Coalition for Metabolic Health Releases Statement on New EAT-Lancet Commission Report

WASHINGTON (October 20) — The EAT-Lancet Commission recently released its 2025 Report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems, offering updated analyses on nutrition, planetary boundaries, and food justice, and presenting renewed recommendations for a global “dietary transformation.”

In response, Dr. Bret Scher, medical director of the Coalition for Metabolic Health, issued the following statement:

“We share the Commission’s goal of improving human well-being, but have serious concerns about the scientific basis and public health consequences of its latest recommendations. The claim that eliminating or severely restricting animal-sourced foods is necessary—or even beneficial—for global health is not grounded in robust clinical evidence.”

“The 2025 report relies largely on observational nutrition-epidemiology studies rather than controlled clinical trials or biological research. Even the Commission acknowledges that its proposed diet falls short in nutrients such as vitamin B12, iron, iodine, and calcium—all vital for brain development, metabolic function, and overall health—and is inadequate for children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable populations.”

“If the goal is to guide the diets of billions, the science must be exceptionally rigorous and reflect the diversity of human nutritional needs. People’s metabolic responses differ by age, sex, genetics, and health status. Metabolic health can improve through a range of dietary patterns—for some, that may be a plant-based or vegetarian approach; for others, an

omnivore diet may be more effective. A one-size-fits-all framework risks deepening, not solving, today’s nutrition crisis.”

“Helping people everywhere live healthier lives will come not from restrictive, top-down mandates but from embracing dietary diversity and grounding policy in comprehensive metabolic science.”

For more information and to sign up for our periodic newsletter, visit coalitionformetabolichealth.org.

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About the Coalition for Metabolic Health

The Coalition for Metabolic Health (CMH) is a national alliance of researchers, clinicians, philanthropists, nonprofits, business leaders, and advocates ushering in a new era in healthcare by making metabolic health mainstream.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Ellie Pickel

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