The Fall Fitness & Food Issue

Page 72

NUTRITION

Beyond the Bun How nutritious are plant-based burgers? BY CHANA DAVIS, PH.D Geneticist who loves helping others use science to make healthy choices. Based in Vancouver, B.C. FUELEDBYSCIENCE

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lant-based patties that closely replicate beef are everywhere, from the supermarket meat aisles to fast-food drive-throughs and gourmet restaurants. These meaty products are nothing like the old school veggie burgers we know and love, and many people are unsure what to make of them. Should you embrace meaty veggie burgers? It makes sense that there’s a lot of confusion and controversy around whether or not these burgers can be part of a healthy diet. On the one hand, they come from plants, taste decadent, and avoid the many downsides of meat. Compared to beef, they are better for your health, cruelty-free, and friendlier to the planet. On the other hand, they bear little to no resemblance to the veggies that went into them. Due to their processed nature and long ingredient list, plant-based burgers have been challenged not only by the meat industry, but also by whole foods devotees, and labelled as “processed junk food.” For many, it’s clear that plant-based burgers are a better choice than beef. For vegans, it’s not as simple. It depends a lot on what you’d be eating otherwise, how you consume them, and how they fit into your bigger picture. Let’s take a closer look at what these burgers do – and do not – deliver. The main nutritional downside of faux meat patties is what they lack—they have lost much of the fibre, vitamins, minerals,

72 I Fall Fitness & Food Issue 2023 I IMPACT MAGAZINE

and phytonutrients that whole plants provide, due to processing. A plant-based meat mimic usually only has a few grams of fibre, roughly half of what you’d get in a store-bought traditional veggie patty (such as Dr. Praegar), and far less than a bowl of whole legumes. These patties definitely don’t count towards your daily veggies! On the plus side, plant-based burgers deliver an impressive whack of high-quality plant-based protein. Most plant-based meat mimics contain around 20 grams of protein per patty (typically from soy or pea protein isolates), which is on par with a typical ground beef patty (80 per cent beef, 20 per cent fat). For anyone looking to dial up their protein to support muscle growth, this is an easy way to get a boost. Many meat analogues also provide valuable vitamins and minerals that vegans often need to boost, including iron and vitamin B12. (See nutritional chart). Other aspects of the nutritional profile, like fat, sodium, and calorie content, can’t simply be defined as “good” or “bad” because the right answer for you depends on a few factors. Meat-like plant-based patties typically contain a generous serving of fats, to the tune of 14 to 18 grams per patty. Most of this fat is from unsaturated vegetable oils (like canola oil), but a decent portion (5 to 8 grams) is from saturated fats (e.g. coconut oil), that give a richer texture and mouthfeel. The fats in these patties can be part of a healthy, well-balanced diet, but don’t fit well into an ultra-low-fat diet.


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