Live data from Hacker News

Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

businessinsider.com

101–110 of 114 posts

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#101
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you implying that nitrogen depletion in the soil is a non-issue?

Is fertilizer runoff a non-issue? I guess if I'm putting my point together I'm trying to say "we can figure out how to grow crops without this much cow waste". If in 30 years meat consumption goes down dramatically, I'm very skeptical that we'll be growing feed corn to feed cows we dont eat, then use their waste to grow other plants.

I’m not sure that replacing corn fields with pea and canola fields is going to make a difference wrt farming practices.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#102
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On average, in cities like London, driving is more or less the same speed as walking.

I feel like you missed the point of the analogy you were responding to, or you just wanted to shift the discussion to be about cars in cities. Either way I'm confused what your point is.

It's possible I missed the point - but I'll leave it to the OP to correct me. My point was that 'vegan vs non-vegan' is not a choice people make based on factors like those they might use to make a decision between petrol vs electric.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know many skinny vegetarians. Eating nothing but carbs and butter is vegetarian and extremely unhealthy.

In India, we vegetarians eat main courses made of vegetables and pulses, with grain-based bread or white /brown rice. Thus, we don't eat only carbs and butter, but lots of (in fact, mainly) vegetables too. I do not know about the availability of vegetables in mainly meat-eating countries. I do know that vegetables may not often come to mind, and indeed I'm amused at various powdered vegetable drinks :)

India has the highest rates of depression and one of the highest rates of heart disease, I posit this is because their exceptionally low intake of nutrition from animals.

Hong Kong, with the highest consumption of meat per capita, has the highest life expectancy in the world.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#105
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know many skinny vegetarians. Eating nothing but carbs and butter is vegetarian and extremely unhealthy.

There are plenty of super high protein vegetatian and vegan options available. Many nuts, and pulses are in the same ballpark as even red meat. Consider that most people aren't strictly carnivorous, and are usually pairing a burger with 600 calories of fries, and a 400 calorie bun, which is all carb.

Nothing is in the same ballpark as red meat in terms of nutrition density and bioavailability.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#106
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I eat burgers for my health. Often with no bun or fries. The more of my calories come from beef, the better I feel.

Feels != facts

Your original comment was 100% feels so it's interesting that this is your response.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#107
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure vegan burgers have their target market, but if they were healthy in addition to being vegan they would appeal to a larger market.

This is true of non-vegan burgers too, surely?

No. Vegan burgers have a small target market, and are not very appealing for most of the people. Non vegans would consider buying vegan burger if it had some advantage. Most of vegans would not consider buying normal burger even if it was better for their health. (I have a friend who keeps vegan diet even though she has to take vitamin suplements).

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#108
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of super high protein vegetatian and vegan options available. Many nuts, and pulses are in the same ballpark as even red meat. Consider that most people aren't strictly carnivorous, and are usually pairing a burger with 600 calories of fries, and a 400 calorie bun, which is all carb.

Nothing is in the same ballpark as red meat in terms of nutrition density and bioavailability.

A beef steak is about 270 calories for 30g of protein, cooked lentils are about 22g for the same number of calories. I'm not researched enough in bioavailability to comment on that part.

For an 80kg man, the "recommended" protein intake is about 64g, the difference in calories is fairly minute (assuming you compare 100% meat vs 100% lentils). If you're training/weightlifting and following the advice of 2-3g per kg of bodyweight, you're almost certainly going to supplement your protein intake anyway. Protein supplements are 2-3x the density of red meat, and available in vegan options if that's your thing.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is in the same ballpark as red meat in terms of nutrition density and bioavailability.

A beef steak is about 270 calories for 30g of protein, cooked lentils are about 22g for the same number of calories. I'm not researched enough in bioavailability to comment on that part. For an 80kg man, the "recommended" protein intake is about 64g, the difference in calories is fairly minute (assuming you compare 100% meat vs 100% lentils). If you're training/weightlifting and following the advice of 2-3g per kg of…

The bioavailability of protein from lentils is about 60%. So your cherrypicked comparison has about 50% of the useful protein content of beef.

Macronutrients are not the entire picture. If you look into micronutrients you’ll find all of the essentials in beef, some are not found at all in plant sources.

Be careful about all fda recommendations, they were heavily influenced by lobbying from the sugar / grain / cereal industry and are not being updated in step with science.

Re: Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's plant-based burgers aren't healthier

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feels != facts

Your original comment was 100% feels so it's interesting that this is your response.

My original comment was clearly anecdotal, which is not the same thing as being '100% feels'.
Post reply on HN