Today there are a growing number of innovative meat-replacement products available for people seeking plant-based alternatives. But are these options necessarily healthier than traditional plant-based foods like legumes and vegetables? To find out, researchers modeled a typical omnivore (meat-containing) diet and then compared it to diets that substituted either traditional or novel plant-based foods in place of meat matched for calories and macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, protein). Nearly all diets with traditional plant-based foods met nutrient requirements for calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin B12, while the diets with the novel meat-replacements did not. Additionally, diets with the traditional plant-based foods had less saturated fat, sodium, and sugar than the meat-containing diet, while the diets with the novel meat-replacement products had more.
Nutrients. 2021 Jul 23;13(8):2527. doi: 10.3390/nu13082527. (Tso R et al.)