Plant Based Meat Alternatives Are Bad, Kind Of, Depends Who You Ask
Processed anything is bad. We can stop researching now.
If you want to be confused, then read this article in Heathline. A new study was published assessing the health risks of eating plant based meat alternatives for vegetarians. In other words, ultra processed food that is devoid of animal protein. The takeaway.
“Researchers examined health outcomes for over 3,300 vegetarians by comparing those who consumed plant-based meat alternatives to those who didn’t eat these processed foods.
Vegetarians who ate plant-based meat alternatives had a higher risk of depression, increased inflammation, slightly higher blood pressure, and lower levels of a protein associated with HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
In spite of these changes, the researchers wrote that, in general, eating plant-based meat alternatives did not have any extra health risks for vegetarians, although they called for additional research on the possible links to depression and inflammation.”
When I read something like this I’m not sure if what I’m reading is actually real. Or if the author actually knows what they wrote. Or if they have even the slightest bit of a conscientiousness or awareness.
When I think about my diet, and the foods I avoid and the ones I incorporate, I generally try to avoid ones that lead to an increased rate of depression, 42% in this study, higher inflammation and blood pressure, and lower levels of good cholesterol. I don’t think that’s crazy to say and I don’t think that’s controversial.
If I said “here eat this foods, they are going to increase your chance of being depressed by 42%, increase inflammation throughout your body and your blood pressure, while lowering your good cholesterol,” I assume you would tell me to fuck off, and probably ask me why I’m trying to kill you.
But according to the research experts in this study, all of those side effects are not a cause for concern. According to these research experts, their conclusion is that “in general, eating plant-based meat alternatives did not have any extra health risks for vegetarians.” Really? Did we read the same study or do we need to redefine what health risk means?
It is exactly this type of “reporting” that has led to the insane health epidemic that we’re seeing in this country and that’s growing all over the world. This confusing, no real answer, wishy washy reporting, that always seems to ease your concerns after telling you that what you’re eating is killing you.
I can only assume that somewhere along the line the study authors and the author of this article were paid by plant based meat alternative companies to bend the reality into something that seems harmless. Otherwise, what would be the motivation other than complete incompetence?
It seems like the reason for this conclusion that plant based meat alternatives do not lead to extra health risks is because the study authors did not see a link between these processed foods and heart disease. Which I can only assume is the link they were after.
“Researchers wrote in the paper that despite these changes, eating plant-based meat alternatives did not significantly increase a person’s heart-related risks.”
It’s amazing to me that rather can ringing the bell on the 5 alarm fire that this report is, the researchers feel ok with the results.
“In conclusion, while no clear health risks or benefits were associated with PBMA [plant based meat alternatives] consumption in vegetarians, the higher risk of depression, elevated CRP, and lower apolipoprotein A levels in PBMA consumers suggest potential inflammatory concerns that warrant further investigation.”
Even if there is no direct link to “heart-related risks,” which I’m not sure I understand because I always understood high blood pressure and low HDL to be early signs of heart disease, shouldn’t there be an extrapolation of the trend to say that people who are depressed and have increased inflammation will eventually develop other chronic diseases as they age? I’m not a doctor, research, scientist, nutritionist, and I would bet my life that there is a connection.
But really all of that is not even the biggest tragedy of the study. The biggest tragedy is in calling it a “study” to begin with. The “study” included 3,300 people who were identified as being vegetarians based on a “a 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire, which everyone completed at least two of.”
Said another way, before the study started, participants completed a survey about what they ate in the previous 24 hours, and then the participants biomarkers were monitored for the next 14 years! but their diet was never questioned again. They were assumed to have maintained the same diet over the 14 year period.
“In addition, data on people’s diets were gathered mainly at the beginning of the study rather than throughout. So researchers wouldn’t know if a person’s diet has shifted since the start.”
Levels of physical activity, stress, sleep, and consumption of alcohol, all things that could impact someone’s health, were also not monitored.
These studies mean nothing. Their conclusions mean nothing. Every second we waste analyzing a “study” like this or even conducting a “study” like this is a second we could have spent actually helping someone. Every dollar we spend on “studies” like this are dollars wasted that could have went towards providing people with real wholesome and nutritious foods that we know conclusively leads to improved health. I’m not sure I understand how people believe the jury is still out. Processed food, added sugar, refined carbohydrates are the reason that America and the world is getting sicker and sicker. This has been well established for decades. But somehow we keep giving “experts” the leeway to discover the cause and come up with a cure.
Healthline: Meat Substitutes Linked to 42% Higher Depression Risk in Vegetarians
Food Frontiers: Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Intake and Its Association With Health Status Among Vegetarians of the UK Biobank Volunteer Population
Hospital Vending Machines Push Poison
Until ultra processed food is banned from hospitals and schools you need to stop believing the lies politicians are feeding you
My girlfriend found herself in the hospital this week having a procedure done (she’s okay). After her procedure they kicked her out of recovery to wait in the lobby. She snapped these three pictures.
The next time any politician tells you that they’re protecting you by invading another country, killing terrorists, or sending billions of dollars to fight anti democracy forces in the form of say Russia, just remember this.
If they actually cared about you, they would pass immediate and sweeping bans on processed foods and the chemicals and additives that go into them.
If they cared even a little bit about you, they would pass immediate and sweeping bans on processed foods, like Lunchables, being served for lunch in schools.
If they cared even a little bit, they would pass immediate and sweeping bans on processed foods being available in hospitals. They would not allow the drug/product/garbage that is the proven cause of most illnesses to be available in the very place where people with such illnesses go to be treated.
But they don’t care, so stop giving them credit like they do.
If it doesn’t make them money (i.e. war, pharmaceutical drugs, big food and big ag) then they don’t care. They will never ever reign in any of those industries for the precise reason that they line the pockets of every leader in this country and most countries around the world.
The next time your favorite politician tells you he’s doing something for your safety, something that usually involves stripping away a person in a foreign country’s safety, ask yourself why he/she allows poison to be sold in hospitals?
It’s time to stop believing what you hear and believing what you see.