Before the cavalcade of 'you can't say that', it's not P.C. starts, I am referring to those who have actually been making pigs of themselves. Not those with specific diagnosed health issues relating to weight management. And vegans, I formally apologise to the pigs for calling them pigs.The sagging bottom line of our increasingly problematic dietary issues is not only the cost to the health care system, but also the ultimate impact on the planet.The good news through a recent study by University of California, Santa Barbara, is that we can not only do something about it for ourselves, but some simple dietary tweaks can also have a huge impact on emissions.In October 2015, Australians were reported to have taken over the US as the meat eating capital of the world. High consumption of animal based foods and low consumption of plant based foods is a major factor in the number of preventative diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. In what is thought to be the first study of its kind, researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, examined the potential to mitigate climate change through the food and health care systems combined. They found that small tweaks towards a healthier diet adds up to significant inroads in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change. Using life-cycle assessment data for the foods that changed in the healthier model diets, the University of California analysed the effects of the diets on greenhouse gas emissions for the food system. Thirty percent of total greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system with animal based food contributing the greatest amount. For the health care system, the researchers estimated the change in risk of diabetes, colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease due to the healthier diets and the subsequent effect on both health care costs and greenhouse gas emissions.To create healthier model diets, the researchers altered the standard 2,000-calorie-a-day U.S. diet, changing the sources of about half of those calories. The different model diets progressively reduced the amount of red and processed meats, with the most stringent diet eliminating them completely. Fruit and vegetable intake was doubled, and peas and beans increased to replace the meat protein removed. Refined grains were partially replaced with whole grains. Added sugar, which David Cleveland of University of California, noted is a known health risk, was not reduced and neither were dairy, eggs, fish or non-red meat."This means our estimates are probably very conservative, both in terms of health and climate change implications," Cleveland said. "Just changing half of the diet and including only some of the diseases associated with diets, we found a huge effect."Food has a tremendous impact on the environment," he added. "That means that there is enormous potential for our food choices to have positive effects on our environment as well on our health and our health care costs."