For housewives.. Learn about the best plant-based alternatives to meat protein?
In terms of nutrition, health, environment and cost
Although doctors advise diversifying food sources between meat, legumes, vegetables, fruits and dairy, some people prefer to eat vegetables instead of meat, especially vegetarians.
A new study conducted by researchers at the Universities of London and Oxford showed that legumes and peas are the best alternatives to meat and milk, in terms of nutrition, health, environment and cost.
Benefits of legumes
Legumes, such as soybeans, peas and beans, outperformed manufactured products such as plant-based burgers and plant-based milk.
It was found that meat grown in the laboratory is the worst alternative due to the lack of health benefits and high costs, even after taking into account potential cost reductions and investment.
The results provide support for public policies and business initiatives aimed at increasing the consumption of simple meat and milk alternatives.
According to Medical Express, the study, led by Dr. Marco Springmann, combined nutritional, health, environmental and cost assessments to compare the impacts of meat and milk with alternative products.
The researchers evaluated traditional products such as tofu and tempeh, processed alternatives such as plant-based burgers and plant milks, potential products such as lab-grown beef, and unprocessed foods such as soybeans and peas.
The best alternatives
The results showed that unprocessed plant foods such as soybeans, peas and legumes are the best suited to replace meat and dairy products.
Choosing legumes instead of meat and milk would reduce nutritional imbalances in high-income countries by half, and deaths from diet-related diseases by a tenth.
At the same time, the environmental impacts of diets, such as greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use, would be more than halved, and costs would be reduced by more than a third.
Dr. Springmann said: “Reducing meat and dairy products in high-income countries is essential to reduce climate change, biodiversity loss and improve health.”
Alternatives and inexpensive foods
Despite not being at the forefront, processed plant foods, such as veggie burgers and plant milks, still provided significant benefits when eaten instead of meat and dairy.
However, the emissions reductions and health improvements were one-fifth to one-third lower when choosing unprocessed legumes, and the costs to consumers were one-tenth higher than current diets.
“Unprocessed legumes such as peas and beans were the clear winners in our assessment,” Dr Springmann noted. “They performed well across all parameters, including nutrition, health, environment and cost.”
