The Rise of Meat Alternatives

The Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat Burrito/Taco, even McDonalds and Burger King have come out with their own plant-based burger to keep up with the popular trend of plant-based meat alternatives. While it is difficult to assess the exact number of vegetarians and vegans in the US, a 2016 Harris Poll on behalf of The Vegetarian Resource Group estimated that 3.3% of the population is vegetarian/vegan which amounts to millions of people that are not eating meat and that could be interested in meat substitutes. But it’s not just vegetarians and vegans that are providing a market for these products. With a population that is becoming increasingly conscientious of the importance for sustainability and health, even non-vegetarians are devouring these meat alternatives.

Haven’t Meat Alternatives Been Around for a While?

At least since Ancient China and its invention of Tofu substitutes for meat have existed, often due to religious beliefs that disavowed the consumption of meat. Perhaps one of the most famous early developers of meat alternatives was John Harvey Kellogg (Yes, the guy who invented Kellogg’s cereal). Mr. Kellogg created these alternatives to feed the people in his vegetarian sanitarium. So why the sudden popularity and partnership with major fast-food chains? Like I mentioned earlier the populace is becoming more

conscientious about sustainability but just as important, advances in food technology have allowed for the creation of meat alternatives that are more delicious and/or taste like real meat with similar nutrient profiles. In addition to all these reasons, the cost of these plant-based alternatives are also becoming more affordable as technology increases making it more accessible to cost-conscious consumers.

How Do These Meat Alternatives Stack Up in Terms of Nutrients?

Surely these plant-based meat substitutes now available at fast food chain are healthier than their meatier counterparts, right? Well, not exactly. If we look at White Castle’s Impossible Slider vs the Original Slider, we can see that the Impossible Slider has more calories at 210 compared to 140, more saturated fat at 4g compared to 2.5g, and more sodium with 550mg compared to 380mg. We can see that it’s important look at the nutrition facts for meat alternatives and not to just assume they are healthier because they are plant-based. In fact, it’s a common theme for these meatless products at fast food chains to be a good deal higher in sodium. The large amounts of sodium are an issue since they can lead to increased blood pressure and eventually heart disease. Many of these meat subs are processed foods, and like other processed foods, should be moderated.

Lab-Grown Meat is on the Horizon

Plant-based meats are not the only alternatives to conventional meat. How do you feel about having your meat grown from animal cells in a lab? That’s a question that many will have to ask themselves in the coming years as lab-grown meat starts to appear on the market. The benefits to these cell-cultured meats are numerous such as the ability to control the amount and type of fat in the meat as well as solving one ethical issue of raising animals to slaughter. Unfortunately, these alternatives to conventional meat are

going to be extremely pricey at first and it’s not entirely certain if it will have a positive impact on climate change. Although no one knows exactly what the future may hold for these lab-grown meats, I for one will be watching with great interest.

Don’t Be Afraid to Go Meatless

While there are certainly some drawbacks to some of the meat analogues available at fast food chains, there are still plenty of plant-based meat subs and recipes that are healthy and delicious. It’s also worth mentioning that research studies conducted to look at the health effects of plant-based diets often show lower incidence of cardiovascular disease as well as all cause mortality such as this one in the Journal of the American Heart Association, “Plant‐Based Diets Are Associated With a Lower Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Disease Mortality, and All‐Cause Mortality in a General Population of Middle‐Aged Adults”. We are living in a time when meat alternatives are all around us, don’t be afraid to try them out for yourself.

Many people believe that it must be all or nothing when it comes to vegetarian/vegan but for many these diets are too strict, instead you can try being a reducetarian (simply reducing the amount of meat and animal products you consume) if that’s something that interests you. But don’t worry my meat-eating friends, if you have a constant craving for a good steak or other meat then you are going to want to read my next article on “The Carnivore diet and other Trending Diets of 2019”.