Meat substitutes, or plant-based meats, contain proteins and nutrients that the human body cannot absorb, which can cause iron deficiency if eaten alone, according to a new study from Sweden.
- The study authors add that iron deficiency is a widespread problem among women around the world. In Europe alone, between 10 and 32% of all adult women do not get enough iron from their diet.
- One in three teenage girls also has this problem.
- This nutritional problem is also important in people who do not eat red meat. These proteins are the main source of iron which the digestive tract of the human body can easily absorb.
Plant-based diets that revolve around vegetables, roots, fruits, nuts, and beans are much more environmentally friendly compared to more meat-based diets. Previous studies have also shown that vegetarian diets have several health benefits, including reducing the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. Nevertheless, some food products that seek to imitate the texture and taste of meat, meat substitutes or vegetable meat, are not necessarily very good for your health, according to a new Swedish study published in the journal Nutrients.
Vegetable meat: the body cannot absorb iron and zinc
The team from Chalmers University of Technology, located in Gothenburg, Sweden, say few studies have actually looked at how eating textured plant proteins – common in plant-based meat – affects the human body. So they delved into the subject by analyzing 44 different meat substitutes available for purchase in Sweden. Most of these products consist of soy and pea proteins, but they also include tempeh, a fermented soy product, and mycoproteins, mushroom proteins. The results show that plant-based meat substitutes do not match the nutritional value of animal protein.
“Among these products, we saw a wide variation in nutritional content and how sustainable they may be from a health perspective. In general, the estimated iron and zinc absorption of the products was extremely low. Indeed, these meat substitutes contained high levels of phytates, antinutrients that inhibit the absorption of minerals in the body”explains the lead author of the study, Cecilia Mayer Labba, in a university statement.
Nutrition: phytates responsible for the risk of deficiency
The research team explains that phytates (phosphorus compounds) are natural substances found in beans and cereals. They accumulate when food manufacturers extract protein from these foods to create meat substitutes.
However, phytates form insoluble compounds with essential dietary minerals like iron and zinc when they enter the gastrointestinal tract – where mineral absorption takes place. This means that the intestines cannot absorb these nutrients and take advantage of their health benefits. Put simply: many meat substitutes become nutritionally empty foods.
“Iron and zinc also build up during protein extraction. This is why high levels are listed among the product ingredients, but the minerals are bound to phytates and cannot be absorbed and used by the body. ‘organization”adds Mayer Labba. “Plant-based foods are important for the transition to sustainable food production, and there is huge development potential for plant-based meat substitutes. Industry needs to think about the nutritional value of these products and use and optimize known processing techniques such as fermentation, but also develop new methods to increase the absorption of various important nutrients”concludes the researcher.
