Traditional Mexican Diet Healthy, Environmentally Friendly

Poor eating habits in Mexico contribute to high rates of overweight, obesity, and diabetes in adults and schoolchildren. In addition, food systems are responsible for one third of greenhouse gases. With these ideas in mind, the Medscape Spanish edition had an exclusive conversation with the coauthors of a recent article published in Nature Food, Juan Rivera Dommarco, emeritus researcher at Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health (INSP), and Mishel Unar-Munguía, head of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Nutrition at the INSP’s Research Center on Nutrition and Health. The conversation revealed how the new Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines are environmentally friendly, affordable for families, and beneficial for the health of the Mexican population. A triple advantage can be achieved by shifting the current diet toward that of the recommended Guidelines.

Why the New Guidelines?

“The Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines for the Mexican population, published in 2023, aim to reduce meat consumption and raise awareness about eliminating sugary drinks and ultraprocessed foods from diets, as these not only contribute to the triple burden of poor nutrition, the obesity epidemic, overweight, and malnutrition but also have a significant environmental impact due to biodiversity loss in land use and their high carbon footprint and water usage,” said Rivera Dommarco. The guidelines recommend increasing the intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, a proposal that aligns with patterns suggested in other diets considered healthy and sustainable, such as the one published by the EAT-Lancet Commission and the version adapted for the Mexican population by Rivera Dommarco and collaborators in 2021.

The new guidelines were developed to encompass all dimensions of sustainability: Ensuring patients’ health and well-being, promoting equity, minimizing environmental impact, and being accessible, safe, and culturally relevant. “In addition, the guidelines emphasize the importance of physical activity, reducing food waste, breastfeeding, hydration, and shared meals, all with a gender-focused approach in which all family members, not just women, are involved in food preparation and other activities related to eating,” said Unar-Munguía.

According to the study published by the interviewees in Nature Food, diets derived from the new guidelines are 21% more economical, require 30% less land use for production, and generate 34% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the current Mexican diet, as described in the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2016. This observation is particularly true in Mexico City and other urban areas with high prevalence of Westernized diets. It is worth noting that in terms of cost, other diets considered healthy and sustainable, such as the Mediterranean diet, tend to be more expensive than those proposed in the new guidelines.

The experts explained that these Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines, besides involving various actors and processes within food systems, are planned with a short- and medium-term view in the hope of changing Mexican eating patterns, public policies, and supply chains from production to consumption, ultimately aiming to establish more sustainable and nutritious diets in the future. “The idea is that, if implemented successfully, the transition will be gradual and achievable,” said Rivera Dommarco.

Encouraging Healthy Diets

“We know that eating patterns vary greatly among the Mexican population,” said Rivera Dommarco, “so the changes in habits that a person living in the urban north of the country, in Mexico City and the state of Mexico, or in the rural south needs to make are different, given that their current diets are quite distinct.” In the study, the authors explained that in northern states, people consume more animal-derived foods and processed products, as well as more fruits and vegetables, but fewer legumes and whole grains. On the other hand, “in the rural south, people currently maintain more traditional diets like those recommended in the guidelines, which are characterized by low meat, dairy, and processed product consumption, and high grain and legume consumption, just needing to increase the intake of nuts, fruits, and vegetables.”

Hence, the interviewees recommend that doctors at all levels of care consider the existing differences in current habits to tailor their recommendations. “For example,” said Rivera Dommarco, “segments of higher and middle socioeconomic status in the northern part of the country, in urban regions, consume much more meat than recommended by the guidelines. It would be advisable to recommend less Westernized diets in these sectors, with fewer animal-derived products and processed meats, encouraging more grains, fiber, tortilla, and legume consumption.” On the other hand, “in lower socioeconomic segments in the southern part of the country, in rural regions, the guidelines could be applied to increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and nuts like seeds and peanuts, as they currently consume adequate amounts of meat, tortillas, and legumes like beans.”

In essence, “we should distance ourselves from ultraprocessed industrialized products and return to traditional Mexican cuisine, with its regional variations. We should maintain the recently adopted Western salads to increase vegetable consumption, although this is also present in our abundant variety and tradition of vegetable soups,” said Rivera Dommarco. “We should strive to include more nuts, like seeds and peanuts, which some classic recipes like pipián include.”

“It is important to fully understand the scope of the guidelines because they segment recommendations for different groups: Pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents,” said Unar-Munguía. “It is worthwhile for health personnel, educators, and parents to access the materials developed in the Massive Open Online Courses of the National Institute of Public Health, where they will find tools to improve the communication of these recommendations and even get ideas on how to make substitutions in diets to successfully achieve these habit changes.”

Contrasting motivations can lead different age groups to adopt the guidelines and change their daily decisions. “I see an opportunity for young people, who have great concern for the environment, to take concrete responsible actions through applying the guidelines, making individual daily decisions about consumption, and thus contributing to the health of the planet. Although food production systems are not yet changing, individual change is important and has a positive impact,” said Unar-Munguía. On the other hand, adults, especially women concerned with safeguarding their family’s health, are more likely to embrace these new guidelines that help them achieve healthier diets.

Unlike diets like the Mediterranean, which include fish as an important protein source, “Mexico’s new guidelines recommend fish only 1 day per week and of certain types of fish — especially smaller ones. A comprehensive analysis among experts during the guidelines’ development recognized that for various reasons, such as environmental issues like peak national extraction and health concerns like high heavy metal content, it was better to limit it to just 1 day,” said Unar-Munguía.

Next Steps?

“Further estimates could make the guidelines more precise, including the impact of different crops and the variability in water scarcity in different regions of the country, which could make certain foods in specific areas less advisable owing to their increased environmental footprint,” said Unar-Munguía. “For now, we recommend consuming locally produced and in-season foods.”

“Finally,” added Rivera Dommarco, “it is important to mention the 2024 General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Nutrition, whose regulations we hope to have soon, as a substantial step toward transforming food systems in Mexico to prevent noncommunicable diseases and to promote sustainability.” Based on the human right to nutritious, sufficient, and quality food enumerated in Article 4 of the Constitution, this law emphasizes the best interests of the child and proposes a scheme to plan, manage, and monitor actions to improve the quality of sustainable and healthy nutrition through the National Intersectoral Health, Nutrition, Environment, and Competitiveness System at all government levels. “If implemented properly, it would have a positive impact on normative baskets, government public purchases, and food in schools. It would strengthen agroecological food production in rural areas and integrate strategies to reduce food waste. Proper planning, operation, and management of food systems are essential, as failing to do these things can jeopardize the nutritional and food security of current and future generations.”

These guidelines can positively influence the entire food system, from production to consumption and waste. For their proper adoption, it is necessary for various societal actors, such as chefs, healthcare workers, educators, communicators, community leaders, and families, to promote the recommendations derived from the Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines. Changing Mexicans’ eating habits can promote a healthier population with fewer chronic diseases while caring for the planet.

Rivera Dommarco and Unar-Munguía reported having no relevant financial relationships.

This story was translated from the Medscape Spanish edition using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.