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Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat

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Replies

  • 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: 5,967 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: 7,899 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: 7,899 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.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    Yes it is a processed food. Its actually an ultra processed food and for optimal health these should be kept at a minimum. That being said a burger of any sort has never been considered a healthy food option. The plant based burgers have just as many fat grams and calories as their animal based cousins. They are an ethical option if anything.

    How would a burger not be considered a healthy or nutritious food source? It's just beef that has been ground up. I do 93% GB and grill up a burger or make tacos or chili pretty much weekly.
  • g12586s
    g12586s Posts: 7 Member
    I’m not a fan my family strictly eats organic raised without antibiotic meat it’s expensive but the taste and quality can’t be compared
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,572 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    glassyo wrote: »
    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!

    It really depends. I never eat it since I'm not really interested in meat substitutes, but here's one taste test:

    https://www.foodandwine.com/news/plant-based-burger-taste-test

    For cal and protein comparison (note: the reason my numbers are different from Mike's, who posted when I was writing this, is that I converted the plant burgers from 4 oz to 100 g):

    Impossible 2.0 (100 g) has 212 cal and 17 g of protein.

    Beyond Burger (100 g) has 221 cal and 18 g of protein.

    Lifeline Burger (100 g) has 239 cal and 18 g of protein.

    MorningStar Vegan Burger (100 g) has 248 cal and 24 g of protein.

    By comparison, 80% lean beef burger is 254 cal and 17 g of protein, although of course one can get a 90% lean for 176 cal and 20 g of protein or 95% lean for 137 cal and 21 g of protein. So it depends on how you think it tastes, how much you care about the fat quantity (either for taste -- some don't like lean ground beef, although I do -- or otherwise), and what type of burger one is comparing it with.

    I have no clue about the cost vs. different kinds of ground beef, since I haven't purchased any of them.

    Awesome! That per 100 g comparison sure comes in handy.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited February 2020
    I try to avoid too much processed food but in moderation is ok. I do eat veggie burgers regularly and beyond meat products sometimes. I don’t eat them every day. They are high in protein which is good for me since I eat mostly plants.

    Sometimes i crave that meaty taste since I was raised on meat and enjoy the taste but also love animals and refuse to eat them anymore.
  • Stockholm_Andy
    Stockholm_Andy Posts: 803 Member
    I'm really surprised by some of the price comparisons in this thread. However, I guess you get a lot more super cheap feed lot raised cheap end beef in the US.

    One of the higher end Burger joints here has started selling the Beyond Burger. Their standard Cheese Burger is 109SEK (11.31USD) and the same burger with a Beyond patty is 119SEK (12.35USD).

    Having tried the Beyond patty IMHO it wasn't bad by any means but the meat version is way better so I would always order that.

    That said there's a brand here called Annama that do a soy protein that I substitute for mince (ground beef or turkey) in things like Chilli, Taco's or Bolognese exclusively now. I can't really tell the difference in those recipes and my wife and daughter don't really like eating red meat so when not.