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Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat

ReenieHJ
ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
I watched a talk show with Marco Borges, saying plant-based is the healthy way to go. BUT avoid fake meat because it's all highly processed.
Opinions? Just curious.
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Replies

  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,731 Member
    just_Tomek wrote: »
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I watched a talk show with Marco Borges, saying plant-based is the healthy way to go. BUT avoid fake meat because it's all highly processed.
    Opinions? Just curious.

    Is it to be avoided... nope. Unless you want to save money, then yeap.
    Is it highly processed... yeap. Just look at the ingredients.

    I would never buy it, high in calories, low in protein, low in nutrients and way way overpriced.... comparing to meat.

    LOL well that answers that!

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Doesn't Beyond Burger cost 2X+ what decent ground beef costs?

    I just checked, and yes -- at WF you can get ground beef for $3.99/lb, and the Beyond Meat is $7.99/lb.

    But apparently there's also a market for $8.99/lb ground beef (grass-fed and organic) or $14.99 (Niman Ranch).

    Regarding whether being processed = ingredients you would not want, one of the options is the Engine2 Kale and White Beef Plant Burger (sold as a burger sub, in patties, not cheap).

    It's ingredients are: navy beans, brown rice, tomatoes, plus small amounts of salt, garlic, citric acid, onion, natural flavors, oats, kale, bell pepper, flaxseed, basil, black pepper.

    Clearly highly processed, but cals are 120 per patty, sodium 20 mg (less than a beef patty), no added sugar, no sat fat, 1 g of fat, 6 g of fiber. Main problem with this one is only 5 g of protein, so not really a good meat sub IMO, but I am not convinced that the processing makes it unhealthful.

    Stuff like BeyondBurger is supposed to taste more like a burger for someone who wants an occasional burger but doesn't want to eat beef (or wants to cut back on it).
  • eryn0x
    eryn0x Posts: 138 Member
    Think of processed meat replacements like any other processed thing and/or fast food. If you enjoy it, have it as an occasional treat. Good for the earth but not great for your body. If you are doing it for your health.... limit (or cut out) processed.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited February 2020
    I don't have a problem with meat replacements like this. I haven't had any of them, the one that I always hear about is the impossible burger. However I guess I thought the point of it was so reduce meat consumption for environmental reasons? if the meat replacement is more expensive than real meat, people are obviously going to continue to buy the actual meat regardless of taste, so.... not very effective. The whole "processed" term doesn't bother me, damn near everything we eat is processed in some way, and who cares?
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    eryn0x wrote: »
    Think of processed meat replacements like any other processed thing and/or fast food. If you enjoy it, have it as an occasional treat. Good for the earth but not great for your body. If you are doing it for your health.... limit (or cut out) processed.

    Again, the white bean patties I mentioned in the post immediately above yours are highly processed. Why is something like that bad for one's body (assuming one has sufficient protein in the overall diet that day)?
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    I've eaten the beyond meat burgers before, bought one once at a fast food outlet as a lettuce wrap burger, had a Beyond Meatball salad at Subway, bought the burger patties twice from Safeway (but only when they were on clearance 1/2 price.) I have access to yummy grass fed, ethically raised, no drug beef as I live in a rural community just outside a small town, so I'd rather eat that and support local farmers. Also considering the 100 mile diet....
    They taste okay but only when hidden under fixin's or sauces.
  • ruperthumphrey
    ruperthumphrey Posts: 195 Member
    I just saw a show on you tube about how stores deal with meat that is near or has expired . ...pretty disgusting. That really got me thinking..... the show is called Marketplace, based in Canada. Supposedly, Health Canada, says its a no, no, but stores are not gonna waste all that meat. Apparently the same for the baked goods items.
    I have had the Beyond Burger at A&W here and I love it. As an above poster said, it probably has a ton of salt in it. But I only eat a burger once or twice a year.
  • ruperthumphrey
    ruperthumphrey Posts: 195 Member
    A store near me bleaches their expired shelf life chicken and repackages it.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    YellowD0gs wrote: »
    As the plant-based meats run about 7x higher in Sodium content over ground beef...pretty much a will-not-touch-unless starving choice for me, and those on Sodium restricted diets should really give a long hard look.

    The majority of plant-based meats are designed to be eaten with little additional seasoning, so comparing them to ground beef in sodium content doesn't really make sense, as most people are adding seasoning to ground beef.

    This is a good point. If memory serves (since I don't feel like looking up the Beyond Burger nutrition again), it wasn't that high, something like 360 mg of sodium. A beef patty of the same size has more like 70 mg, but I would normally add a bit of salt when cooking it. Salt has about 480 mg of sodium in a pinch (see https://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/salt-in-foods), so just that would even it out (and many would add more than a pinch).

    Get it at a fast food restaurant, and both the beef and plant-based options will have more sodium, of course.