The whole-food plant-based diet: what does it entail and what lessons can it offer South African dietitians?

The global population continues to grow and unfortunately in a response to this, the food environment has changed dramatically. This change has primarily brought about an increase in the affordability, availability and acceptability of many ultraprocessed foods. Research has shown that the global obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic can be linked to the frequent consumption of these highly processed foods, mainly due to their energy, saturated fat, sugar and/or salt content. As a result, the movement towards a diet consisting of mainly whole – and minimally processed foods – is now being motivated. Avoidance of ultra-processed foods is also the main focus of many Latin American countries’ newly released national food based dietary guidelines.