In recent years, vegetarian food is all the rage. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, founded in 2009 and 2011 respectively, have launched over a dozen plant-based “meatless” foods, including burgers, steak, chicken, pork, sausages, and jerky.
Both companies have even partnered with restaurants, leading to the creation of vegan meals at fast food chains like Burger King’s Impossible Whopper and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Beyond Fried Chicken.
As someone who just began eating kosher, which prohibits eating meat and dairy together, I was one of the first in line to try these foods as soon as they hit grocery store shelves. It has felt great to be able to eat cheeseburgers and sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches again (as of now, unfortunately, there are no plans for Beyond pork roll), as well as introduce these foods to my Jewish friends and family who have never had them.
My family now exclusively grills Beyond Burgers instead of ones made from beef. However, with the increase in the popularity of these foods, the question of whether or not they are any healthier than real meat is now in question.
While Beyond and Impossible Burgers are technically veggie burgers, it is essential to note that there is a distinction between these burgers and the veggie burgers that have been around for as long as there have been vegetarians. These newer plant-based burgers are designed first and foremost to emulate the taste and look of real meat—down to being pink when raw and brown when cooked.
In contrast, most typical veggie burgers are less concerned with realism and are more focused on making a healthy vegetarian meal. The average veggie burger is healthier than both a meat burger and an Impossible or Beyond Burger.
According to an article by Harvard Health Publishing, both the Impossible and Beyond Burgers have about the same amount of protein as natural beef. Furthermore, they contain vitamins commonly found in meat, such as zinc, which are not typically found in plants. Nonetheless, they are highly processed and contain about the same amount of fat, saturated fat, and even more sodium than regular burgers.
While Beyond and Impossible Burgers are almost nutritionally equivalent to real red meat burgers, the main benefit of these burgers is that they are not actually made from red meat.
Although it is safe to consume red meat in moderation as part of a healthy diet, high red meat consumption has been linked to medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. These plant-based burgers provide a healthier source of protein.
For those looking for alternatives to red meat, Beyond and Impossible Burgers are comparable in terms of taste, especially when topped with ketchup, vegetables, and cheese. Furthermore, they are comparable nutritionally and are even a little healthier in some areas. They can serve as a stepping stone toward a more plant-based diet.
I’m far from being a vegan or a vegetarian. Still, since I started eating Beyond Burgers to reintroduce the glory of cheeseburgers to my diet, I have begun regularly eating everything from Gardein’s soy-based vegan chicken to Dr. Praeger’s mushroom-based veggie burgers.
For me, the most significant change Beyond and Impossible Burgers have made to my health is not that they have no cholesterol or less fat than real burgers; rather, these alternatives have put me in the mind-set of looking for new plant-based options.
While vegan food is not always inherently healthier, it introduces people to a healthy way of thinking. Hopefully, the introduction of vegan food into the public consciousness will encourage more people to think critically about the nutrition of the foods they consume.
