In a day and age where we're in an ongoing conversation about climate change, one thing is becoming clear: Eating meat—specifically beef—is thought to be harmful to the environment. According to nutritionist and Byrdie Advisory Board member, Brooke Alpert, "The newer theories are that it's the industrial meat and agriculture practices that are the real issue; grass-fed organic beef is being shown to be better for the environment than a lot of the conventional farming done in the US." As a result, plant-based eating is seriously on the rise, and grocery stores, upscale restaurants and fast food chains alike are rolling out a more environmentally-friendly alternative: Impossible and Beyond Meats, which taste a whole lot like the real thing.
While it's great that an imitation meat exists that doesn't actually make you miss a delicious, juicy burger, there's a lot of (conflicting) information out there about red meat and how it impacts our bodies. But imitation meats? Those remain a bit of a mystery, especially because their ingredient lists can be miles long. We spoke to nutritionist Tamar Samuels to find out exactly how these burgers stack up nutrition-wise, and whether or not they're bad for us. Scroll ahead to see what she had to say.
What is Impossible and Beyond Meat?
Beyond and Impossible meats are two different brands of plant-based meats that taste exactly like real meat—or close enough. The Impossible Burger even "bleeds" like meat, and is made mostly from soy, coconut oil, sunflower oil and natural flavors. Beyond Meat's key ingredients include water, pea protein, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil and rice protein.
Are Impossible and Beyond Meats Bad For You?
While these meat alternatives won't kill you, they aren't exactly winning the most nutritious and healthy food awards. According to Samuels, Impossible meats are particularly problematic. "This product is highly processed," she says. "Ultra or highly processed foods are foods that have additional artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives to promote shelf stability, preserve texture, and increase palatability. They usually undergo several processing steps using multiple ultra-processed ingredients."
Meet the Expert
Tamar Samuels, RD, is a certified dietitian nutritionist and the founder ofAll Great Nutrition.
Samuels adds that while Impossible Meats have been fortified with vitamins and minerals and do contain some micronutrients, but the reality is that processed foods are not as nutritious as unprocessed foods. "Fresh foods found in their whole and natural form have the perfect balance of macro, micro, and phytonutrients that cannot currently be replicated in 'healthy processed foods,'" she says.
Beyond Meat is a little better. "It has a similar nutrition profile to Impossible Meat, but does not contain soy and has less micronutrients because it's not fortified with as many vitamins and minerals," Samuels says. "Per their website, Beyond Meat also does not contain any genetically modified ingredients. For those reasons, I would recommend Beyond Meat over Impossible Meat."
Ultimately, though, both products are highly processed and engineered in a lab. "There's no denying that natural and whole foods are superior from a nutritional standpoint.
The Takeaway
If your goal is to eat healthier, you may not be doing your body much of a favor when you fill up on Impossible and Beyond Meats.
If you are going to go with one of the two, though, Beyond is your best bet."Beyond Meat is definitely superior to Impossible Meat," says Samuels. "But both of these products are highly processed and don't offer much in terms of health benefits."
Your best bet if you're avoiding meat and going plant-based? Opt for real, high-protein foods. "While it may not have that same 'meaty' flavor, I recommend making your own veggie burgers made from all natural ingredients like chickpeas, lentils or other beans," Samuels says. "Adding nutritional yeast, kombu (a type of seaweed), and dried mushrooms is a great way to get the umami flavor we all love from meat."
Here's hoping we can find a plant-based solution that's both better for the environment and our bodies.
FAQ
What exactly is the Impossible Meat made of?
According to their website, the Impossible Meat’s ingredient list is the following: Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, 2% Or Less Of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Mixed Tocopherols (Antioxidant), Soy Protein Isolate,
What is the calorie and protein difference between Impossible Meat and Beef?
Taking a look at a typical burger size of 113-grams, Impossible Meat has 240 calories, while ground beef (80 percent lean) has 287 calories. As far as protein, Impossible Meat and ground beef both have 19 grams of protein.
What is the calorie and protein difference between Beyond Burger and beef?
Taking a look at typical burger size again of 113 grams, the Beyond Burger has slightly more protein and less calories. The Beyond Burger has 230 calories and 20 grams of protein, while beef (80 percent lean) has 287 calories and 19 grams of protein.
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FAQs
These plant-based patties might not contain any meat and therefore be better for cows and the environment, but it turns out they're not necessarily good for us. The calorie and fat content is not much different from conventional offerings (still high) – and the sodium content is actually HIGHER.
How unhealthy is impossible meat? ›
However, the Impossible Burger contains more sodium than regular ground beef and is lower in some vitamins and minerals. Compared with 90% lean ground beef, the Impossible Burger is also higher in fat and lower in protein (3, 4 , 5 ).
How unhealthy is Beyond Meat? ›
U.S. consumers' doubts about the health of plant-based meat – fed partly by advertising from the meat industry – has been a consistent problem. The outgoing Beyond Burger contains 25 percent of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat, for example, and 17 percent of the recommended intake of sodium.
What is the impossible meat lawsuit? ›
Sept 12 (Reuters) - Plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods convinced the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to revive its lawsuit seeking to head off an Austin, Texas wellness entrepreneur's trademark-infringement allegations.
What is the lawsuit against Beyond Meat? ›
Two recently filed lawsuits allege the producer of plant-based meat alternatives made misleading claims regarding its products' protein content. Two class action lawsuits have recently been filed against Beyond Meat for allegedly making “false and misleading” claims regarding the protein content of its products.
Does Impossible meat have a lot of chemicals? ›
Consequently, this new Impossible Burger product can contain residues of glyphosate – the main ingredient of the herbicide used on genetically modified soy and a “probable carcinogen.” In fact, an independent lab test found significant amounts of glyphosate in the product.
Is it OK to eat impossible meat every day? ›
“Compared to a meat-based burger, Beyond and Impossible contain roughly the same amount of saturated fat and more sodium,” she says, both of which, when over-consumed, can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
What is the healthiest meat alternative? ›
- Pea Protein. It's tough to mimic the texture and mouthfeel of ground beef, but pea protein isolate or textured pea protein nails it pretty well. ...
- Tempeh. “One of my favorite vegetarian meat options,” says Amy Shapiro, RD, the founder of Real Nutrition. ...
- Seitan. ...
- Jackfruit. ...
- Tofu. ...
- Lentils. ...
- Black Beans. ...
- Chickpeas.
"This product is highly processed," she says. "Ultra or highly processed foods are foods that have additional artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives to promote shelf stability, preserve texture, and increase palatability. They usually undergo several processing steps using multiple ultra-processed ingredients."
Is Beyond Meat overly processed? ›
Beyond Meat, along with other plant-based meat brands, is often criticized for being “unhealthy” by the meat-eating public and media due to being “ultra-processed”. Health researchers are calling on nutritionists to stop using the ultra-processed label in relation to plant-based meats.
Redwood City, California-based Impossible sued Motif, a Boston-based spinoff of biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA. N) , opens new tab, last year. The lawsuit said the "Hemami" ingredient in Motif's burgers infringes Impossible patents related to a "beef replica" product that also uses a heme protein.
Why do vegans not eat impossible meat? ›
With that definition in mind, some people do not regard the Impossible Burger as suitable for a vegan diet. The plant-based heme was tested on laboratory rats, and while Brown says every care was taken to make the trials humane, animal testing of any kind is explicitly a form of exploitation.
Is Impossible Meat FDA approved? ›
Beyond Meat competitor Impossible Foods receives FDA approval for 'bleeding' plant burger | Reuters.
What does Beyond Meat do to your body? ›
The 5 year endeavor is designed to provide peer-reviewed, clinically significant studies on the health implications of a plant-based diet, including plant-based meat. Initial findings have reported the improvement of several cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as LDL cholesterol levels and TMAO.
What went wrong with Beyond Meat? ›
Beyond was forced to reduce price to match Impossible, but consumers seemed to prefer Impossible's taste and texture.” Beyond's entry into the jerky market then “stalled out early and burdened the P&L with significant cost overruns.”
Why is Beyond Meat going out of business? ›
Experts question debt-laden Beyond Meat's future in wake of grim Q1 figures. Beyond Meat has posted another lackluster set of quarterly results, blaming weak demand in US and international markets as it unveiled a net loss of $54.4 million on revenues down 18% to $75.6 million in Q1 2024.
Is impossible meat considered highly processed? ›
"This product is highly processed," she says. "Ultra or highly processed foods are foods that have additional artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives to promote shelf stability, preserve texture, and increase palatability. They usually undergo several processing steps using multiple ultra-processed ingredients."
Is plant-based meat bad for you? ›
Specifically, they found that those who consumed plant-based meats fell below the daily requirements for calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin B12. Plus, those eating these foods exceeded the reference values for sugar, saturated fat and sugar. This group did consume more fiber than the meat-eaters.
What is healthier beyond meat or impossible? ›
Are Impossible and Beyond Meat Healthy? From a nutrition standpoint, Impossible and Beyond Meat stack up quite similarly to beef (see below for a side-by-side comparison). That said, there are a few notable differences: Beyond has significantly less saturated fat than both ground beef and Impossible Burger.
