommended levels.
- A meal plan for an adult with type 2 diabetes (Supplementary Material Table S4). This was developed based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines [12] and based on freely available dietary education material provided by Diabetes Australia [23]. The meal plan contained 3 carbohydrate exchanges in main meals and one exchange in mid-meals. The meal plan additionally included low-glycaemic-index items and was low in added sugars and saturated fat.
- A meal plan for an adult with coeliac disease (Supplementary Material Table S5). This was developed to meet the Australian Dietary Guidelines and to adhere to a strict gluten-free diet. The meal plan was constructed from the freely available dietary resources provided by Coeliac Australia [24].
2.3. Calculation of Climate Footprint
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. CO2 Produced by Diets
3.2. Contribution of Food Groups to CO2e
3.3. Dietary Modelling
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Diet | CO2e per Day (kg CO2e/kg) | CO2e per Week (kg CO2e/kg) | CO2e per Year (kg CO2e/kg) |
---|---|---|---|
Gluten-free diet | 2.51 | 17.57 | 916.15 |
Type 2 diabetes diet | 1.35 | 9.45 | 492.75 |
Current Australian diet | 2.38 | 16.63 | 864.87 |
Planetary Health Diet | 1.04 | 7.29 | 379.09 |
Food Group | Current Australian Diet (Kg CO2e/Kg) | Planetary Health Diet (Kg CO2e/Kg) | Gluten-Free Diet (Kg CO2e/Kg) | Type 2 Diabetes (Kg CO2e/Kg) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fruit | 0.13 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.18 |
Vegetable | 0.08 | 0.13 | 0.38 | 0.17 |
Grains | 0.12 | 0.01 | −0.01 | 0.12 |
Dairy and Alternatives | 0.45 | 0.29 | 0.92 | 0.54 |
Meat and Alternatives | 0.77 | 0.37 | 1.01 | 0.16 |
Discretionary Foods | 0.82 | 0.18 | 0.13 | 0.18 |
Total CO2e Per Day | 2.37 | 1.04 | 2.51 | 1.35 |
Largest Contributors—Food Item | Current Australian Diet (kg CO2e per Day) # | Planetary Health Diet (kg CO2e per Day) # | Gluten-Free Diet (kg CO2e per Day) | Type 2 Diabetes Diet (kg CO2e per Day) |
---|---|---|---|---|
First | Beef (0.59) | Whole milk (0.26) | Beef (0.36) | Whole milk (0.27) |
Second | Beef sausages (0.32) | Olive oil (0.12) | Cheese (0.34) | Yoghurt (no sugar, no fruit) (0.16) |
Third | Cheese (0.15) | Beef meat (0.10) | Chicken (0.31) | Fish (mixed species) (0.15) |
Fourth | Meat pie (0.11) | Fish (mixed species) (0.08) | Whole milk (0.30) | Custard (0.12) |
Fifth | Processed chicken (0.10) | Chicken (0.07) | Yoghurt (no sugar, no fruit) (0.21) | Cheese (0.11) |
Food Group | Gluten-Free Diet per Day (Kg CO2e/Kg) | Revised Climate Footprint Version of Gluten-Free Diet per Day (Kg CO2e/Kg) | Type 2 Diabetes per Day (Kg CO2e/Kg) | Revised Climate Footprint Version of Type 2 Diabetes Diet per Day (Kg CO2e/Kg) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fruit | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.18 | 0.18 |
Vegetable | 0.38 | 0.38 | 0.17 | 0.17 |
Grains | −0.01 | −0.01 | 0.12 | 0.12 |
Dairy and alternatives | 0.92 | 0.65 | 0.54 | 0.30 |
Meat and alternatives | 1.01 | 0.55 | 0.16 | 0.07 |
Discretionary foods | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.18 | 0.18 |
Total per day | 2.51 | 1.78 | 1.35 | 1.02 |
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O’Brien, R.; Cosier, D.; Lambert, K. The Climate Footprint of Diabetic and Gluten-Free Diets in Australia. Dietetics 2025, 4, 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/dietetics4020012
O’Brien R, Cosier D, Lambert K. The Climate Footprint of Diabetic and Gluten-Free Diets in Australia. Dietetics. 2025; 4(2):12. https://doi.org/10.3390/dietetics4020012
Chicago/Turabian StyleO’Brien, Romilly, Denelle Cosier, and Kelly Lambert. 2025. "The Climate Footprint of Diabetic and Gluten-Free Diets in Australia" Dietetics 4, no. 2: 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/dietetics4020012
APA StyleO’Brien, R., Cosier, D., & Lambert, K. (2025). The Climate Footprint of Diabetic and Gluten-Free Diets in Australia. Dietetics, 4(2), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/dietetics4020012