{"id":2275,"date":"2024-04-26T11:51:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T11:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/26\/most-plant-based-meat-and-dairy-alternatives-have-lower-saturated-fat-and-higher-fibre-study-finds\/"},"modified":"2024-04-26T11:51:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T11:51:59","slug":"most-plant-based-meat-and-dairy-alternatives-have-lower-saturated-fat-and-higher-fibre-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/26\/most-plant-based-meat-and-dairy-alternatives-have-lower-saturated-fat-and-higher-fibre-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Most plant-based meat and dairy alternatives have lower saturated fat and higher fibre, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Most plant-based meat and dairy alternatives have lower levels of saturated fat and higher fibre than their animal-derived counterparts, researchers have found.<\/p>\n

They also have substantially lower environmental impacts, including lower greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources and land use, according to a review of evidence on plant-based alternatives to meat, cheese, eggs and yoghurt.<\/p>\n

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Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) who analysed over 90 studies and reports from 2016 to 2022 suggested plant-based alternatives could be a “useful steppingstone” towards a healthy and sustainable diet, though they warned nutritional value can vary considerably between products.<\/p>\n

Plant-based alternatives “have the potential to be healthier and nutrient-rich,” they said, but added that their nutritional contents are complex.<\/p>\n

The primary ingredient, as well as processing techniques and brand, were all vital in determining a product’s nutritional value and environmental impact.<\/p>\n

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The researchers found that while plant-based alternatives “technically” fall under the category of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), the nutritional value of some products aligns with dietary recommendations including being high fibre and low in saturated fats.<\/p>\n

They added that by establishing a “clear division” between less processed and ultra-processed products short and long-term health impacts could be better assessed.<\/p>\n

The researchers said the evidence suggests there are positive health benefits of switching to plant-based meats and dairy alternatives.<\/p>\n

They argue clearer labelling is needed to help consumers who may be considering a plant-based diet to make informed choices for their health and environmental impact.<\/p>\n

‘A useful steppingstone’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah Najera Espinosa, a research student at LSHTM and first author of the study, said: “Although whole foods are still considered the ‘gold standard’ for healthy and environmentally friendly diets, environmental and health outcomes from some novel plant-based foods are promising.<\/p>\n

“Our review has demonstrated that some products, such as legume and vegetable-based drinks and legume- and mycoprotein-based meats, have the potential to be a useful steppingstone in the process of food system and dietary transformation if they are carefully selected.”<\/p>\n

‘Limited evidence’ suggests swap could be good for health<\/strong><\/p>\n

The academics said the “limited evidence” on swapping meat for plant-based alternatives suggests the shift could be good for health.<\/p>\n

But they said the results for plant-based drinks were mixed, with links to micronutrient deficiencies.<\/p>\n

On average both meat and drink alternatives had comparable salt levels to animal-based products, though meat alternatives contained more sugar and some plant-based cheese alternatives had 50% higher saturated fat than dairy cheese.<\/p>\n

The study excluded tofu, tempeh and seitan, as these have been part of traditional Asian diets for centuries and evidence shows they are a healthy alternative.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Most plant-based meat and dairy alternatives have lower levels of saturated fat and higher fibre than their animal-derived counterparts, researchers have found. They also have substantially lower environmental impacts, including lower greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources and land use, according to a review of evidence on plant-based alternatives to meat, cheese, eggs and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}