Nestle M
Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University, NY 10012-1172, USA.
Proc Nutr Soc. 1999 May;58(2):211-8. doi: 10.1017/s0029665199000300.
An ideal diet is one that promotes optimal health and longevity. Throughout history, human societies have developed varieties of dietary patterns based on available food plants and animals that successfully supported growth and reproduction. As economies changed from scarcity to abundance, principal diet-related diseases have shifted from nutrient deficiencies to chronic diseases related to dietary excesses. This shift has led to increasing scientific consensus that eating more plant foods but fewer animal foods would best promote health. This consensus is based on research relating dietary factors to chronic disease risks, and to observations of exceptionally low chronic disease rates among people consuming vegetarian, Mediterranean and Asian diets. One challenge to this consensus is the idea that palaeolithic man consumed more meat than currently recommended, and that this pattern is genetically determined. If such exists, a genetic basis for ideal proportions of plant or animal foods is difficult to determine; hominoid primates are largely vegetarian, current hunter-gatherer groups rely on foods that can be obtained most conveniently, and the archeological record is insufficient to determine whether plants or animals predominated. Most evidence suggests that a shift to largely plant-based diets would reduce chronic disease risks among industrialized and rapidly-industrializing populations. The accomplish this shift, it will be necessary to overcome market-place barriers and to develop new policies that will encourage greater consumption of fruits, vegetables and grains as a means to promote public health.
理想的饮食是一种能促进最佳健康和长寿的饮食。纵观历史，人类社会根据可获得的食用植物和动物发展出了各种饮食模式，这些模式成功地支持了生长和繁殖。随着经济从匮乏转向富足，与饮食相关的主要疾病已从营养缺乏转变为与饮食过量相关的慢性病。这种转变导致科学界越来越达成共识，即多吃植物性食物、少吃动物性食物最有利于促进健康。这一共识基于将饮食因素与慢性病风险相关联的研究，以及对食用素食、地中海饮食和亚洲饮食的人群中慢性病发病率异常低的观察。对这一共识的一个挑战是这样一种观点，即旧石器时代的人食用的肉类比目前建议的要多，而且这种模式是由基因决定的。如果存在这种情况，那么很难确定植物性或动物性食物理想比例的遗传基础；类人猿灵长类动物大多是素食者，当前的狩猎采集群体依赖最容易获得的食物，而且考古记录不足以确定植物还是动物占主导地位。大多数证据表明，转向以植物性食物为主的饮食将降低工业化和快速工业化人群中的慢性病风险。为实现这一转变，有必要克服市场障碍，并制定新政策，鼓励更多地消费水果、蔬菜和谷物，以此作为促进公众健康的一种手段。
