Mexicans prefer red and ultra-processed meats, over beans and corn

Food consumption in Mexico It has socioeconomic, demographic and geographic determinants. In the south, especially in rural areas, the diet is preserved based on corn and bean, while in the north and in the cities a high intake of red meat prevails, which damages health and impedes sustainability, revealed a study carried out by experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

“The traditional Mexican diet, which was previously predominant in the country, is now the main diet for a small proportion of the population that barely makes it to the 6%”explained the researcher at the UNAM Institute of Geography, Louise Guibrunet, in a statement issued this Sunday.

“He 94% remaining, beans and corn are replaced by wheat and meat. “This increase in the ‘globalized’ diet has serious consequences for health and sustainability,” he added.

This change is known as “nutritional transition” and it goes hand in hand with another that is epidemiological, which “refers to changes in the prevalence of diseases and causes of death,” explained the subject professor at the Faculty of Medicine and co-author of the research, Ana Gabriela Ortega.

“For example, before there were more infections and now chronic diseases are increasing,” Ortega pointed out.

In the work ‘Socioeconomic and demographic determinants of food consumption in Mexico’, published in the journal PLOS ONE, Ortega Ávila explained that “The nutritional transition contributes to people getting sick more frequently from diet-related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.”

In terms of sustainability, Guibrunet specified, “The high consumption of meat that replaces vegetable proteins such as beans is worrying. Beef, in particular, has a greater environmental impact.”

He explained that compared to growing a kilo of beans “To produce a kilo of meat, 30 to 100 times more greenhouse gases are emitted; six to 40 times more agricultural area is required; “four to seven times more water and it becomes eutrophic (that is, it provides excess inorganic nutrients from human activities) and 40 to 50 times more water.”.

The researchers identified four groups: ‘Basic foods‘, which has a relatively higher proportion of consumption of corn and legumes (beans), the 6% of the population.

The ‘prudent group’, who eat relatively more fruits, vegetables and dairy products, and incorporate foods in a balanced way, the 26% of the population.

There is also the group ‘High in meat’who consumes more of this product and cereals, the 60% of the population, in addition to the ‘Low in fruit’that is, more eggs, oils, fats and sugar, but a lower proportion of fruit, meat and vegetables, the 8% Of the inhabitants.

The experts pointed out important “recover the traditional Mexican diet to improve health, reduce environmental impacts and conserve the national biocultural heritage.”

They pointed out that in terms of health, “those close to the traditional diet protect against obesity and overweight, since their consumers have lower body fat, waist circumference and body mass index.””. Furthermore, adherence to the representative Mexican diet is associated with low blood cholesterol and insulin levels.

“In terms of sustainability, it is crucial to eat the majority of vegetable protein, such as beans, and that the crops are produced in an environmentally friendly way,” they pointed out.

They also explained that traditional agricultural systems, such as the milpa, ““They have benefits in terms of environmental services, since they preserve biodiversity (biological and cultural) and are more resilient to climate change.”

Regarding the gradual prohibition of the sale of soft drinks in educational institutions, in the last decade, they pointed out that it is a key public policy “in reducing the acquisition of ultra-processed foods that are harmful to health.”

In addition to Guibrunet and Ortega, Esperanza Arnés Prieto, researcher at the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies at the Center for Research in Environmental Geography, and Francisco Mora Ardila, academic technician at the Institute for Research in Ecosystems and Sustainability, both appear as co-authors. from UNAM.