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No, Meatless Meat is Not Healthy

  • amnicklaus
  • Jun 10, 2021
  • 6 min read

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It seems as though these days, you can go just about anywhere and find vegan options: meatless meat, dairy-less dairy, eggless eggs…the list goes on. And for most vegans, this seems like a victory. After all, not long ago, being vegan or vegetarian meant never again biting into a meaty burger. It meant no cheese, no yogurt, no coffee creamer, no eggs, no sushi. But go to the grocery store or a local restaurant now, and you’re likely to come across a section of food dedicated to “plant” or “fake” meat. You can buy “chik’n” nuggets, “turk’y” patties, and burgers that bleed red beetroot blood. Even fast-food places have started offering plant meat options. It seems like a miracle solution—eat meat without eating meat! Taste that wonderful cheeseburger again while sticking to your values! All problems solved! But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, and that is unfortunately the case for the fake meat industry.


The meatless meat industry has risen in the wake of America’s increasing fascination with plant-based diets. According to a study by Ipsos Retail Performance, 9.7 million Americans are currently plant-based, a 3000% increase in the past 15 years. I, for one, am all about it. The way that we farm animals for meat can be inhumane and takes a huge toll on the environment. And there is an ever-growing body of research linking meatless diets to improved health while linking processed and red meats to carcinogens. Meat seems to be causing more damage than good, making vegetarian and vegan diets pretty attractive.

But in the rush to give up meat, plant-based eaters often face challenges finding ways to replace the sustenance that used to take up a majority of their meals. It can be a struggle to find main courses. It can be difficult eating enough to stay full. There are the rumors about not getting enough protein. And sometimes, recently-turned plant eaters just crave the flavor of a juicy cheeseburger, and who can blame them? Burgers were the last red meat I gave up, because they tasted so good. Enter “fake” meat.


Brands like Impossible and Beyond have opened doors for ex-meat eaters, creating plant protein-based replacements for all of the meat dishes you can think of. “Plant-based” feels like you’re making a better, healthier choice, making these products an easy fix. But is an easy fix really the answer? The word “vegan” has come to be associated with “healthy” and “clean eating,” but we know that this is not always the case. Oreos, for instance, are vegan. So are Twizzlers. So it shouldn’t be surprising then that popular vegan substitutes are also not necessarily healthy.


The renowned food author Michael Pollan writes in his eating manifesto that we should eat “real food.” Real food is exactly what it sounds like: food that is in its closest form to the way nature makes it. A startling portion of what grocery stores offer are not food but food products; they are “food-like substances,” as Pollan puts it. And you and I both know this to be true: it’s why we’ve been told to read food labels, check ingredients, and stay away from products with ingredients we can’t pronounce. And if you read the labels of meatless meat, you’ll likely find ingredients you recognize, but mixed in you’ll also find a few ingredients that you can’t quite picture springing up from the ground.


Obviously, a plant-based burger isn’t quite as chemical-laden as candy or other junk food. There are vegetables involved, like pea protein and beans, for instance, and these are certainly bonus points. But the soy protein isolates, wheat gluten, vegetable and canola oils, and preservatives aren’t great, and they can be problematic for individuals. Saying “plant-based” does not necessarily guarantee a patty chock-full of vegetables. And if we heed Pollan’s advice to eat “real food,” many of the ingredients in our vegan replacements will undeniably need to be left out of the picture.


Finally, if we are putting our spirituality of eating into practice, we can see how fake meat products are still greatly removed from the vitality of whole form food. If in each step of the process, each day of the production, the food loses a d of life, then even processed plant-based foods are no exception. Nutrients have a short shelf-life, and the vitamins found in fake meat are synthetically added. Pretty far from nature’s original offerings. As Hyman puts it, “these plants are so processed and refined that they are far egaway from a whole plant food.” Holistic and healthy eating inherently considers the vitality and life found in all things, and the vitality of fake and plant-based meats is close to nothing. and they shouldn’t show up in fake meat either.


As if it wasn’t bad enough that faux meat products contribute to poorer health, they also contribute to negative environmental impact, which is surprising considering many people choose these products to help improve our environment. If we compare the production of these products to the production of meat from Conventional or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), we can definitely agree that plant-based meat is the better option. But if we’re looking for real, sustainable solutions, regenerative farming is the answer. Dr. Mark Hyman, author and health expert, notes that Impossible Foods adds 3.5kg of CO2 to the atmosphere, whereas regenerative farming removes that. So if you’re craving a burger, the real thing is actually your best option—just make sure the beef is from grass-fed cows.


Another thing to keep in mind about the fake meat industry is that it’s a food product industry, same as the rest. It shouldn’t surprise us that in capitalist America, savvy business owners know how to spot the next trend. With more and more companies offering plant-based options, we would be naïve to think that each company truly cares about making the best product without altering from the cheap and traditional ways of mass-producing food products.


Finally, if we are putting our spirituality of eating into practice, we can see how fake meat products are still greatly removed from the vitality of whole form food. If in each step of the process, each day of the production, the food loses a degree of life, then even processed plant-based foods are no exception. Nutrients have a short shelf-life, and the vitamins found in fake meat are synthetically added. Pretty far from nature’s original offerings. As Hyman puts it, “these plants are so processed and refined that they are far away from a whole plant food.” Holistic and healthy eating inherently considers the vitality and life found in all things, and the vitality of fake and plant-based meats is close to nothing.


Now that you probably feel totally hopeless about vegetarian and vegan diets, let me offer you a beacon of hope: there are a LOT of vital whole food options available! You can use lentils, mushrooms, or walnuts to replace ground beef, jackfruit for chicken and pork, and oyster mushrooms for chicken. You can also buy verified humanely raised and butchered, local, and organic meat. You’re NOT a failure if you do this! As a lacto-ovo-pescatarian, I feel my body deeply craving meat about once a year. I try to honor both my body and my value for a cleaner, more ethical agricultural world, so I’ll make chicken soup from a chicken that I know has been ethically and locally raised, which I find more healing and valuable than consuming faux vegan chicken. The point is to learn to listen to your body and inner voice and follow it the best way you know how.


And if eating meat is definitely off the table, no worries! A plant-based lifestyle isn’t about finding meat replacements, but instead about learning to enjoy and appreciate all that earth can offer us in fruits, vegetables, and grains. The goal isn’t necessarily to find meat replicas. You can adjust your taste and develop a palate for more vegetables and legumes. I make tacos out of cauliflower and root vegetables. I’ve made sloppy joes out of blended lentils. Eggplant is a great substantial vegetable to cook with. And then of course there’s tofu, tempeh, and seitan, which have been around for thousands of years and are much less processed and closer to their natural form.


Often people think that vegetables can’t possibly be filling, but this is just a mental block you can get over. Meat consumption in America has long been run by companies with marketers and advertisers tying meat to our identity and deepest food values. Vegetarianism naturally leads to less profit for meat and dairy companies. So be mindful of the ways you’ve been messaged to about meat. I also highly recommend trying a variety of cultural dishes that are vegetable-centered (they’re a lot more flavorful than many American vegetable dishes).


Ultimately, switching to a plant-based diet is something that will take time. Whether you’ve been vegan for years or are new to the game, be courageous experimenting with different ways to cook. Get curious about plants and recipes you don’t know about, and have fun doing so! The main thing is to keep trusting your body and finding what works for you. Does this mean you can never eat an Impossible Burger again? Definitely not—remember, the point is progression, not absolutism. Keep legalistic rules out of your eating, and just consume food products as little as possible. Remember, the earth is a treasure trove of plants that have healing qualities! Get creative with using vegetables and grains in different ways, listen to your body, and enjoy yourself.



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