The rise in plant-based meat alternatives is taking the fast-food world — as well as the intimacy of our kitchens — by storm. A Kentucky Fried Chicken, based in Atlanta, sold out of their new plant-based Beyond Meat chicken within a few hours of opening!

With any new processed food product, it’s important to take a very close look at exactly what you’re consuming. This is especially true when you’re talking about highly processed food items.

While these new meatless alternatives — such as Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger — are a boon for the environment, we can’t forget that these foods aren’t automatically healthy just because they’re environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, this realization has not hit the masses just yet regarding plant-based meat products.

What’s the nitty-gritty on plant-based meats?

In a comparison article by Harvard Health, it was determined that plant-based meat alternatives offer a source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. On the other hand, these plant-based meats are also highly processed and contain high saturated fats. While I’m all for a healthy amount of saturated fat, it’s generally a rule of thumb to source saturated from natural, plant-based sources (such as coconut oil) where the chemical design of the fat has not been altered, heated, or undergone any other kind of processing.

So, what’s the verdict? Read on to learn all you can about plant-based meats and decide for yourself if and when you want to consume them.

The Plant-Based Meat Paradox

So, you want to do a little something for the environment while also still enjoying one of your favorite food items. Enter the plant-based burger patty! These food products have come around at an opportune time when environmental activism is steadily growing, and sustainability is one of those keywords that is becoming routine in daily shopping. Yet, are these plant-based meats as good for our bodies as they are for the environment?

The Rise of Plant-Based Meat

Niche companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have been trying out their 100 percent plant-based design for some time, but it’s just recently that fast-food chains are picking up on the trend and serving this faux meat in their shops. Recently, Impossible Foods announced partnerships with Burger King, Qdoba, and dozens of other restaurants. On the other hand, the other main competitor Beyond Meat is now serving their plant-based products at Del Taco, Subway, and even KFC.

Hold up… haven’t veggie burgers been around for years? Where is this sudden surge in popularity coming from?

The difference comes down to marketing and flavor. Traditional veggie patties have been marketed specifically to vegetarians and vegans — basically plant-based eaters. They were not designed to taste like meat and are not meant for people who currently eat and enjoy meat products. When it comes to these new plant-based meats — in particular, Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat — these are products designed to taste, feel, and look like meat and marketed to meat-eaters. These niche companies are not seeking to offer another product to current plant-based eaters but reduce the amount of meat consumed by current meat eaters by offering a delicious plant-based option.

This is great news! More people now not only have the option but are opting for plant-based meat over actual meat, which is a win for animal activism and the environment. With that said, even though plant-based meat products are completely safe for consumption, they aren’t healthy foods, and yet they are being treated and consumed as if they were.

Good for the Environment, Not so Good for the Body

Plant-based meats are highly processed products, foods that have undergone processing (frozen, canned, dried, baked pasteurized) and contain additives such as “a lot of extra sugar, salt, oil, and calories.” Highly processed foods generally contain the big no-nos for a healthy diet, including dextrose and maltose — forms of processed sugar — trans fats, and hydrogenated oils.

Therefore, with a similar taste, texture, and look to red meat, plant-based burger patties also have some of those unhealthy highly-processed compounds such as saturated fat, high levels of sodium, and reduced-nutrient ingredients.

Plant-Based Meat 101

Before I jump into the pro and con arguments regarding plant-based meat alternatives, let’s take a look at exactly what’s in them. Discovering what’s in your food and looking at labels is an incredibly important part of eating healthy, whether you are a plant-based eater or not. One of the best rules of thumb when it comes to eating processed foods is if you can’t pronounce an ingredient or have to look it up to figure out what it is, then you probably don’t want to put it in your body.

With that info, let’s dive right into the ingredient labels of these plant-based meats so you can decide for yourself.

Beyond Burger

The ingredients include “water, pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, contains 2% or less of the following: cellulose from bamboo, methylcellulose, potato starch, natural flavor, maltodextrin, yeast extract, salt, sunflower oil, vegetable glycerin, dried yeast, gum Arabic, citrus extract (to protect quality), ascorbic acid (to maintain color), beet juice extract (for color), acetic acid, succinic acid, modified food starch, annatto (for color).”

Impossible Burger

The ingredients include “Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Sodium Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.”

Pros and Cons of Plant-Based Meat

If you’re still on the fence as to whether or not you want to continue or start consuming this product, you’re in the same boat as most of us! We want to help the environment and reduce animal death and cruelty, yet continue to enjoy some classic foods. To help you hone this decision, here are a few pros and cons regarding consuming plant-based meats.

Good for the Environment

This is the best reason to eat plant-based meats! Yes, they may be delicious. Yes, they may help you wean yourself off of meat. Yet, by choosing a plant-based meat product, you’re also choosing to support companies that want to help the environment.

Research has shown that “Beyond Burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46% less energy, has more than 99% less impact on water scarcity, and has 93% less impact on land use than a quarter pound of U.S. beef.” That’s a huge difference and one that our planet desperately needs! Similar results have been discovered with the Impossible Burger, showing that this type of food product has an 89 percent small carbon footprint “than a burger made from real beef.” On top of that, the Impossible Burger “reduces environmental impacts in every category studied, resulting in the use of 87% less water, 96% less land, 89% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and 92% fewer aquatic pollutants.”

Increased Saturated Fat and Sodium Intake

If you follow my articles, then you know I’m all about healthy dietary fat. I’ve argued the case for healthy fats for at least a year now and am all for enjoying the appropriate amounts from the safest sources. With that said, while small portions of plant-based saturated fat are healthy for a balanced diet — think coconut products (oil, cream, butter, and meat), avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, chia seeds, and dark chocolate — regular consumption of high amounts of saturated fat has been “associated with increased rates of both heart disease and premature death.” Plus, a sodium-rich diet has been linked to higher blood pressure (hypertension), which can lead to atherosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, and even an increased risk of cognitive decline in old age.

Provides a Dose of Certain Nutrients

Studies upon studies show that a higher intake of plant-based foods versus animal-based products leads to a longer life that is less riddled with health issues — specifically, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, and heart disease. This is mostly attributed to a lower intake of animal-based carcinogens, in particular, processed meats which are “clear class-one carcinogens, along the same levels as cigarettes, as determined by the World Health Organization.”

Therefore, getting a dose of plant-based nutrients is a huge positive!

When it comes to the Impossible Burger, you’ll get a baby dose (2 percent or less) of vitamins E, B1, B6, B2, B12, C, zinc, and niacin. The Beyond Burger, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to focus so much on the nutrient profile, yet you’ll still get some of those veggie-derived goods, including large amounts of pea protein and coconut oil and two percent or less of beet juice, potato starch, and dried yeast, to name just a few.

Provides a Dose of Highly Processed Nutrients

So, you get a dose of vegetables in your diet. For many of us following the Standard American diet, this is an upgrade from previous veggie-less diets.

Yet, more bad news, it’s not that simple.

Most plant-based meat alternatives source their protein and texture from legumes such as lentils and whole soybeans. Yet, due to the “high degree of processing involved,” many of these healthy foods lose their nutrient density and, in particular, the compounds that make them coveted by plant-based eaters in the first place. Per an article published by Harvard Health entitled Impossible and Beyond: How healthy are these meatless burgers? this nutrient loss is explained:

“For instance, moderate amounts of whole soy foods, like edamame (soybeans), have been linked to reduced rates of cancer. This protection is often attributed to isoflavones, a subgroup of plant compounds called flavonoids thought to provide health benefits. Unfortunately, in the case of the Impossible Burger, one serving contains less than 8% of the isoflavones found in one serving of whole soy foods (one serving is roughly a quarter of a block of tofu or 1 cup of soymilk).”

In Conclusion? Careful Consumption, Not a Dietary Supplement

While the verdict is still out regarding the long-term effects of regularly consuming these plant-based meats, simply take a look at the breakdown of highly processed ingredients and how each one of those has been shown to degrade health. Logically, if you consume these plant-based foods regularly and in the place of other raw, natural, plant-based foods, then it would seem that the body would suffer the same effects that studies have shown.

Therefore, it’s all about careful consumption.

If you’re choosing to eat plant-based meats regularly for their nutritional value, as a supplement for actual plant-based foods, or as a dietary supplement, then you may suffer health consequences down the road. If you’re choosing to eat plant-based meats on occasion for their delicious flavor, and meat-like quality, and to do a little something for environmental and animal activism, then it seems you got the “not a healthy food memo” down pat.

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Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental well-being, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Unfortunately, dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and prostate cancer, and has many side effects. 

For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend purchasing one of our many plant-based cookbooks or downloading the Food Monster App which has thousands of delicious recipes making it the largest vegan recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take the initiative by standing up against fast fashion pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
• Support Independent Media: Being publicly funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and essential stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!