Plant-based alternatives are better than meat, new study concludes

[Simon]

A new study from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, published in the academic journal Nature Communications, shows that plant-based alternatives are better than meat when it comes to your health, the planet, and in many cases even your wallet.

The researchers, from the Centre and University of Oxford, looked at the environmental, nutritional and cost implications of various diets where meat from animal sources were replaced by their respective plant-based alternatives. The results showed that plant-based diets are better for the planet, good for your health, and cost about the same as what the average consumer in Sweden pays for “traditional” food today.

“The best thing you can do for the planet, your own health, and your wallet is to switch to a largely plant-based diet. If you find it easier to switch to plant-based alternatives that look and feel like meat, fish, or dairy, that’s okay,” says Anne Charlotte Bunge, lead author of the study and researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.

For consumers in Sweden, switching to more plant-based diets is cost-competitive with the current average meat-diet and would be even cheaper if they switched to plant-based whole foods.

A diet consisting of a variety of plant-based vegan alternative foods also meets nutritional recommendations in Sweden. The study found that such a plant-based diet also meets most of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. This could partly be explained by the fact that it’s mandatory in Sweden for companies to enrich certain foods with micronutrients such as vitamin D and calcium.

“Because of that, processed Swedish plant-based alternatives often have a nutritional content similar to the animal-based food they intend to replace. For example, oat drink has a similar calcium level as dairy milk,” Bunge explains.

The study also concluded, like many other studies have done, that a vegetarian and vegan diet are much better for the environment and our climate. Switching to a plant-based diet – both plant-based alternatives and whole foods – lowered greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent. The study also showed that plant-based diets need much less agricultural land and reduced water usage compared to more “traditional” meat diets.

[Sanjo]

So the only real negative aspect of plant based alternatives are that they probably contain too much salt. No big deal imho.

[Simon]

On 2/26/2024 at 2:20 PM, Sanjo said:

So the only real negative aspect of plant based alternatives are that they probably contain too much salt. No big deal imho.

Pretty much, yeah. The advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to a plant based diet. But I think it's still a good idea to take various supplements, like B12 vitamins, if you rely on a strict plant-based diet.

[Vela]

Now they just need to improve the taste a little bit and I might even start using this too. This comming from someone who loves meat.

[Long John Whiskers]

Taste is not really a problem if you stay away from the cheaper vegan products. At least thats my own experience! 

[Simon]

I agree, @Long John Whiskers, taste is usually not the problem. I think the hardest part is to make the texture feel right — or similar enough to the real thing. Often the plant-based alternative feel a bit dryer too, probably because they lack the fats. Plant-based sausages and ham are really difficult to get right, I think. But it's been so long now since I tasted "the real thing", that you probably shouldn't put much weight on my taste. 

[Sanjo]

Meat doesn't taste good when you know it's coming from murdered animals that have lived a horrible life. But hey we are all different and have different tastes!

Edited Monday at 10:31 AM by Sanjo