Meat substitutes

Are meat substitutes healthy?

Daniel Commane 29/03/23

Animal welfare and ethics aside, experts agree that reducing meat intake may be better for our health and better for the planet. The fundamental question for nutrition savvy consumers is what should we eat instead? According to recent Northumbria PhD graduate, Dominic Farsi “That depends! As with any food group, plant-based foods can be nutritious, or they can be full of salt, refined sugars, and saturated fats.  These products certainly aren’t meat, unless fortified they may be low in iron and vitamin B₁₂” This isn’t that surprising, vegetarians have long been instructed to supplement or seek alternative sources of these key nutrients. Importantly, plant-based meat substitutes can have their own distinct nutritional value. Many of them are really good sources of fibre. In fact, Dominic noted that “consumption of some of these foods would take most of us a long way towards reaching the recommendations for fibre intake”.

Hitting fibre guidelines is key to decreasing your risk of weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cancer, and most of us fall well short. But a simple food swap, like opting for Quorn over beef burgers lowers cholesterol, may improve metabolic health, and decreases exposure to nasty cancer-causing chemicals in the gut. Furthermore, it may be just as effective as meat at building muscle.

Plant-based meat substitutes allow consumers to decrease meat consumption without drastically changing their approach to food. therefore, as a food group, meat substitutes are here to stay.

For consumers, the take home message is that these can be healthy food choices as part of a balanced diet. Aim for products higher in fibre and protein and low in salt, saturated fat and added sugar. 

How to eat: For the perfect taco, use Quorn mince, heat in oil with onion, garlic, peppers, chopped tomatoes, puree, cumin, chilli and coriander. Garnish with salad and Greek yogurt in taco shells. 

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