Given how meat-like some plant-based meat substitutes have become, it's understandable that many people are considering simply switching over to them. According to new research, however, the two food types are far from being nutritionally identical.
For the study, scientists from North Carolina's Duke University compared 18 samples of grass-fed ground beef to 18 samples of "a popular plant-based meat alternative." The latter's nutritional label listed 13 items – namely certain proteins, fats and vitamins – which are also abundant in meat.
That said, the researchers were specifically looking at the type and amount of metabolites that were present in each sample. Metabolites are substances produced via the regulatory processes in an organism's cells, and the consumption of certain ones has been linked to various health benefits.
When 36 cooked patties were compared – 18 made of beef, and 18 made of the substitute – it was found that out of 190 measured metabolites, concentrations of 171 differed considerably between the two foods. In fact, the beef patties contained 22 metabolites that the substitute did not, while the substitute patties contained 31 metabolites that weren't present in the beef."
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