There's no easy way to describe the plot of Laurel and Hardy's 1935 movie "Tit for Tat." Let’s just say it involves misplaced revenge, a lemon meringue pie, and shoplifting.

Nonetheless, the takeaway is worth paying attention to: Bad choices lead to even worse results.

That's the same point being made by a study published in the journal Nature Food: The unhealthy food choices you make have a measurable negative impact on your health and on the health of the planet.

Researchers conducted a detailed evaluation of 5,800 foods, ranking them according to their positive or negative impact on human health and the environment.

They discovered that you can lose up to 71 minutes of healthy living for every serving of corned beef with tomato sauce you eat. (The beef is so negative that the benefits of the tomatoes are canceled out.)

However, you gain up to 82 minutes for every serving of sardines with tomato sauce you eat.

Mother Earth also wins if you make smart food choices. Substituting 10% of your daily calories from beef and processed meats for a mix of field-grown fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, and select seafood (not shrimp) could reduce the carbon footprint of your diet by 33%, while you gain 48 minutes of healthy living a day.

Are you stepping into a future with a healthier planet and a healthier you?

You can do both, says the study, by choosing every day to eat nuts, legumes, non-starchy vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and sustainable seafood.