morning star farms veggie burgers?

debtay123

I recently bought the morning star garden veggie burgers because I am trying to eat "meatless"a little more- anyway- I have heard that the "soy protein" source in it is bad for you and that soy is bad for our healthy unless we eat unprocessed sources like soy beans. Anyway- is this just some more woo- to scare me- or not. I like the veggie burgers (I ate one at burger king and this is the kind they sell according to their website)but can not seem to find one without soy or soy protein isolate(which I have now heard is so terrible for me). There is probably no good source- but i wanted to hear from those who have eaten this product- what do you think?

lynn_glenmont

Woo.
One thing to do when you read or hear that some food is "terrible" for you is to ask why, and why is it OK as a whole bean, but not in a different form. If people are just offering vague scare warnings or reasons that make zero sense, it's generally safe to ignore it.

sssgilbe

I think it's delicious on a toasted bun with dijon mustard.

Do you have citations for the claims that soy is bad? I'd be interested in reading the research papers to see if they actually apply to humans eating veggie burgers.

janejellyroll

When it comes to nutrition, I would ignore a huge portion of what you "hear," it's just not reliable. Unless you're talking about the context of a specific medical/allergy situation, soy isn't bad for you.

I eat all kinds of soy, including soy protein isolate. But don't go by my personal experience. Check out actual studies: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/soy_wth

Many of the studies showing benefits to soy consumption include soy protein isolate. When people talk about it being bad for you, they're usually depending on us having a reflexive, thoughtless bias that processed foods are somehow bad in all circumstances.

debtay123

Thank you for this information. I am going to eat and enjoy my veggie burgers as I do not have an allergy to soy and I am determined to eat more fruits and veggies and learn to not rely on animal protein so heavily.

amelisegb

I have been a vegetarian for quite a while, if you'd be open to a recommendation I love sunshine burgers! They are even better tasting and are a great meat-alternative.

fuzzylop72

I'll give sunshine burgers a try. I think i've tended to avoid the low(ish) protein faux meat, but they look interesting enough to give a try.

debtay123

i wish we had the sunshine burgers where I live- my choices are the morning star brand, boca brand, and gardein burgers- this is a first for me- so I started with morning star farms-It was very good-

Rhumax67

Just a thought-I know it's not what you asked but things like bean or lentil burgers are easy to make & can be frozen so you have some on hand. Tons of recipes online.

kristen8000

The only time I've heard "SOY" is bad is in realtion to Estrogen. My Mom is a 10 year survivor of Breast Cancer. It was Estrogen driven. So she's been told to stay away from it. But for healthy women, it's fine.

I have a ton of "family history" and I don't tend to stay away from it. I enjoy edamame and soy burgers on occasion.

vingogly

kristen8000 wrote: »

The only time I've heard "SOY" is bad is in realtion to Estrogen. My Mom is a 10 year survivor of Breast Cancer. It was Estrogen driven. So she's been told to stay away from it. But for healthy women, it's fine.

I have a ton of "family history" and I don't tend to stay away from it. I enjoy edamame and soy burgers on occasion.

The anti-soy thing is overblown from everything I've read. I've increased my intake of soy because I have prostate cancer, and some studies have suggested it's good for reducing PSA levels. I drink soy milk with breakfast, and try to work edamame or tofu into my diet a few times a week. Unfortunately, the stores around here carry less soy milk than they used to because of the soy hysteria.

Here's an article discussing benefits of soy in a cancer context:

https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/september-2014/soy-cancer.html

Regarding Morning Star Farms - I wanted to find a good non-meat alternative for bacon, and taste tested several brands. Morning Star Farms' "fake" bacon had by far the best taste and crunchy texture of the lot. However, if you're strict vegan rather than vegetarian, it has egg white in it. The only vegan bacon I found was Sweet Earth brand; it has a crumbly texture and the taste isn't exactly classic bacon, but it will satisfy longings for something sweet-salty-smoky. I've had their burgers and they're pretty good.

By the way, we have a Peruvian sandwich shop near my house, and they make a great quinoa burger that includes nori seaweed in the recipe and is topped with an Asian slaw (the owner is Peruvian-Chinese). You might want to look at good quinoa burger recipes, I liked them better than I thought I would.

MelanieCN77

There's tons of variation between the kinds even within brands. I love the Boca flame grilled but the other styles are meh.

kenyonhaff

Soy is great for you unless you have a specific medical condition.

Love veggie burgers. Quick. Tasty. Affordable.

debtay123

I will try the boca flame grilled burger next time- just want to have different choices to see which taste best to me- without all the "woo" and being afraid- I started doing meatless monday(saw some interesting recipes on youtube) and was told my some family members to be careful of the "soy" in the veggie burgers so glad it is nonsense. I want to move to two days a week meatless- JUST to increase my intake of fruits and veggies,

OHFlamingo

If you have time and the inclination, Black Bean and Corn "Burgers" are delicious! Roughly 200 calories and 20 grams of protein. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/222249/spicy-black-bean-and-corn-burgers As to eating any form of Soy, unless you have a specific medical reason for not enjoying it, all the naysayers are just spouting "Woo"!

Gisel2015

Morning Start Primers are also very good and tasty, and 17 grams of protein. Had one for lunch today. I also enjoy the chipolte bean burger, but I prefer the ones without corn.

In cases of hypothyroidism is recommended to wait at least four hours after taking thyroid meds, before eating soy. It seems that soy interferes with the absorption of Levothyroxin, just like calcium does (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/expert-answers/hyperthyroidism/FAQ-20058188). So I don't eat anything with soy until lunch or dinner.

AnnPT77

kristen8000 wrote: »

The only time I've heard "SOY" is bad is in realtion to Estrogen. My Mom is a 10 year survivor of Breast Cancer. It was Estrogen driven. So she's been told to stay away from it. But for healthy women, it's fine.

I have a ton of "family history" and I don't tend to stay away from it. I enjoy edamame and soy burgers on occasion.

The scientific consensus on this has changed over the last few years, with more research. Check out what the major cancer research/advocacy organizations (ACS, AICR, etc.) are advising now. Up to a couple of soy servings daily is now generally considered safe even for ER+ cancer survivors (and more may be fine but there haven't been enough high-oy-consumer survivors in the research populations to be sure).

I'm a 17-year survivor of stage III (locally advanced) ER+/PR+ breast cancer, and an ovo-lacto vegetarian (for 43 years), so this is a topic of great interest to me.

newheavensearth

The Morningstar Spicy black bean and Mediterranean chick pea are pretty good. Not veggie burger- ish, but the "chicken" patties, especially the spicy one, are my substitute for Burger Kings chicken sandwich.

I have an aunt in remission from breast cancer and my grandmother passed from it, but as far as I know no hormonal implications. If I find out otherwise that may change. I did have a stranger tell me I shouldn't drink milk substitute because it will "mess up my hormones". It was almond milk. I take these things with a grain of salt.

Ann262

Like most things. Soy is a good nutrient but too much of anything, even good things can be badhttps://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/food/is-soy-good-or-bad-for-you/slide/2

extra_medium

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Woo.
One thing to do when you read or hear that some food is "terrible" for you is to ask why, and why is it OK as a whole bean, but not in a different form. If people are just offering vague scare warnings or reasons that make zero sense, it's generally safe to ignore it.

especially when a very large portion of the planet has been consuming a lot of soy for a very long time, you have to question why it is suddenly bad for you and why no one noticed before.

RckyMtnGirl

So good with caramelized onions.

ccruz985

^^Everything is good with caramelized onions. Why are you trying to go meatless?

Eleted

I am vegan and let me tell you there are so many wonderful veggie burgers on the market now. The new player is Pea Protein. Try “ THE BEYOND BURGER” you will-not be able to tell that it is not a meat burger. Also Trader Joes has quite a few good plant based burgers.

estherdragonbat

Not sure if they're available outside Canada, but I find that Yves products are generally higher in iron and protein than most of the other veggie meat analogs on the shelves and just as tasty or tastier.

debtay123

I am trying to go meatless as I want to get more fruits and veggies in to my diet(for healthy reasons)- like I said- I have done meatless Mondays and we started a family fast on wed(kind of like Daniel fast) so I am taking it slow- will not transition into meatless full time or anything as i do enjoy meat- but I only have so many calories a day on mfp and can eat quite a bit more of fruits and veggies for the same number of calories.

lemurcat12

I wouldn't substitute fruits and veg for meat, and I think people should eat lots of vegetables (and some fruit too, if they like it) with diets that include meat too. I certainly wouldn't see meat and fruits and veg as trade-offs. Instead, I'd replace meat with vegetarian (or plant-based) forms of protein, like tofu and tempeh (or the burgers you mention), beans and lentils, more of other foods that have smaller amounts of protein but can be helpful for protein in a plant based diet (like nuts and seeds, grains). You do get protein from vegetables too, but not as much and like I said I'd consider those a non-negotiable whether I was consuming meat or not, especially since they are pretty low cal. (Seitan is another non animal source of protein, although I personally have not experimented with it much, in part because I enjoy soybean sources like tofu and tempeh and know how I like to use them, so tend to gravitate to them.)

This is NOT to discourage you, as I also am greatly reducing my consumption of meat and eating plant-based more often than not, but the shift isn't vegetables, but the source of protein (so I'm eating more starches and especially beans and lentils).