It all started when A&W promoted their Beyond Meat Burger.
When A&W ran out of supply due to high demand, other fast food chains started following along; Tim Horton's, Subway, KFC, etc.
Now grocery stores are carrying Beyond Meat sausages, burgers, ground beef, and taco meat.
Beyond Meat's mission includes the following:
"By shifting from animal, to plant-based meat, we are creating one savoury solution that solves four growing issues attributed to livestock production: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare."
This will potentially save our planet, the animals, and our health. Sounds great right?
I have learned quite a bit in regards to detrimental effects that conventional farming has on our environment, so that may be the case in regards to the environment.
But when it comes to overall health, I could argue that statement.
Something I believe people need a bit more education on is reading labels on food packages. The ingredients list is really important to look at. This way you can see everything they put into the product including ingredients that could be harmful long term.
Just because something is plant-based, does not necessarily make it healthier.
What really threw me off was that canola oil is the 3rd ingredient on the list.
Ingredients lists, list the ingredients from high to low quantity.
Canola oil is a popular, inexpensive cooking oil. But what you may not know is that canola oil becomes rancid during its processing. This happens when it is exposed to heat as well as oxygen which causes the oil to become oxidized and rancid.
A lot of the time canola oil is stored in clear plastic bottles where the oil is exposed to the plastic chemicals leeching into the oil; which may lead to imbalance of hormones.
Due to its high omega 6 content and because of its processing , canola oil can promote an inflammatory response.
The refined coconut oil is also denatured due to the heating process and may also be rancid, it best to have unrefined oils to get the maximum nutritional value from the levels omega 3s & omega 6s.
These products are fortified with many B vitamins which isn't always bad, but something to consider is the absorbability of the B vitamins. When foods are fortified with vitamins, the vitamins are often the inactive form, so our bodies still need to convert it to its active form to be beneficial to our health. But when these vitamins are added to food products a lot of the time the co-factors to help with the digestion and absorption of these vitamins aren't, which may lead to these added nutrients not be fully absorbed and used by the body.
When it comes to vegan protein, would I choose Beyond Meat? Probably not.
I prefer whole foods over packaged, this way when I prepare it I know exactly what's going into it. As well as also avoiding additives, preservatives and harmful oils.
Next time before jumping on any fad, it's always best to do your own research before deciding if it is good for you, because sometimes it's not as "healthy" as it sounds.
#beyondmeat #beyondburger #vegan #canolaoil #coconutoil #Bvitamins #packagedfood #inflammation #inflammatory #enviroment
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