Is fake meat healthy?
While the benefits of consuming a whole food, plant based or plant predominant diet are well established, what is less clear is if more processed plant based meats, such as the Impossible Burger or Beyond burger, are good for you. “Is fake meat healthy?” is one of the most common questions I get on social media and from my friends and family. They certainly have many ingredients, some of which are difficult to pronounce, so does that mean they’re bad for you?
What’s in fake meat?
Plant based meats aka fake meat aka meat alternatives exploded on the market several years ago. Most popular among them are the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger. While there are several different types of meat alternatives on the market, for this discussion, we’ll focus on these as they are the two brands currently dominating the popular market. Unlike other meat alternatives on the market, these two products are specifically designed to appeal to meat eaters by mimicking the taste and texture of meat.
These meat alternatives are made from plant based proteins (soy in the the Impossible Burger and pea protein in the Beyond Burger) and various oils (mostly coconut oil as well as other vegetable oils). They also have binders in them, like methylcellulose and food starch, as well as different seasonings and plant-based flavors. Both are fortified with varying degrees of vitamins and minerals. The Impossible Burger also contains heme iron isolated from the roots of soy plants to give it more of a “meaty” taste.
Is fake meat processed food?
Yes. Mock meats are considered “ultra-processed” foods, which are “industrial formulations made with no or minimal whole foods and produced with additives such as flavorings and preservatives.” Ultra-processed foods are created using a number of industrial techniques, ingredients, and additives such as artificial flavors and emulsifiers. Processing food in this way often results in removing beneficial nutrients (such as fiber) and introducing non-beneficial nutrients (such as sugar). Thus, they tend to be high in salt, sugar, refined carbs, saturated fat, and low in protein and fiber. Unsurprisingly, the consumption of ultra-processed foods has been linked to high blood pressure, weight gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease in observational studies.
However, not all ultra-processed foods are created equal. As we will see in the analysis below, not all ultra-processed foods are devoid of nutrients and chock full of the bad stuff. Whole wheat bread and plain yogurt, for instance, are nutritionally quite different than ice cream or candy, but both are considered “ultra-processed.” Processing can also include fortification of essential vitamins, such as vitamin D in both cow and soy milk, and fermentation which can add nutritional value.
How do fake meats compare to real meat nutritionally?
Let’s compare both the Beyond Burger and the Impossible burger to some real hamburger to get a sense of how they stack up. The folks over at Beyond compare it to an 80/20 beef patty, which is a reasonable comparison. The nutrition in each of these is for a 4 oz patty, with the nutritional data from the USDA website for the beef burger, and the respective websites of Beyond and Impossible for the mock meats.
Here’s how they compare.
As you can see, the mock meats compare fairly similarly to beef when it comes to calories, protein, and the amount of saturated fat (although the Beyond burger does do better there at close to half the amount of saturated fat as a beef burger patty). In the case of the plant based meats, the saturated fat is coming from coconut oil - which, contrary to popular belief, does raise LDL-cholesterol (which I wrote about here). Additionally, the newest Beyond burger has been formulated to have comparable B vitamins (the Impossible burger already does) and minerals, but the amounts are not listed as of the publication of this blog post.
In some categories, the fake meats outperform the beef patty - they have less cholesterol, and more iron and fiber.
The main category that concerns me here is the large amount of sodium found in both the Beyond and Impossible burgers, with 5 times as much sodium as a beef patty (although I’m told from meat eaters that many do season with salt and pepper prior to grilling, so the differential might not be quite as dramatic as this appears). Regardless, coming it at almost 400 mg of sodium per patty, this is about 1/4 of the total recommend daily amount of sodium for those with high blood pressure. And that’s not even including the bun, ketchup, and fries!
The other wild card is the heme found in the Impossible burger. Heme iron has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It’s not clear if plant based heme iron would show a similar association.
Fake meat vs real meat
Ok, so other than nutritional comparisons, how do these mock meats actually affect our health? Unfortunately, because these products are so new, we don’t have a lot of data on health outcomes! In particular, we don’t have any long term studies looking at heart health outcomes.
However, we do have one small randomized controlled trial that was published last year called SWAP-MEAT. Comparing 2 servings per day of plant-based alternative meat to organic meat for 8 weeks (after which the participants swapped groups), the group in the mock meat arm had a modest amount of weight loss (1 kg) as well as a major drop in their LDL-cholesterol levels (10.8 mg/dL). And that was just in 2 months from one swap! They also had significantly lower levels of TMAO, a gut microbial metabolite that is correlated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (but has not been shown to be causal). You can read more about TMAO here.
So, should I eat fake meat?
As with most things in nutrition, it all comes down to what you swapping it out for. Compared to regular meat like beef, it is more than likely a healthful swap. Red meat, particularly processed red meat, has been consistently demonstrated to be correlated with increased risk of heart disease (as well as other chronic diseases). While these faux meats are considered “ultra-processed” and do contain a decent amount of saturated fat, when one was compared head to head with red meat in one study, several cardiovascular risk factors were reduced. It’s also important to acknowledge, that nutritional considerations aside, plant based meats are also a better choice for the environment and the animals.
Compared to a homemade veggie burger or other lightly processed plant proteins like tofu, it is quite unlikely to be the more healthful option. Unprocessed plant-based products are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, while processed “plant-based” products are not (aka vegan junk food) - and likely even associated with increased risk. We don’t have specific data on the mock meats regarding long-term outcomes, but for day to day consumption, I would most definitely stick with tofu or homemade bean burgers.
Ultimately, I think that these mock meats are a great choice for meat eaters instead of red meat or for those who are actively trying to decrease their meat consumption for the planet and their health. For plant eaters, I would choose them in social situations (super easy to keep on hand for an impromptu BBQ) and as an occasional treat, but I would not make them an everyday staple.
Personally, as someone who hasn’t had red meat in close to a decade, I much prefer a homemade black bean burger, or even something like a Dr Praeger’s California burger in a pinch (in case you’re curious, still has a lot of salt!), as these mock meats are just a little too “meaty” for me. My husband, who does consume red meat, finds them delicious - which I guess is the point!
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