According to a paper that contends there are a wide range of benefits delivered by meat that are not always easily obtained from plant materials. The bald claim that red meat is an ‘unhealthy food’ is wildly unsupported. A major asset of meat is of course its high protein value with especially lysine, threonine, and methionine being in short supply in plant-derived diet. It brings in B vitamins (with vitamin B12 being restricted to animal sources only), vitamins A, D, and K2 (particularly via organ meats), and iron, zinc, and selenium being of particular importance. Plants are a suboptimal source of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA present in animal sources. Meat also contains various bioactive components such as taurine, carnosine as well as conjugated linoleic acid, carnitine, choline, ubiquinone, and glutathione. In the elderly, sufficient meat intake can prevent or improve malnutrition and sarcopenia, also improving health-related quality of life. Avoiding animal products is a ‘risk you shouldn’t be taking’.
Source: foodnavigator.com
Lightbulb Moment: Yes, you can follow a vegetarian diet and be healthy, as a Dietitian myself I know, but you must be educated and practicing synergistic protein combining. So, when a company says “we use soy, it is a complete protein” understand they are wrong and though soy may have all the essential amino acids, they are not in the correct amounts. Don’t get caught in this trap. Want to keep current with plant protein trends? Schedule a Capabilities meeting with us and see what we can do for you.