Plant-Based Doesn’t Always Mean Healthy
You may want to reconsider a plant-based diet if your motivation is health.
...
But plant-based meats are often high in sodium, ultra-processed and not any healthier than the meat they imitate. Meanwhile,
nearly half of the consumers think they are more nutritious. So if your resolution is related to health, you may want to reconsider switching to a plant-based diet.
The Impossible Burger, for example, is an impressive meat-free mix of soy, potato proteins, coconut and sunflower oils. It even bleeds like the real thing. At the same time its
calorie count and saturated fat levels mirror a McDonald’s
quarter-pounder, and it has six times more sodium.
...
According
to one recent study, the nutritional benefit of plant-based foods is minimal. Researchers from the Singapore Institute for Food and Biotechnology Innovation modelled the outcome of replacing bacon, chicken, beef burgers and ice cream with animal-free versions.
Diets that substituted animal products with the plant-based alternative were below the daily recommendations for vitamin B12, calcium, potassium, zinc and magnesium, and higher in sodium, sugar and saturated fat.
Even with
added vitamins and minerals, these products are not nutritionally interchangeable, says Stephan van Vliet, a postdoctoral associate at the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute. “Meat made from plants isn’t meat made from cows and meat made from cows isn’t meat made from plants,” he says.
Animal sources like meat, milk and eggs are complete proteins, meaning they contain enough of the
nine essential amino acids we must get from our diets every day. Plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains often lack one or more of these amino acids and need to be eaten in combination.
...
As new year’s resolutions start pouring in, you may want to reconsider a plant-based diet if your motivation is health.
getpocket.com
