How meat substitutes harm your health

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Recently, scientists have discovered that some meat substitutes lack nutrients that are beneficial to the body. This became known during the analysis of 44 different types of meat substitutes.

A study by specialists from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden found that some meat substitutes lack key nutrients that the body needs. The thing is that different meat substitutes have different nutritional values.

The amount of iron and zinc that are absorbed by the body in meat substitutes was also low. This is due to phytates, antinutrients.

Katherine Gervasio, MD, registered dietitian, and nutritionist at Living.Fit, notes that proteins themselves can be different. Plant proteins do indeed have fewer calories, fat, and cholesterol than animal proteins, but at the same time they lack certain characteristics.

The problem is that meat substitutes are obtained from plants, and plants contain phytates. These substances are beneficial to plants, but are considered antinutrients. Because of them, zinc, calcium, and iron are less absorbed.

But some plant-based meat substitutes (fermented foods) are useful. These are, for example, tempeh and miso. These phytates are broken down during fermentation.