Are Plant-Based Burgers Bad For You?

You can’t decide if something is good or bad, healthy or harmful unless you identify exactly what it is. There are many types of plant-based burgers, so it depends on which one you’re discussing. Most of them have benefits with few downsides except flavor and texture. The more recent entries to the market, the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger are forerunners when it comes to being closest to the meat flavor and texture.

You’ll get several benefits for switching from red meat to plant-based food.

You’ll boost your fiber intake when you opt for plant-based burgers. That means beneficial microbes in your digestive tract will thrive. It can boost your immune system, improve the absorption and digestion of nutrients, improve your nervous system, and even help you lose weight. Eating too much red meat can increase your risk for serious conditions. Red meat sits in your intestines longer. It can take up to four days to eliminate. It’s linked to an increased risk for colorectal cancer.

Both Beyond Burger and The Impossible Burger are similar in ingredients.

The biggest difference between the two is that Beyond Burgers use pea protein and the Impossible Burger uses soy. They compete with both poultry and beef options when it comes to protein. Both have added vitamin B12, which is a nutrient that’s hard for vegetarians to include in their diet since it’s primarily in animal products. It also has added zinc, another compound often missing due to phytic acid in some vegetarian options.

If you want the flavor of these two alternatives, you’ll also have some downsides.

You can’t call these two meatless burgers whole food. They’re created in a lab and are highly processed. It takes a lot to make them taste juicy and beef-like. In the case of the Impossible Burger, the coconut and sunflower oil make it juicy, while the methylcellulose gives it texture and binds it together. It sounds a bit like a lab experiment. It has as much saturated fat as traditional burgers and is higher in sodium, so it’s not a healthier option for a sodium-restricted diet.

• Some burgers aren’t trying to taste like hamburgers or if they’re trying, they fail miserably. Black bean burgers, masala burgers, and garden burgers contain a wide variety of healthy ingredients, but with their own distinct flavor.
• When looking at the nutritional profile more deeply, plant-based burgers don’t contain as many metabolites with 22 found in beef that weren’t found in plant-based options, such as B3, omega-3 fatty acids and some antioxidants.
• Plant-based burgers contained some nutrients that meat-based burgers didn’t contain. They had as many as 31 metabolites, such as vitamin C, and other antioxidants.
• As with any type of dietary regimen, varying your diet is important, especially if you’re primarily vegetarian. Eating only vegetarian burger daily isn’t healthy, just as eating only beef burgers isn’t, but eating them occasionally is okay.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio