Ruining the Impossible Burger
lauragreenbaum
Posts: 1,017 Member
I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
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Replies
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Everything in moderation... But for what it's worth calorie wise I would rather eat a Whopper.14
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If you like it then keep on enjoying it.
I don't see any food as bad, calories are what counts and if that burger fits in yours then why not?8 -
Soy isn't horrible though it is a xenoestrogen, so it will interact with certain medications. I have to pay attention to soy because I'm on a thyroid replacement hormone and my body can't modulate thyroid output levels on it's own. So I can eat soy, but I have to be *consistent* in whatever level of soy I'm ingesting, so that my consistent dose of thyroid will produce consistent results.
If you don't have an allergy or a medical reason to avoid or monitor soy, it's just food.
Soy is added to a lot of products to increase protein content, so it may be getting a bad rap from annoyed people who need to monitor or control soy intake, only to find it EVERYWHERE. Like gluten or added sugars. I imagine that could be frustrating, but again - this isn't something most people really even need to worry about.21 -
It's not "bad" for you. Yes, it's person-made from these ingredients: Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin <--I am assuming that's the stuff that makes it look "bloody", Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Sodium Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.
Its nutrition profile (4 oz)
240 calories
14 g fat (8 g saturated)
370 mg sodium
19 g protein
9 g carbohydrates
3 g fiber
Less than 1 g sugar
It might have less negative environmental impact than a 4 oz beef burger although I don't know that for a fact, and of course no bovines were harmed in its production which is important to people who have decided not to eat animals on purpose.
Don't sweat it, OP.
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Soy is not bad for you. Some people claim it is, but I've never seen any evidence. It's been widely eaten for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Yes, the impossible burger is processed, but so is any fast food.3 -
lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
Listening to other people and their particular food biases is what is bad for you. Your pilates instructor has likely no more food nutrition training than your auto mechanic. If you listen to enough people you will be left with next to nothing to eat.
Anything can be bad for you if you eat or drink too much of it including water. Food is only good or bad if it causes a specific and measurable negative reaction for you. That doesn't even mean it is bad for someone else it just means it is bad for you. I have a negative and reproducible reaction to eating salads from McD or at least I did a few years ago. It is not fatal but within 20 minutes of eating one if there is no restroom around (hopefully 20 feet or less) it will be quite embarrassing.27 -
Anything you eat twice a month is fine, excluding poisons. Anything you eat twice a week is pretty much fine, too. It's when you get to the "eating X everyday" level that maybe it's time to take stock. Worrying about something you eat every couple of weeks is really overthinking the nutrition thing, imho.13
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lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
If engineered things are bad, why be on a website made with software engineering principles?
If you mean the soy is geneticallyengineered, again, so what? There's nothing wrong with genetically engineering agriculture. Whenever I ask anyone what's bad about it, I get hand waivy talk of certain company names, or unnatural in scare quotes, but no scientific evidence of something harmful. Heck, I've rarely seen someone understand biology above high school level talk about genetic engineering as unsafe.19 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
If engineered things are bad, why be on a website made with software engineering principles?
If you mean the soy is geneticallyengineered, again, so what? There's nothing wrong with genetically engineering agriculture. Whenever I ask anyone what's bad about it, I get hand waivy talk of certain company names, or unnatural in scare quotes, but no scientific evidence of something harmful. Heck, I've rarely seen someone understand biology above high school level talk about genetic engineering as unsafe.
If it was not for food engineering our fresh produce sections would be very very different and sparse including a fair amount of the things marked organic.15 -
lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
To be blunt, your instructor doesn't really know what they are talking about. There are a lot of scare buzzwords associated with the impossible burger, like "soy" "GMO" and "processed", but they don't really mean anything. There is nothing wrong with eating any of those things. People love to virtue signal about "natural" foods, but there's no real research behind it to back it up.
The impossible burger is not a low calorie food. Their whopper has almost as many calories as the regular whopper, as well as fat. It's a big part of what makes it taste good. So if you are looking at an impossible burger as a low cal option, it is not always the best choice, but as long as it fits within your calories, go for it.
And don't take nutrition advice from a Pilates instructor.24 -
A lot of people decide certain foods are bad, for nebulous reasons, and then seem like a guru for having this mysterious knowledge.10
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I'm still waiting for impossible french fries.
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lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
When somebody tells me something I know is wrong, like your Pilates instructor suggesting soy is something nobody should eat, it makes me doubt them not only on the subject that they're wrong about, but also on the subject that they're supposed to know about (like Pilates), because they obviously have no ability to judge their own lack of knowledge. If they don't know when they're just spouting nonsense, how do know when they're right or wrong about Pilates? So I wouldn't take this person's advice about anything.15 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
When somebody tells me something I know is wrong, like your Pilates instructor suggesting soy is something nobody should eat, it makes me doubt them not only on the subject that they're wrong about, but also on the subject that they're supposed to know about (like Pilates), because they obviously have no ability to judge their own lack of knowledge. If they don't know when they're just spouting nonsense, how do know when they're right or wrong about Pilates? So I wouldn't take this person's advice about anything.
She's actually a great instructor- it may be that she's allergic to soy. I'll ask her.2 -
Quite a few people think soy is bad, either because much soy is GMO, or because it's a source of phytoestrogens.
Neither of these has been demonstrated to be a sigificant problem, via actual repeatable science (absent allergies or the like, of course).
Personally, I think fake meat is icky, and the more it tastes like meat, the ickier it is.
IMO, your Pilates instructor's opinion should influence your eating behavior about as much as my ickiness perception: Not at all.
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I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but I did try the impossible whopper out of curiosity. I highly doubted their claims that you can’t tell it isn’t real meat, but I did actually find it pretty tasty. If you were eating it because you don’t want to eat meat, it’s probably one of the better meat alternatives out there. If you just thought it was “healthier”, the nutrition profile is close enough to the regular burger to make the slightly higher cost not worth it. Or maybe you just liked the burger. Whatever your reason, someone who is not an expert in nutrition (your Pilates instructor) telling you it’s bad shouldn’t deter you at all. Eat what you like.9
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iheartmyyorkie wrote: »I'm still waiting for impossible french fries.
I think Burger King did have some lower calorie fries about 5 years ago. They called them Satisfries. They were crinkle cut instead of their typical style fries. I think their claim on those was that there was a different batter on them that didn’t allow as much oil to be absorbed during frying them. They didn’t last very long...2 -
https://foodinsight.org/sound-science-history-of-soy-and-health/
This article gives info on soy and soy studies. At the bottom is a section on soy misconceptions including breast cancer risk. You will have no luck changing the mind of someone who is convinced soy is bad, though.
I've been pescatarian for over 20 years, eating mostly a vegetarian diet. I haven't yet tried any of these newer higher calorie faux meats. I do use faux meats, but I generally select ones that are lower calorie and, ideally, with a decent nutrition profile. My go to for a quick burger (if I haven't made my own bean burger) is the Boca vegan one (now called Turk'y). It's under 100 calories and is healthy enough for me.
I see no reason you shouldn't enjoy your occasional impossible burger!3 -
I haven't eaten a burger or a pizza for several years but I still love esting my NY strip steaks
Just personal choice but I certainly wouldn't want to eat a veggie burger (regardless of how you label it) if it has essentially the same cals as a regular burger.
What's the point of doing THAT!??5 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
If engineered things are bad, why be on a website made with software engineering principles?
If you mean the soy is geneticallyengineered, again, so what? There's nothing wrong with genetically engineering agriculture. Whenever I ask anyone what's bad about it, I get hand waivy talk of certain company names, or unnatural in scare quotes, but no scientific evidence of something harmful. Heck, I've rarely seen someone understand biology above high school level talk about genetic engineering as unsafe.
I just have to address this without yet reading the rest of the thread @magnusthenerd
Bad example web site you chose, if looking for one developed with sound engineering principles!!!6 -
You are better off making a beef burger from scratch. Its healthier by a long shot. IMO, if you want to be a grass grazer, you shouldn't want to eat something that looks and tastes like beef in the first place.2
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nytrifisoul wrote: »You are better off making a beef burger from scratch. Its healthier by a long shot. IMO, if you want to be a grass grazer, you shouldn't want to eat something that looks and tastes like beef in the first place.
You know for many who are vegan/vegetarian it is also (or even primarily) an ethical choice not to eat meat. It’s not about not liking the taste. Why shouldn’t they want something that looks/tastes like meat without compromising their ethical values. Saying something like that just makes you sound incredibly ignorant.28 -
I haven't eaten a burger or a pizza for several years but I still love esting my NY strip steaks
Just personal choice but I certainly wouldn't want to eat a veggie burger (regardless of how you label it) if it has essentially the same cals as a regular burger.
What's the point of doing THAT!??
Lots of different reasons, here's a few people might have:
1. Animal welfare
2. The use of antibiotics in commercial meat production leading to a decrease in the overall effectiveness of antibiotics and an increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria.
3. Plant based meat replacements use significantly less resources to produce than beef and have a much lower environmental footprint.12 -
nytrifisoul wrote: »You are better off making a beef burger from scratch. Its healthier by a long shot. IMO, if you want to be a grass grazer, you shouldn't want to eat something that looks and tastes like beef in the first place.Shortgirlrunning wrote: »You know for many who are vegan/vegetarian it is also (or even primarily) an ethical choice not to eat meat. It’s not about not liking the taste. Why shouldn’t they want something that looks/tastes like meat without compromising their ethical values. Saying something like that just makes you sound incredibly ignorant.
I wouldn't have put the "should" in the statement above, but I do know a lot of vegans who are grossed out or sad at the idea of eating meat and wouldn't want anything to do with the Impossible Burger if they felt it was too close to the real thing.0 -
lauragreenbaum wrote: »I love the Impossible burger- yummy plant based "burger". One of my Pilates instructors was talking about it before class yesterday- that it's really not good for you, it's engineered, there's soy in it (is soy horrible??) etc. I'm not eating it a lot- maybe twice a month as a treat. Please let me love it! I mean...how "bad" for me is it?
Listening to other people and their particular food biases is what is bad for you. Your pilates instructor has likely no more food nutrition training than your auto mechanic. If you listen to enough people you will be left with next to nothing to eat.
Anything can be bad for you if you eat or drink too much of it including water. Food is only good or bad if it causes a specific and measurable negative reaction for you. That doesn't even mean it is bad for someone else it just means it is bad for you. I have a negative and reproducible reaction to eating salads from McD or at least I did a few years ago. It is not fatal but within 20 minutes of eating one if there is no restroom around (hopefully 20 feet or less) it will be quite embarrassing.
Yes!!! Everyone has an opinion on what you should or should not eat. There is a trainer at my gym that spews the most idiotic stuff to her clients. Have heard her talk about how bad shrimp is and if you hqd it in the last year you should do a 30 day cleanse to detox. Lettuce has no nutritional value and is such a dirty chemical filled product it should be avoided at all cost. This includes spinach, kale, collards as well as iceberg. Dairy will shorten your life ny 20 years. Humans can’t process it.
Just because someone says something with authority doesn’t mean it’s true. You don’t need us or your pilates instructor to give you permission. As long as you don’t choke on it, it won’t kill you.8 -
kshama2001 wrote: »nytrifisoul wrote: »You are better off making a beef burger from scratch. Its healthier by a long shot. IMO, if you want to be a grass grazer, you shouldn't want to eat something that looks and tastes like beef in the first place.Shortgirlrunning wrote: »You know for many who are vegan/vegetarian it is also (or even primarily) an ethical choice not to eat meat. It’s not about not liking the taste. Why shouldn’t they want something that looks/tastes like meat without compromising their ethical values. Saying something like that just makes you sound incredibly ignorant.
I wouldn't have put the "should" in the statement above, but I do know a lot of vegans who are grossed out or sad at the idea of eating meat and wouldn't want anything to do with the Impossible Burger if they felt it was too close to the real thing.
I think this is important to highlight the target market of things like the impossible and beyond burger. While I am sure some certainly appreciate having it available, their main target market is not really vegetarians/vegans. A lot of long time non-meat eaters will be grossed out by how much it tastes like the real thing. My mother who has been a pescatarian for over 40 years feels this way.
The main target audience of these plant based meat replacements is meat eaters who are looking to reduce their meat intake. I fit the bill pretty well of their ideal customer. I am a meat eater who loves meat and could never see myself giving it up, but I am also cognizant of the environmental and societal impact of meat consumption so I am looking to reduce my intake. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. I had chicken salad for lunch but cooked up some Beyond Burgers for dinner. The group of potential customers like me is a much larger customer base to draw from, which is why so many companies are trying to get into this market.
For what it is worth, when it comes to me actually cooking it myself, I find I enjoy the beyond burgers I cook better than when I cook beef burgers. They maintain flavor well, and don't dry out like beef does if they are a bit well done. And they feel better in my stomach after I eat them. Sure, nothing quite tastes like a truly great burger, but considering I don't know how to cook a truly great burger, I am happy to have beyond beef rather than regular beef every time at home.11 -
kshama2001 wrote: »nytrifisoul wrote: »You are better off making a beef burger from scratch. Its healthier by a long shot. IMO, if you want to be a grass grazer, you shouldn't want to eat something that looks and tastes like beef in the first place.Shortgirlrunning wrote: »You know for many who are vegan/vegetarian it is also (or even primarily) an ethical choice not to eat meat. It’s not about not liking the taste. Why shouldn’t they want something that looks/tastes like meat without compromising their ethical values. Saying something like that just makes you sound incredibly ignorant.
I wouldn't have put the "should" in the statement above, but I do know a lot of vegans who are grossed out or sad at the idea of eating meat and wouldn't want anything to do with the Impossible Burger if they felt it was too close to the real thing.
I think this is important to highlight the target market of things like the impossible and beyond burger. While I am sure some certainly appreciate having it available, their main target market is not really vegetarians/vegans. A lot of long time non-meat eaters will be grossed out by how much it tastes like the real thing. My mother who has been a pescatarian for over 40 years feels this way.
The main target audience of these plant based meat replacements is meat eaters who are looking to reduce their meat intake. I fit the bill pretty well of their ideal customer. I am a meat eater who loves meat and could never see myself giving it up, but I am also cognizant of the environmental and societal impact of meat consumption so I am looking to reduce my intake. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. I had chicken salad for lunch but cooked up some Beyond Burgers for dinner. The group of potential customers like me is a much larger customer base to draw from, which is why so many companies are trying to get into this market.
For what it is worth, when it comes to me actually cooking it myself, I find I enjoy the beyond burgers I cook better than when I cook beef burgers. They maintain flavor well, and don't dry out like beef does if they are a bit well done. And they feel better in my stomach after I eat them. Sure, nothing quite tastes like a truly great burger, but considering I don't know how to cook a truly great burger, I am happy to have beyond beef rather than regular beef every time at home.
Yup, the bolded is me. I have no argument with it existing, but worry that it will tend to drive other alternatives - alternatives that, to me, are tastier - to lower availability at restaurants, because (maybe) meat-eaters perceive that all of us will naturally want a closer meat imitation, too.
A particular worry is that if the flavor is very difficult to distinguish, restaurant workers may intentionally or accidentally serve up a regular burger, and I don't know whether I could tell from taste (it's been 45+ years since I ate an actual meat burger, and while I generally recall the flavor, I'm not confident I could distinguish a close-tasting substitute at this point).
For me, that's not a moral crisis (it would be for some). But I know from experience that digestive system adaptation is a real thing, and if I eat meat, there will be digestive system unpleasantness to follow . . . not life threatening, but undesirable. (It's how I've figured out retrospectively that I've accidentally consumed meat products now and then that weren't perceptible.) I don't need that.6 -
I’m a total carnivore, but I have a Beyond or Impossible burger a couple times a month...including tonight! It’s not a diet food, but tastes great IMO and since I’m not allergic to soy the only reason to not eat them would be to save money. They are processed but so is almost everything these days, they are modified but GMO’s are not bad in and of themselves unless you’re talking about Monsanto Round Up.
Enjoy your occasional plant based burger.3 -
I’ve never had any interest in one. Mike Colameco said the other day that it’s only bad for your wallet. He quoted a price, said the first ingredient listed was water, meaning you are paying a lot for water.0
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corinasue1143 wrote: »I’ve never had any interest in one. Mike Colameco said the other day that it’s only bad for your wallet. He quoted a price, said the first ingredient listed was water, meaning you are paying a lot for water.
Water is the primary ingredient in most foods. Ground beef itself is majority water (about 55%). The difference is that since the water in ground beef is naturally cocuring, it doesn't have to be listed. But since these plant replacements are constructed from different ingredients, they have to list it seperately. But it's no more water than ground beef is.12
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