Eating plant-based meats is better for your cardiovascular health than consuming animal meat, a new Stanford study has revealed.
Stanford’s SWAP-MEAT study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows choosing plant-based meat alternatives can reduce the risk of heart disease, when compared to eating animal meat. Over 16 weeks participants in the trial were split between those eating Beyond Meat’s products and their organic animal equivalents. What was discovered was a positive impact on cholesterol and weight among those on the plant-based diet.
Commenting on the new research, Bruce Friedrich, executive director at the Good Food Institute said: “The authors found that consuming the plant-based meat products led to statistically significant positive impact on bad cholesterol and weight. Notably, lead author Dr. Christopher Gardner, a professor at Stanford School of Medicine and director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, pointed out that the authors didn’t expect to see a statistically significant impact on weight in just eight weeks, with participants losing two pounds with consistent caloric intake after the plant-based meat portion of the study.
He added: “The study indicated that overall dietary levels of protein and sodium were the same on both diets, that fiber consumption was higher when eating plant-based meat, and that saturated fat consumption was lower when eating plant-based meat instead of animal-based meat.”
Read more from Bruce on the shift toward plant-based meat products.
